Two recent decisions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will make rapid at-home COVID-19 tests and vaccine booster shots more readily available for Bay Area residents.
An agency panel on Thursday endorsed a lower-dose booster shot of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for seniors and other high-risk groups, 10 days after the agency provided an Emergency Use Authorization for a California-based company's nasal swab test.
Moderna's new low-dose booster is not for everyone, as elderly and high-risk recipients must have had their second dose of the same vaccine at least six months ago. It’s also not for Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer recipients, at least not yet.
"I don't think you're gonna see any kind of official recommendation for mixing and matching at this point yet, because none of the companies have actually asked for that type of an approval," Dr. Amesh Adalja, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told KCBS Radio's Rebecca Corral in an interview on Thursday.
Separately, San Diego’s ACON Laboratories received emergency authorization from the FDA for their rapid at-home COVID-19 test. Dr. Adalja said this new test is ideal for those who want quick results, and it works whether or not you have symptoms.
It's also great if you don't live near a laboratory or facility that handles COVID-19 testing.
"When it comes to at-home tests, if you're trying to determine whether or not you're contagious, whether or not you can be around people, I think they do serve that purpose well," Adalja said.
The Flowflex test will soon be available for purchase without a prescription in major retail stores and online. Once it is, Marin County residents will be able to upload their results to the Public Health Department using a new online form.
County officials said it will help with contact tracing efforts, as well as provide more accurate information about the spread of COVID-19.
"We want to remove any barriers to testing in our community, and increased access to self-tests is a great step forward," Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County Public Health Officer, wrote in a release on Thursday. "At the same time, we need to see what’s happening in the community to guide our ongoing response."
Related
