Lauran Neergaard

AP Medical Writer

Full approval means FDA has completed the same rigorous, time-consuming review for Moderna’s shot as dozens of other long-established vaccines.

Moderna Announces Full U.S. Approval for Its COVID-19 Vaccine

The decision was bolstered by evidence from the more than 200 million doses administered in the U.S.

Pfizer said Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may protect against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective.

Pfizer Says COVID Booster Offers Protection Against Omicron

Lab tests showed a booster increased people's levels of virus-fighting antibodies 25-fold.

Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine sit in a cooler before being thawed at a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site in the Bronx borough of New York on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. On Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, Pfizer asked U.S. regulators to allow boosters of its COVID-19 vaccine for anyone 18 or older.

Pfizer Asks FDA to OK COVID-19 Booster Shots for All Adults

Pfizer’s new study concluded a booster could restore protection against symptomatic infection to about 95%.

A syringe is prepared with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic at the Reading Area Community College in Reading, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021.

FDA Strikes Cautious Tone Ahead of Vaccine Booster Meeting

Is there enough proof that a booster dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective?

In this Thursday, April 8, 2021 file photo, the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine sits on a table at a pop up vaccinations site the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, in the Staten Island borough of New York. The U.S. is recommending a “pause” in administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots.

US Recommends J&J Vaccine 'Pause' Over Clot Reports

Investigation concerns unusual clots in six women that occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination.

In this Dec. 22, 2020, photo, provided by Richard Chung, his son Caleb Chung receives the first dose of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine or placebo as a trial participant for kids ages 12-15, at Duke University Health System in Durham, N.C. Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12. The announcement Wednesday, March 31, 2021 marks a step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before the next school year.

Pfizer: Vaccine Safe for Age 12+

This could be a first step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before they head back to school in the fall.

Colleen Teevan, System Pharmacy Clinical Manager at Hartford HealthCare, administers the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 to healthcare worker Connor Paleski outside of Hartford Hospital on Monday, Dec. 14 in Hartford, CT.

Second COVID Shot Earns Positive Review as US Vaccinations Ramp Up

The first 3 million shots are being strictly rationed to front-line health workers and elder-care patients.

This March 16, 2020 file photo shows vials used by pharmacists to prepare syringes used on the first day of a first-stage safety study clinical trial of the potential vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. The world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine test got underway Monday, July 27 with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers. The experimental vaccine is made by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., and it's one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race.

World's Biggest COVID-19 Vaccine Study Gets Underway

30,000 planned volunteers are helping to test shots created by the U.S. government and Moderna.

This March 16, 2020 file photo shows vials used by pharmacists to prepare syringes used on the first day of a first-stage safety study clinical trial of the potential vaccine for COVID-19.

COVID-19 Vaccine Search Heats Up

Initial tests focus on safety, and researchers are trying out different doses of different types of shots.

This March 1931 file photo shows ampules of the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis in a laboratory at the Institute Pasteur in Paris, France. Dec. 2, 1947 file photo. Scientists are dusting off some decades-old vaccines against TB and polio to see if they could provide stopgap protection against COVID-19 until a more precise shot arrives.

Could Old Vaccines Work?

Scientists are dusting off decades-old vaccines.

In this Wednesday, April 8, 2020 photo provided by the Center for Pharmaceutical Research, a participant in a COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine trial receives an injection in Kansas City, Mo. This early safety study, called a Phase 1 trial, is using a vaccine candidate developed by Inovio Pharmaceuticals.

New COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate

Researchers have opened another safety test.

A man wears a mask while crossing in front of the Stockton Street Tunnel in San Francisco, Sunday, March 29, 2020.

Should You Wear a Mask in Public?

For now, if you are not sick, you do not need to wear a face mask.