and today, some panel members arguing the main focus should be on getting the 66 million eligible unvaccinated americans their first shot. the people who are in the icu aren t there because they haven t gotten the third dose, they re there because they haven t gotten any dose. reporter: tomorrow, the panel will review the johnson & johnson booster along with data on the effectiveness of mixing vaccines. an nih study also finding there could be an extra benefit for people who got the j&j vaccine to get a boost from pfizer or moderna. i think these early studies are pointing to the potential value mixing and matching but it s likely too early and we re going to really need more data to see sort of full recommendations. reporter: and soon, 28 million children between the ages of 5 and 11 could be eligible for their first vaccine shot from pfizer as early as november 3rd. today, president biden promising those doses will be ready to go. if authorized, we are ready. we have purcha
at higher risk. it would be a third moderna shot six months after the first two. and this moderna booster would be half the dose of the first two. that same panel set to discuss that johnson & johnson booster tomorrow, as well as the notion of mixing and matching different vaccines. and the decision on the pfizer vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old likely coming in weeks and president biden just today saying the government is ready with doses for the 28 million american who would be eligible. but first tonight, the boosters. what we learned today on moderna and abc s whit johnson leading us off. reporter: tonight, booster shots for millions of americans who got the moderna vaccine now a major step closer to authorization. we do have a unanimous 19 out of 19 yes votes and that concludes the voting portion. reporter: a key fda panel voting unanimously to recommend that third shot six months after the second dose for anyone 65 and older. 18 and older at high risk from an underlyi
the united states. and so let s get right to whit johnson tonight. whit, this key panel unanimous on moderna boosters today. now the same panel tomorrow examines the johnson & johnson booster and also looks at this notion of mixing and matching vaccines, whether that might be effective? reporter: david, that panel will then vote on whether the data is strong enough to authorize the johnson & johnson booster shots, but this discussion of mixing and matches vaccines and whether it s effective will also be getting a lot of attention. right now, there is not a vote scheduled on that, but the early data is promising. it s a big debate. and we expect to hear a lot more in the coming days. david? . all right, whit johnson leading us off tonight. whit, thank you. i know many questions at home with millions of americans who got moderna and johnson & johnson still waiting on these boosters. let s get right to dr. ashish jha, dean of the brown university school of public health. always gre
i think our true delta wave is going to start to build in the northeast in the northern part of the country. this is going to be a highly regionalized epidemic. i do think labor day and the return to school are going to be incubators. i don t think we re done with this. i hope we are, but i don t think we can conclude that just because the cases are coming down from the mini surge we saw over the summer. that was fda commissioner dr. scott gottlieb warning the northeast will see another jump in covid cases related to the delta variant. the booster shots will likely be ready by the 20th, but a third moderna choice might have to wait. we were hoping we would get both the candidates, both products, moderna and pfizer, rolled out by the week of the 20th.
people s backs, and he has not made friends on his way out, and people are very happy to see him on his way down. i don t see him moving forward in any meaningful way, he also has other investigations that mario cuomo bridges is one of them, it s a serious investigation as far as construction and other issues. he has his hands full, i don t think he will be coming back. and finally doctor irwin redlener, the last word goats to you, i can t ask you to endorse a third shot for people on a broadcast like this one, but i can ask you for your opinion of people who are finding a way to finesse a third shot, a booster, whether or not they re going into doctors offices or pharmacies, do you endorse the notion of them? do you have any problem with people getting that third pfizer, or third moderna?