Moderna MRNA, +6.34% has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday to authorize a fourth shot of its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster dose for all adults, the Associated Press reported. The request is broader than rival pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s PFE, +0.50% request earlier this week for the regulator to approve a booster shot for all seniors. The company said its request for approval for all adults was made “to provide flexibility” to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and medical providers to determine the “appropriate use” of a second booster dose of the mRNA vaccine, “including for those at higher risk of COVID-19 due to age or comorbidities.” The U.S. COVID numbers continue to decline and the nation is now averaging 30,550 new cases a day, according to a New York Times tracker, down 41% from two weeks ago. The average daily number of hospitalizations stands at 24,623, down 44% from two weeks ago. Deaths are averaging 1,224 a day, down 28% from two weeks ago, but still an undesirably high number. Globally, there have been 466 million confirmed cases, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, and 6.06 million deaths. The U.S. leads the world with 79.7 million cases and 970,009 fatalities.
