On Tuesday, both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized a second booster shot for people 50 years of age and older at least four months after their first booster. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines got the okay from the federal agencies. Should you get a second booster? 

According to USA Today, the additional booster shot is important for those 65 years of age and older and for people over the age of 50 who have underlying medical conditions.

“These are the most likely to benefit from receiving an additional booster dose at this time,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. In addition, anyone who is immunocompromised and over the age of 12 is eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech shot and adults who are immunocompromised are eligible for the Moderna booster.

The initial vaccination protocol for immunocompromised individuals has been three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine followed by a booster which was allowed last fall. Therefore, this population is now entitled to receive a fifth shot, said CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund. Those suffering from medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes, chronic lung, kidney or liver disease, heart disease, smoking, pregnancy and mental health conditions fall into this category.

People who received the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine can also receive a second booster shot. Studies found that two doses of the J&J vaccine offered the same protection as the other two authorized vaccines. The CDC has recommended that people who got the J&J vaccine could switch to an mRNA for their second shot and says they can receive their third from either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, said Nordlund.

Studies have shown that the vaccine’s protection against COVID-19 fades over time. An Israeli research team found that fourth shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine significantly curtailed deaths in Israel’s older population during the omicron wave, according to The Times of Israel. Israelis who topped their triple-vaccine protection with a fourth shot of the vaccine reduced their chances of death by 78%, said the team of researchers from Clalit Health Services and Sapir College.

The new government authorization to allow a second booster shot gives Americans another choice in protecting themselves against COVID-19, says Axios.

“Giving people the choice to have an additional level of protection is where we should be at this point in the pandemic,” said Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at George Washington University. “To me, the decision of getting an extra booster dose is not much different from the decision to continue masking or to use rapid tests before getting together with people indoors.”