WASHINGTON,, D.C.- The Biden Administration issued an announcement on Wednesday that U.S. citizens who are already inoculated against COVID-19 will nonetheless need to get a booster shot this September to beef up the protections that the vaccines provide, especially in light of the recent, more resilient Delta variant of the virus.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, during a White House pandemic response team briefing, alluded to the current vaccines potentially losing their potency over time, thus the need for a booster shot.
“The booster will extend and enhance the protection the vaccines are giving us,” he said. “The time to lay out a plan for COVID-19 boosters is now. Recent data makes clear that protection against mild and moderate disease has decreased over time.”
According to Murthy, the free booster shots will be made available as of September 20 for people who have had eight months pass since they had become fully inoculated against COVID-19; since older and more vulnerable people were first eligible for the vaccine, they will also be the first ones eligible for the booster.
However, Murthy noted that the booster shots have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration – their status is still “pending,” he said – and will only be made available for people who had received the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines; a booster for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be made available in the near future.
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