Poor booster shot take-up has left millions of Americans vulnerable to the coronaviruses variant now tearing across the country, as officials push vaccine makers to update their vaccines to counter the most evasive omicron variant.
There is a vaccine ready for administration at Union Station in Los Angeles.
If you're able to get a booster dose, you'll be considered up to date with your shots.
Most people should wait at least five months after finishing their initial round of shots to get boosted, though those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or have weakened immune systems are advised to do so sooner.
The agency recommends that all adults over the age of 50 get a second booster shot at least four months after the first one.
The FDA advised manufacturers to develop modified vaccines that also target the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variant for an anticipated booster campaign in fall amid growing evidence they can evade immunity from previous shots and infections.
High-risk people should not wait until revised boosters are available to get their next shot, experts told Forbes.
At a time when there is a lot of virus circulating, if you are high risk, get your booster immediately.
It's expanding eligibility. People 50 and under are not recommended for a second booster dose unless they are immune compromised, but even if they are, there is still strong protection against serious illness and death. He is certain that eligibility will be expanded in the fall, and he didn't see a problem with the recommendation. It's important to have the first booster because of the amount of virus circulating now. The professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at Yale University told Forbes that everyone should get a booster shot. Young people at low risk of serious illness benefit from the unpredictable nature of Long Covid. According to the CDC, the prevalence of Long Covid is as high as one in five.
Within weeks of getting the second or third dose, vaccine protection against infections waned quickly. The main purpose of vaccine is to protect against serious illness, hospitalization and death. The importance of getting booster shots to maintain protection against severe disease has been stressed by officials. The Covid vaccine shots are free and available at a variety of places. According to CDC data, just over half of fully-vaccinated adults have had their first booster dose by the beginning of July. In North Carolina, only a third of adults have been boosted. Only 27% of people who have been boosted have had their second booster. The number of people getting their booster shots is disappointing.
Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna have been working on retooling their formulas to fight the omicron coronaviruses variant. The original coronaviruses strain, which will stay in use for the primary vaccine round, and the original omicron, BA.1, which differs from the omicron variant in circulation now, are both targets of the updated shots. Most of the cases are made up of omicron BA. More than half of the cases in the U.S. are dominated by the latter two.
Experts say that we cannot boost our way out of the covidemic.
Vaccine updates are complicated by fast-evolving COVID variant.
There will be a vaccine reboot this fall.
Live updates on the coronaviruses.
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