Health officials are preparing to roll out COVID-19 booster shots in the United States this September. According to a plan announced Wednesday, all U.S. adults who received a two-dose vaccine would be eligible for an additional jab of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine eight months from when they got their second one, with FDA blessing. This plan automatically gives priority to high-risk groups.

Data pulled from the New York state health department, the Mayo Clinic and the CDC’s reporting system for nursing homes in the U.S., plus Israel’s ministry of health abroad “consistently demonstrate a reduction of vaccine effectiveness against infection over time,”” said the CDC’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky. The rationale for laying the groundwork for boosters in the months ahead is to avert potential COVID-19 deaths in the future if vaccine-induced protection against serious illness wanes. “It’ll take months to roll them out to nursing home patients, health care workers, immunosuppressed people, and people over 65,” said Dr. Robert Wachter, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

For now, booster shots are being advised for the mRNA vaccines only. A separate booster recommendation for individuals who received a Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine is expected soon, health officials say.

Source: npr.org