US recommends COVID vaccine booster in 8 months

U.S. health experts recommend the COVID-19 vaccine booster to all Americans eight months after receiving the second dose, regardless of age, and persist against coronavirus as the delta mutation spreads nationwide. It is expected to ensure a good defense.

Federal health officials are actively considering whether additional injections for vaccination are needed as early as this fall, considering the number of cases in the United States and the situation in other countries. IsraelPreliminary studies suggest that vaccine protection against serious illness has declined among those vaccinated in January.

Announcing the US booster recommendation was scheduled for early this week, according to two people familiar with the issue of discussing internal deliberations with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The dose will begin to be widely administered once by the Food and Drug Administration Formally approve the vaccine.. That action is expected for Pfizer shots in the coming weeks.

U.S. health authorities last week Recommended booster for people with weakened immunityIt cites evidence that the risk of catching the virus is high and that the effectiveness of the vaccine has diminished over time.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said on Sunday that the United States could decide in the coming weeks whether to offer Americans coronavirus booster shots this fall.

They were first received by health care workers, nursing home residents, and other older Americans, one of the first Americans to be vaccinated after Shot received an emergency use authorization last December. It was a club.

Since then, more than 198 million Americans have been vaccinated with at least one COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 168 million have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. .. Still, because of the more contagious delta variants, which are actively prevalent throughout the unvaccinated community, but are also responsible for the increase in so-called “breakthrough infections” in fully vaccinated people. The country is experiencing a fourth surge in viral cases.

Israel, which received Pfizer Shot exclusively, has provided a coronavirus booster to people over the age of 60 who were already vaccinated more than five months ago to control the proliferation of cases from delta mutants. rice field.

Data show that people remain highly protected from COVID-19, including the delta mutation, after receiving a two-dose Pfizer or Modana regimen or a one-time Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Authorities said. But US health officials said Sunday that they were preparing for the possibility of a booster coming sooner or later.

“There are concerns that the effectiveness of the vaccine may begin to decline,” Collins said. “And Delta is the tricky thing we try to deal with. The combination of the two may require boosters to move forward, starting with health care providers and people in nursing homes. Means. “

He said the “next few weeks” of case data would help the United States make decisions, as the Delta variant had just begun to hit the United States in July.

Officials also continued to collect information about the J & J vaccine, which was approved only in the United States in late February, to decide when to recommend boosters, one official said.

The White House has sufficient domestic supply to provide boosters when recommended by health authorities, even as the United States begins to share more than 110 million vaccine doses with the world. Said.

Global health authorities, including the World Health Organization, are calling on wealthier and more vaccinated countries to postpone booster shots to ensure a supply of initial doses to people in developing countries.