U.S. Mars COVID Vaccine Booster for Seniors as early as Fall

From Washington-Severe daily warnings associated with a surge in COVID-19 infection, the director of the National Institutes of Health said Sunday that the United States could decide whether to offer it in the coming weeks. coronavirus Booster shots for Americans this fall.

The first to receive them health Long-term care workers, nursing home residents and other elderly Americans.

Dr. Francis Collins also begs unvaccinated people to take their shots, devastating the country and “sitting ducks” for a variant of the Delta that shows little sign of giving up. I called it.

“This is soaring and there are no signs of a peak out,” he said.

Federal health officials are actively considering whether additional injections for vaccination are needed as early as this fall, with “almost daily” US cases and a preliminary study suggesting. We are considering the situation in other countries such as Israel. Vaccine protection against serious illness has declined among those vaccinated in January.

Israel has provided coronavirus boosters to people over the age of 60 who have already been vaccinated more than five months ago.

No decision has been made in the United States. So far, it has shown that people are highly protected from COVID-19, including the delta variant, even after receiving a double dose of Pfizer or Modana regimen or a one-time Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

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 annoyance we try to deal with. The combination of the two means that boosters may be needed. Health care With others, including an older American who was one of the first Americans to be vaccinated at the end of last year.

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.

Moderna President Stephen Hogue is surprised to see “breakthrough” infections in vaccinated people within six months, even if most of the symptoms so far have not been life-threatening. He said it should be done. “I think it suggests that we need boosters. vaccination To survive the winter, “he said.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration said people with weakened immune systems could better protect them by receiving additional doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine as delta mutants continue to proliferate.

“When the data came in, we knew that we really needed to give additional doses to people in nursing homes and the elderly. We are ready to do that very quickly.” The doctor said. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor.

The United States currently has an average of about 129,000 new infections per day (up 700% from the beginning of July), which could surge to 200,000 in the coming weeks. This is a level not seen since the worst day of the January pandemic. And in February, Collins said.

Both he and Forch emphasized that the best way to stop the virus is for unvaccinated people to get their shots.

Currently, about 60% of the US population is vaccinated at least once, and nearly 51% are fully vaccinated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Areas with low vaccination rates, such as Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and Mississippi, are particularly affected by infectious diseases.

The rapid proliferation of infectious diseases across the United States has left intensive care unit beds, nurses, and other front-line staff short of viral hotspots, making them unable to cope with the flood of unvaccinated patients. .. Health officials have also warned that children who are not yet vaccinated can be infected, but it is not clear whether the delta mutant will lead to more serious illness among them.

“It’s a pain, given that we didn’t expect to return to that space again,” Collins said of an overall increase in infectious diseases in the United States. “But here is a highly contagious delta variant. In this tragic situation, 90 million people sitting on the duck of this virus have not yet been vaccinated. This is what we face. It’s a mess. We’re in the next world. It’s hurt. “

In many places, both vaccinated and non-vaccinated, all “mitigation”, such as wearing masks in schools and other public spaces, will be done, according to Fauci, as more people take shots. is needed.

“We must be aware that we are dealing with a public health crisis,” he said. “The more infections there are, the more infections spread, the more the virus evolves, and the more opportunities it has to continue to mutate.”

Collins spoke on “Fox News Sunday,” Forch starred on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” and Hooge starred on Fox News channel “Sunday Morning Futures.”