What to Know About the New COVID-19 Vaccine Booster

In a long-awaited update to the COVID-19 vaccine schedule, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)’s vaccine committee recommended that everyone six months or older should get another booster shot. In a long-awaited update to the COVID-19 vaccine schedule, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended on Sept. 12 that everyone six months or older should get another booster shot. CDC director Dr. Mandy Cohen endorsed the recommendation made by the agency’s committee of outside vaccine experts. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] That shot will be the newest vaccine greenlit by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just a day earlier. The FDA approved mRNA vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech that target the XBB.1.5 variant for everyone 12 years or older, and issued an emergency use authorization for mRNA vaccines for children six months to 11 years. The FDA’s actions also mean that the updated vaccine is the only one authorized or approved against COVID-19; the previous booster, against BA.4/5 is no longer authorized. In a 13-1 vote, the CDC’s panel of vaccine experts decided that near-universal vaccination for everyone six months or older would provide the best protection against another serious surge in infections this fall and winter. Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have been increasing since mid-July, CDC scientists reported, and while most of those have involved young children and older people, half of the c...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news