Despite data showing two COVID-19 vaccine doses remain largely effective against severe symptoms, hospitalizations and deaths, the Biden administration is urging booster shots starting this fall to get a jump on the rise in infections among the vaccinated.
The U.S. aims to make a third mRNA dose available to Americans ages 18 and older eight months after their second Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shot, health officials said during a White House press briefing Wednesday. The government plans to roll out its program the week of Sept. 20, assuming the boosters pass muster with the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, M.D., said during the conference.
