The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now advises that all U.S. adults aged 18 years and older receive a COVID-19 booster shot 6 months after their initial Pfizer or Moderna vaccine series or 2 months after receiving their initial Johnson & Johnson vaccine dose.
The recommendation, issued Monday, strengthens and simplifies an October statement encouraging boosters for certain groups of vulnerable adults including nursing home residents. It also comes amid rising concerns about a worrisome new SARS-CoV-2 variant — yet another reason for all adults to get an additional vaccine dose, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said.
The omicron variant on Friday was classified as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization due to the unusually large number and types of mutations it carries. Its potential impact on vaccine efficacy, COVID-19 case counts and disease severity remain unknown.
But “preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other variants of concern,” WHO stated.
Omicron was first discovered in Southern Africa and has spread to other countries. It has not yet been detected in the United States, but officials expect that it will be here soon, Anthony Fauci, M.D., the United State’s chief infectious disease official, told U.S. news outlets this weekend.
Current COVID-19 vaccines should offer some protection against the quickly spreading variant, he has advised President Biden. But he and other officials reiterated that vaccinated Americans can further shore up their immunity with a booster shot, Reuters reported.
COVID-19 vaccine makers already are talking about developing new boosters that directly target the omicron variant. In the meantime, studies have suggested that booster vaccinations can “broadly withstand a mutated virus, even if the antibodies aren’t targeting the specific viral proteins as well,” according to a recent report by medical news outlet Stat.
During a press conference Monday, President Biden said his administration would “throw everything at the variant.” He also said on Thursday he would announce a new strategy for addressing COVID-19 this winter.
