MadameNoire
Source: Juanmonino / Getty
COVID-19 booster shot might become available to Americans as soon as next month. The Biden administration plans to announce the protocol for the third dose after the Food and Drug Administration approves the application that Pfizer submitted back in early July.
According to Biden’s camp, the booster shot will become available to those who have been fully vaccinated eight months after their 2nd dose. The Hill notes that the third shot could be administered as early as mid-September and health officials say individuals will be inoculated with the vaccine they initially received.
Earlier this week, the CDC announced that individuals who are immuno-compromised could receive the lifesaving third shot that could help protect the high-risk group from contracting COVID. According to the organization, immuno-compromised people make up about 3 percent of adults in America. Officials recommend that people receiving active cancer treatment or those who have moderate to serve immune systems including people undergoing transplants or HIV-positive individuals consider getting vaccinated with the third dose.
The push for further vaccination comes following a research study conducted by BioNTech and Pfizer which examined a group of patients in Isreal. The findings suggested that people’s immunity to the virus began to “wane off” after the required two doses, especially among individuals who had become vaccinated between January or February. However, while Isreal has begun rolling out their third dose to older adults, NIH director Dr. Francis Collins told Fox News last week that the booster shots present a “tricky situation” for Americans.
“Right now, the data we have from the U.S. says people who are vaccinated are protected” against severe disease and death, Collins said, adding that while Isreal is leading the way towards combating the virus, that America is challenged in particular because the U.S. is a “different kind of country with different situations.”
