Updated booster shots are free and will be available after Labor Day
Contributed By: The 411 News
Rollout of updated COVID-19 booster shots same as for COVID-19 vaccines
The Biden administration has purchased 171 million updated booster doses — 105 million from Pfizer and 66 million from Moderna — on recommendations from the FDA and the CDC that the U.S. population needed added protection against omicron subvariants.
“The updated Covid-19 boosters are formulated to better protect against the most recently circulating Covid-19 variant. They can help restore protection that has waned since previous vaccinations and were designed to provide broader protection against newer variants," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement on Thursday.
The FDA authorized Pfizer's shot for people ages 12 and up and Moderna's for ages 18 and up.
Department of Health and Human Services said people likely won't start getting updated boosters until after Labor Day.
After that, appointment availability is expected to ramp up over several days, with appointments becoming more broadly available in a few weeks, a senior administration official said. People will be able to search for the closest sites offering updated boosters at Vaccines.gov.
The CDC suggests that people wait at least two months since their most recent Covid shots to get the latest shots.
People who are elderly or immunocompromised should get boosted as soon as they meet those qualifications,
The CDC advises that people who recently had Covid consider delaying their boosters until three months after their symptoms started or, if they were asymptomatic, since their positive Covid tests.
The booster shots are free.
Story Posted:09/05/2022
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