The United States will start offering COVID-19 booster shots next month to individuals who were fully vaccinated with the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer messenger RNA vaccines.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, U.S. public health officials and medical experts including Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Cenrers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Dr. Janet Woodcock, Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, stated that the COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the country remained “remarkably effective in reducing risl of severe disease, hospitalization, and death” even against the highly-transmissible Delta variant.
However, they explained that a COVID-19 booster shot is necessary to “provide long-lasting protection.” Scientific data showed that protection against mild and moderate disease starts to decrease overtime given the dominance of the Delta variant.
According to the health and medical experts, the COVID -19 booster shot will be administered eight months after a person received the second dose.
