To boost or not to boost, that is the question.
In September, the Biden Administration plans to offer updated booster shots from both Pfizer and Moderna. The new boosters are reformulated to be more effective against recent COVID-19 variants.
In light of this, the Food & Drug Administration recommends anyone under age 50 who is due for a second booster wait until they can receive a new one. But for those who are eligible now, is it better to wait?
> Schedule your COVID-19 vaccine or booster now
Should you wait for the new booster if you’re eligible for a booster now?
According to preliminary data, the new boosters should better protect people against the Omicron subvariant BA.5, which is now dominant in the country and more infectious than previous strains.
“We still recommend that people get boosters now and not wait,” said Ulysses Wu, MD, medical director of infectious disease at Hartford HealthCare.
Who is currently eligible for a second booster?
Currently, only Americans over 50 and those over 12 with certain immune deficiencies are eligible for the second booster.
Leading health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have called for making second boosters available to younger Americans.
The new, improved booster this fall will hopefully strengthen the nation’s herd immunity against a potential winter surge of COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recording an average of 124,000 cases of COVID-19 each day in the United States. Vaccination efforts have helped curb the number of fatalities and cases of severe infection, but transmission still remains a concern.