‘All Americans will get COVID-19 booster shots’

U.S. health officials Wednesday announced plans to dispense COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and signs that the vaccines’ effectiveness is slipping, reports The Associated Press.

The plan, as outlined by the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other top authorities, calls for an extra dose eight months after people get their second shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

The doses could begin the week of Sept. 20.

“Our plan is to protect the American people, to stay ahead of this virus,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said as the agency cited a raft of studies suggesting that the vaccines are losing ground while the highly contagious variant spreads.

People who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will also probably need extra shots, health officials said. But they said they are waiting for more data.

Officials said that before any booster program starts up, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a CDC advisory panel would need to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of an extra dose.