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BREAKING NEWS: White House announces COVID-19 booster shots will be available to Americans who received Pfizer and Moderna vaccines eight months after second dose starting week of September 20

  COVID-19 vaccine booster shots will soon be made available to recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech and   Moderna   vaccines starting the week...

 COVID-19 vaccine booster shots will soon be made available to recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines starting the week of September 20, the White House announced on Wednesday.

Adults over age 18 who received the two-shot vaccines will be eligible for the third shot eight months after receiving the second and final dose.

The decision is pending approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a recommendation made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) advisory committee.

There is currently no plan in place for Americans who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.


Americans who received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine will be eligible for booster shots starting the week of September 20

Americans who received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine will be eligible for booster shots starting the week of September 20

US to begin offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots in September
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The announcement comes after the FDA approved vaccine booster shots for immunocompromised Americans last week. 

Officials cited the waning immunity the current crop of COVID-19 vaccines have, combined with the Indian 'Delta' variant's ability to cause breakthrough cases as the reason why boosters are needed. 

The CDC released three study on Wednesday, which director Dr Rochelle Walensky said shows that 'vaccine protection begins to decrease over time.'

One study from the Mayo Clinic Minnesota found the Pfizer vaccine is only 42 percent effective against the Delta variant, and the Moderna vaccine is only 76 percent effective.  

A second study found that vaccines' effectiveness against COVID-19 diagnoses  dropped from 96 percent to 80 percent in New York state between May 2021 and July 2021.

The third study found thre-Delta, the effectiveness of the shots against infections in nursing home residents was 75 percent. Post-Delta, this had fallen to 53 percent.

While the shot's ability to defend a person from contracting the virus decreases over time, fully vaccinated people are still very unlikely to suffer hospitalization or death from COVID-19.  

However, White House officials said at the press conference that they have concerns the decline of the vaccines' effectiveness will continue. 


Effectiveness of the Moderna (yellow) and Pfizer (blue) COVID-19 vaccines began to drop in June and July as the 'Delta' variant became more prevalent in Minesota. Moderna had an effectiveness of 76%, while Pfizer's vaccine was 42% effective, according to a Mayo Clinic study

Effectiveness of the Moderna (yellow) and Pfizer (blue) COVID-19 vaccines began to drop in June and July as the 'Delta' variant became more prevalent in Minesota. Moderna had an effectiveness of 76%, while Pfizer's vaccine was 42% effective, according to a Mayo Clinic study

Dr Rochelle Walensky (pictured), director of the CDC, says that more than one million uauthorized booster shots have already been distributed. She was among a panel of health officials at a White House news conference on Wednesday announcing plans to start rolling out vaccine booster shots to Americans in September

Dr Rochelle Walensky (pictured), director of the CDC, says that more than one million uauthorized booster shots have already been distributed. She was among a panel of health officials at a White House news conference on Wednesday announcing plans to start rolling out vaccine booster shots to Americans in September

The third dose will provide people with additional antibodies and shore up protection against Delta, and any other future variants.

Declining efficacy is common among vaccines.

The flu shot is required every year due to how quickly the efficacy declines, and even some longer term vaccines like the tetanus shots require boosters every year.

While there are no plans yet laid out, the FDA says they plan to eventually approve booster shots for J&J recipients, but cannot yet do so due to a lack of data.

'We...anticipate booster shots will likely be needed for people who received the J&J vaccine,' a joint statement from the HHS and public health experts said on Wednesday.

'Administration of the J&J vaccine did not begin in the U.S. until March 2021, and we expect more data on J&J in the next few weeks. With those data in hand, we will keep the public informed with a timely plan for J&J booster shots as well.'

That has not stopped many from going out of their way to receive unauthorized shots of a Pfizer or Moderna dose to compliment their J&J vaccine, though.

Last week, the CDC reported that more than one million Americans across the country have received unauthorized shots

The new booster shot directives will effect over 150 million Americans who are fully vaccinated with either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

The nearly 14 million Americans who have received the J&J vaccine remain in limbo at the moment.

White House officials also announced that they believe the country will hit 200 million people at least partially vaccinated at some point on Wednesday,

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