COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose – What You Need to Know

A third coronavirus vaccine dose or COVID-19 vaccine booster dose is finally here. The Biden administration announced a third Covid-19 shot starting in the fall for all vaccinated adults in the United States. This new booster dose is for those who were fully vaccinated, and it’s been eight months since their second shot.

Why is a Third Dose recommended?

Even with the two-shot regimen of the United States’ most popular COVID-19 vaccines, individuals may fall sick and get infected with the highly contagious Delta variant. With this third booster dose, we can expect to attain immunity against the deadly strain and stop the community infection spread.

COVID-19 Vaccine Booster – Pfizer and Moderna:

The announcement mentioned that the soon-to-be-available Pfizer and Moderna third doses would be for more than 155 million Americans who have been fully vaccinated with messenger-RNA vaccines. Under this new expanded vaccination plan, health officials, front-line workers, and immune-compromised individuals are the first ones to receive the extra dose, followed by people above the age of 65 and residents of chronic-care facilities. According to national health officials, people will get the booster dose from the same company as the two-dose regimen they had received earlier.

When Be Will COVID Booster Available?

Both vaccine manufacturers have mentioned having ample supplies to meet the booster shot requirements, as announced by the USA government. For people ages 18 and older, the booster shot will be administered about eight months after their second dose. The U.S. government is preparing to offer boosters starting the second half of September 2021.

What CDC Has To Say?

CDC’s director Rachelle Walensky said that the new booster shot would help people with the weakened immune system to get protection against the deadly Delta variant, which is the reason behind the surging coronavirus infections in the USA. Like the previous two dosages, this vaccine dose will prevent serious and possibly life-threatening cases within this population, according to Rachelle Walensky during a press conference. While the top U.S. health agencies initially recommended an additional dose only for people with compromised immune systems, they have now supported the government’s decision to mass-administer a third dose to help the community fight against the Delta variant.

But Who Qualifies?

While the initial doses are limited to “moderately to severely immunocompromised people,” all fully vaccinated individuals who received an mRNA vaccine will receive a third booster dose, the Biden administration said during the booster dose announcement. According to a report released by the CDC, approximately 3% of the fully vaccinated population classify as moderately to severely immunocompromised.

Immunocompromised conditions that qualify for a third COVID-19 dose starting September 2021 include:

• Patients with active cancer treatment
• Organ transplant recipients
• Individuals taking medicine suppressing the immune system
• Recipients of stem cell transplant therapy
• People with moderate to severe primary immunodeficiency conditions
• Those with advanced or untreated HIV infections
• Patients actively receiving high-dose corticosteroids or other immune suppressants

Will Johnson & Johnson Offer a Booster?

A booster dose for the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine has not been announced. More data on the Janssen vaccine is needed to consider a booster dose for the recipient, said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Seemingly, the agency is expecting to receive more data in the coming weeks.

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