The United States last week authorized the new version of the Pfizer and Moderna covid-19 vaccines that target the omicron variant, and more specifically the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, currently in circulation in the country.
The doses have already begun to be distributed so that the extensive reinforcement campaign planned by the government to contain a possible new wave of winter can begin this week.
Unless a “very different” variant suddenly emerges, “we are probably going to move towards a vaccination rhythm similar to that of the annual flu vaccination, with anticovid booster doses updated to act against the last strain in circulation” , said Dr. Anthony Fauci, an adviser to the White House, during a press conference.
Although the last two winter seasons have seen large surges in cases and deaths, “that need not happen again this year,” President Joe Biden said in a statement later.
“If you are 12 years old or older, get your covid-19 booster this fall,” added the president.
The proposal could make it easier to accept booster doses in a country where barely half of eligible people have been inoculated.
However, frail people, such as the elderly or immunosuppressed, may need more frequent boosters, Fauci said.
Pfizer’s booster vaccine to combat the omicron variant was licensed for those over 12, and Moderna’s for those 18.
The BA.4 and BA.5 variants currently account for more than 99% of the approximately 80,000 new infections detected daily in the United States.
The entrance The US bets on an annual vaccination booster campaign against covid-19 was first published in diary TODAY.
