Covid-19 Booster Shots With Rise of Delta Variant

With the rise of the Delta variant across the United States, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is recommending that fully vaccinated people who received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine should get the booster shot approximately eight months after their second dose, so that people can have longer lasting and stronger immunity.

The CDC is stating that “People who got the J&J/Janssen vaccine will likely need a booster dose of the J&J/Janssen vaccine, and more data are expected in the coming weeks,” but “Because the J&J/Janssen vaccine wasn’t given in the United States until 70 days after the first mRNA vaccine doses (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna), the data needed to make this decision aren’t available yet.” According to Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC), the Covid booster shot is projected to be ready by September 20, 2021. The first to receive the booster vaccine will be high risk/immunocompromised people, and people with essential jobs such as doctors, nurses, and EMTs.

The CDC reports that although we may need booster vaccinations, the original mRNA vaccines are working very well to prevent the spread, hospitalization, and severe illness due to the delta variant.

A statement from the CDC also stated the urgency for people to get the first two doses of the vaccine. They expressed that “Nearly all the cases of severe disease, hospitalization, and death continue to occur among those not yet vaccinated at all.” On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for a halt in distributing the booster vaccine in wealthier countries for the rest of the year, to allow poorer nations a chance to get their original vaccinations and even it out.