March 29, 2023 – The CDC updated its COVID-19 booster vaccination guidelines to make clear that only a single dose of the most recent bivalent booster vaccine is currently really useful.
“If you have completed your updated booster dose, you are currently up to date. There is no recommendation to receive another updated booster dose,” said the CDC website explains it now.
In January, the national COVID expert panel really useful that the U.S. implement an annual COVID booster shot in the autumn, just like the annual flu shot, targeting probably the most common strains of the virus. Recent studies have shown that the booster's effect wears off after a couple of months, sparking debate about whether people at high risk for severe COVID may have multiple annual shot.
The last time a latest booster dose was really useful was in September, when the bivalent booster vaccine was released, offering latest protection against omicron variants of the virus. The focus of health authorities is now shifting from stopping infection to reducing the likelihood of severe infection. San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“The bottom line is that protection wanes in people who received a booster shot more than six months ago and have not had an intervening infection,” said Bob Wachter, MD, chair of the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine, based on the timeline“But protection against severe infection is still relatively high, so good that people who are not at extremely high risk can probably safely wait until a new booster vaccine comes out in the fall.”
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that many individuals have asked their doctors to provide them one other booster shot that just isn't approved by the FDA.
About 8 in 10 people within the U.S. have received the primary COVID-19 vaccine, which was first approved in August 2021. But only 16.4% of individuals within the U.S. have received the most recent booster shot, which was approved in September. CDC data showsp.
The number of people that tested positive for COVID in hospital fell to five,738 on Wednesday, based on the New York Times trackera rate last seen in spring 2022. Most hospitalizations are amongst people aged 60 and over. Last week, 2,060 people died of COVID. The virus is the third leading reason behind death within the US