Covid booster shots are set to be rolled out as early as next Wednesday — after tests showed they trigger protection against new variants.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mandy Cohen, is expected to sign off on the shots on September 13, making them available.
CDC experts are yet to say who will be offered the updated vaccines, but the White House previously suggested they would be made available to all age groups.
Only 17 percent of Americans came forward to get the shots last year, amid growing vaccine hesitancy and suggestions that youngsters — who have stronger immune systems — do not need the updated shots.
It is not clear who will be offered the shots, but the White House previously suggested they would be made available to all age groups (stock photo)
The updated boosters are being made by Pfizer and Moderna and have been designed to target the XBB.1.5 Covid variant.
Early test results from Moderna show, however, that they are also effective against the Pirola strain — scientifically named BA.2.86.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to authorize the shots within the next seven days.
Then an independent panel of advisors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to meet on September 12 to determine who should receive the updated boosters.
The CDC director could sign off on the shots as early as September 13, making them available to the public.
