US to Begin Offering COVID-19 Booster Shots Starting September 20

On Wednesday, top health officials from the Biden Administration made an announcement that all Americans will be able to get booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines starting on September 20.

Leading medical experts and public health officials made a joint statement which confirmed that the administration is developing a plan to offer the booster doses after they had extensively reviewed a wide array of data.

The plan only refers to both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and states that individuals would be eligible 8 months after their second dose.

Officials also stated that they expect an additional dose will also likely be needed for those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but further review is still needed.

The announcement comes after officials decided a third shot would be needed due to waning immunity of the vaccines caused largely by the Delta variant, which has now widely spread throughout the country.

The statement is signed by some of the highest health experts in the nation, including Rochelle Walensky, Vivek H. Murthy, and Anthony S. Fauci, among others.

“The available data make very clear that protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection begins to decrease over time following the initial doses of vaccination, and in association with the dominance of the Delta variant, we are starting to see evidence of reduced protection against mild and moderate disease,” the statement said.

The decision is subject to FDA approval, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Shortly before the administration made the announcement, the World Health Organization made a statement pushing back on giving booster doses to healthy individuals while much of the world still has little access to the vaccines.