US states offer booster vaccine in preparation for winter Covid surge

In a bid to prevent a resurgence of coronavirus infections during the winter holiday season health officials in the US are pushing for patients to get an extra booster shot of the vaccine. States such as California, Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas and West Virginia, as well as New York City are requesting that boosters be made available to anyone over 18.

Moderna and Pfizer have already requested the Food and Drugs Administration to grant emergency authorization for their respective coronavirus vaccinations to be administered as booster shots to adults 18 and above. With worries over waning vaccine immunity amid steadily increasing infections throughout the country, Biden administration officials are pushing federal health officials to open access to all adults. The FDA is expected to make a decision this week.

A recent spike in infections amongst even the fully vaccinated has seen the age group of 65 and above as the most represented in hospitals across the country, with numbers even higher than those in younger age groups said Rochelle Walensky, director at the Center for Disease Control. Under that scenario, any adult who received a second dose of the vaccine at least six months earlier would be officially eligible to get a booster as soon as this weekend.

Dr. Anthony Fauciof National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease has said that the 'small but significant' population of fully-vaccinated (two-dose) ending up in hospitals is due to lack of booster shots.

The FDA is reportedly expected to rule without consulting its own expert panel, which has met frequently during the pandemic to review vaccine data and make a recommendation ahead of a regulatory decision.