The Biden administration is reportedly planning to begin expanding access to COVID-19 boosters to all adults as early as this week, though several states and cities have already beat them to it, reports Axios and The Wall Street Journal.
The decisions on both the federal and state level arrive ahead of the holidays, when families typically gather indoors and in large groups. Boosters have thus far been federally recommended only for the elderly and the high-risk.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"We want you to get the booster because the data indicates that the effectiveness of the vaccine deteriorates over time," said Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R).
"Boosters can provide one more layer of reassurance, allowing us to breathe a bit easier, either for ourselves or our loved ones," explained New York City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi when announcing the Monday decision.
But despite the push, some experts don't believe broad boosting will prevent a winter surge. Said FDA vaccine-advisory panel member Paul Offit to the Journal: "If we really want to get on top of this pandemic, it's not a matter of boosting the vaccinated, it's a matter of vaccinating the unvaccinated."
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
The new Stratus Covid strain – and why it’s on the riseThe Explainer ‘No evidence’ new variant is more dangerous or that vaccines won’t work against it, say UK health experts
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
