COVID-19 Booster Shots To Be Offered Starting In September

The Biden Administration today announced it will begin offering COVID-19 booster shots next month, with studies showing the immunity to the virus provided by vaccines declines after about eight months.

In a statement from the top public health officials, the administration said it is developing plans to start offering booster shots on September 20 for those who received either the Pfizer and Moderna 2-shot vaccine. They anticipate also offering a booster for those who got the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine but say more data is needed before they can make that recommendation.

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

Among the evidence is the increasing number of 'breakthrough' cases -- vaccinated individuals who test positive for COVID although few of those cases result in serious illness, and so far almost never in death.

"Right now, this pandemic is for the unvaccinated," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a Zoom interview this afternoon. Jean-Pierre says the first order of business, in Oklahoma and across the country, is for everyone to get vaccinated.

"It’s free, it’s easy," said Jean-Pierre, "it’s never been easier to get vaccinated, so please do that."

Those who have been vaccinated -- with just the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for now -- should now begin planning to get the booster, officials say. beginning next month.

"Starting September 20 and beyond," said Jean-Pierre, "once you hit that eight-month mark from your second shot, you’ll be able to get the booster."

Members of the administration's Covid Response Team say the evidence indicates the body's immune response begins to weaken around the 8-month mark. Accordingly, the booster shots will be available only if it's been eight months since the recipient's second shot. Thus, the individuals who were fully vaccinated earliest in the vaccination rollout, including many health care providers, nursing home residents, and other seniors, will likely be the first to get the shots.

FDA approval is needed before any booster shots can be given, but officials don't anticipate a holdup.

"We’ve been planning for this from the beginning," Jean-Pierre said, "so we will have booster shots for everyone in this country."

"It will be just as easy and convenient to get a booster shot as it is to get the first shot today," said Jeffrey Zients, White House Covid Response Team coordinator. "We have enough vaccine supply for every American."