Updated COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots are expected to be available nationwide as soon as today, after a CDC panel of outside vaccine advisers voted by a wide majority to back new shots for newer variants ahead of the fall virus season. Via CBS News:
The CDC panel's vote comes after the FDA approved and authorized the new shots from Moderna and Pfizer on Monday, amid an increase in COVID hospitalizations and concern about the spread of several new variants.
"CDC is now recommending updated COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 6 months and older to better protect you and your loved ones," CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a release after signing off on the panel's recommendations. The CDC committee voted in favor of "universal" recommendations for the shots to all Americans who are eligible, after weighing data and modeling backing the need for the new shots.
"The public can be assured that these updated vaccines have met the agency's rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. We very much encourage those who are eligible to consider getting vaccinated," Dr. Peter Marks, director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a news release announcing the move. The FDA said it greenlighted at least one dose of the updated vaccines for Americans as young as 6 months old.
A personal note: I've had the new version. (I think I caught it from the tow truck driver after my car was totaled a month ago.) You don't want it. Three weeks of a nagging cough and crushing fatigue, but the hardest symptom for me was the excruciating headache* that came with it. And despite the fact that yes, it is milder than some variants, but there are still a lot of people being hospitalized as a result. (An average of a 16% jump in hospitalizations since it started, with some states as high as 30%.) Read all about it.
*OTC stuff didn't make a dent.
