The US surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNBC that the Biden government is recommending Covid booster vaccinations to most vaccinated Americans starting September 20 to stay one step ahead of the virus.
“We put our heads together, the top public health and medicine officials at the Department of Health and Social Affairs, and have come to the conclusion that it would be wise to start booster vaccinations after eight months to get one step ahead of this virus.” and make sure people have and are receiving protection from the vaccines they had for the past few months, “Murthy said.
A vaccine advisory committee from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have yet to formally sign the plan before states can begin giving third doses.
Murthy told The News with Shepard Smith that the government’s booster shot strategy is also about transparency.
“We’re making plans now because, firstly, we need to plan ahead, but secondly, we wanted the public to know what we were seeing with the data in an effort to be transparent and open to the public,” said Murthy.
U.S. health officials are basing their decisions on new data showing that vaccination protection wears off over time. The vaccines were 92% effective against Covid infection before the Delta variant spread in the US, but data shows that protection has dropped to 64%.