COVID boosters

Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, attends a Senate hearing in Washington last July. She spoke to NPR shortly after the CDC recommended updated booster shots.

There's no bad time to get a new COVID booster if you're eligible, CDC director says

10:11am September 02, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

People can get the Moderna booster if they're 18 or older, and the Pfizer-BioNTech version if they're 12 and up. In both cases, they must wait at least two months since their last COVID vaccine.

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Vials of the newly reformulated COVID-19 vaccine booster are being readied by Pfizer for distribution now that the Food and Drug Administration has authorized the shots for people 12 and older.

Health & Safety

FDA authorizes first revamp of COVID vaccines to target omicron

11:01am August 31, 2022

The new shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech target both the original strain of the coronavirus and the omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants that most people are catching now.

The FDA is trying to make "bivalent" COVID vaccines, which target two different antigens, available as soon as September.

Reformulated COVID vaccine boosters may be available earlier than expected

11:17am July 26, 2022

by Rob Stein

The Biden administration may scrap plans to expand eligibility for second boosters to younger adults. Instead, it's trying to speed up the next generation of boosters targeting the omicron variant.

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The FDA has authorized second booster shots for people over 50 and for some people who are immunocompromised.

Do I really need another booster? The answer depends on age, risk and timing

3:10pm March 30, 2022

Health officials argue the protection of the COVID vaccine booster wanes over time and say some people need a second booster. But other infectious disease experts say three shots are enough for now.

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