:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/JBXZRVAKI5HLRETAXLNMTQRWCU.jpg "US to recommend Covid-19 booster after 8 months of second dose")
Federal experts plan to recommend boosters of the Covid-19 vaccine for all the americans, regardless of their age, eight months after they have received the second dose, in order to ensure longer protection against the coronavirus at a time when the delta variant is spreading across the country.
Federal health authorities have been actively examining whether additional injections would be required for those already vaccinated this fall, reviewing the numbers of cases in the United States, and also the situation in other countries such as Israel, where preliminary studies suggest that protection of the vaccine to prevent getting seriously ill from COVID-19 decreased among those inoculated in January.
The official announcement on the recommendation of a reinforcement in the United States is expected to take place even this week, according to two people with knowledge of the matter and who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to be able to testify. publicly about internal deliberations.
The doses would begin to be administered in a generalized way once the Food and Drug Administration (FDA for its initials in English) formally approves the vaccines. The Pfizer inoculation is anticipated to receive authorization in the coming weeks.
Last week, federal health authorities recommended boosters for some people with weakened immune systems, noting that they are at higher risk of catching the virus and that there is evidence that the effectiveness of vaccines decreases over time.
The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, said Sunday that the United States will decide in the next two weeks whether to offer booster shots against the coronavirus to Americans this fall.