FDA Authorizes Second COVID Vaccine Booster Shots For Adults Age 50 And Older
BOSTON (CBS) - The FDA has approved a second COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for anyone 50 or older who has received Moderna or Pfizer. For 70-year-old Alfred Stevenson of Cambridge this is good news. "Getting the second booster shot is I think is very important and I am certainly going to do that," Stevenson said.
Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes is Chief of Division of Infectious Diseases for Mass General/Brigham Hospitals. "The authorization of a fourth shot or second booster shot by the FDA really provides people flexibility for those who are 50 and over," Dr. Kuritzkes said.
Health officials say you can get the second booster as early as four months after your first booster dose. But Dr. Kuritzkes says folks don't have to rush.
"We're at the moment in a lull and I think it may be necessary to get boosted if we see that we are entering another spike or come the fall when we might expect that there is going to be an increase in cases again," he said.
And health officials are keeping a close watch on BA.2 omicron subvariant, which accounts for most of the cases here in Massachusetts.
"We are seeing that the levels of virus in the wastewater are increasing whether that's because people are shedding more virus or because more people are infected we don't quite know but I think there is a bit of a plateau and maybe even a tiny uptick in the numbers of cases," he said.
Health officials say the most important message is for those who are still unvaccinated to get vaccinated.