A booster shot targeting the most contagious omicron subvariants should be available on Long Island this week — the first step in a nationwide immunization campaign to ward off a potential surge of COVID-19 cases this fall and winter, state officials said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday approved the use of two “bivalent” booster shots that combine the original vaccine recipe with a new formula to provide enhanced protection against the BA. 4 and BA. 5 subvariants.
The 13-1 approval by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices came one day after the FDA greenlit the two-shot booster by Pfizer-BioNTech for those ages 12 and above and a single dose by Moderna for those 18 and older.
“The updated COVID-19 boosters are formulated to better protect against the most recently circulating COVID-19 variant,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in a statement. “They can help restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination and were designed to provide broader protection against newer variants.”
www.newsday.com/news/health/coronavirus/new-covid-19-booster-omicron-what-to-know-rsvk7bzu
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