The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that all fully vaccinated adults should get their COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to fight off the omicron variant.
- “Today, CDC is strengthening its recommendation on booster doses for individuals who are 18 years and older,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, in a statement. “Everyone ages 18 and older should get a booster shot either when they are six months after their initial Pfizer or Moderna series or 2 months after their initial J&J vaccine.”
Walensky said the omicron variant “emphasizes the importance of vaccination, boosters, and prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19.”
- “I strongly encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to vaccinate the children and teens in their families as well because strong immunity will likely prevent serious illness,” she said. “I also want to encourage people to get a COVID-19 test if they are sick. Increased testing will help us identify Omicron quickly.”
Getting the vaccine has proven to be a common tool for staying safe from omicron. Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, told CNN on Sunday that getting the COVID-19 vaccine can protect people best right now.
- “It also means we need to pay attention to those mitigation strategies that people are just really sick of, like wearing masks while indoors with other people who might not be vaccinated and keeping that social distance issue,” he added. “I know, America — you’re really tired of hearing those things. But the virus is not tired of us. And it’s shapeshifting itself.”
Dr. Eddie Stenehjem, an Intermountain Healthcare infectious diseases physician, told the Deseret News that people shouldn’t be worried yet about the latest coronavirus variant since it will take some time to get more data on it.
- “At this point, I would tell people not to be scared,” he said.