Current:Home > StocksOlder US adults should get another COVID-19 shot, health officials recommend-LoTradeCoin
Older US adults should get another COVID-19 shot, health officials recommend
View Date:2024-12-24 07:08:22
NEW YORK — Older U.S. adults should roll up their sleeves for another COVID-19 shot, even if they got a booster in the fall, U.S. health officials said Wednesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Americans 65 and older should get another dose of the updated vaccine that became available in September — if at least four months has passed since their last shot. In making the recommendation, the agency endorsed guidance proposed by an expert advisory panel earlier in the day.
"Most COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations last year were among people 65 years and older. An additional vaccine dose can provide added protection ... for those at highest risk," CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement.
The advisory panel's decision came after a lengthy discussion about whether to say older people "may" get the shots or if they "should" do so. That reflects a debate among experts about how necessary another booster is and whether yet another recommendation would add to the public's growing vaccine fatigue.
Some doctors say most older adults are adequately protected by the fall shot, which built on immunity derived from earlier vaccinations and exposure to the virus itself. And preliminary studies so far have shown no substantial waning in vaccine effectiveness over six months.
However, the body's vaccine-induced defenses tend to fade over time, and that happens faster in seniors than in other adults. The committee had recommended COVID-19 booster doses for older adults in 2022 and 2023.
COVID-19 remains a danger, especially to older people and those with underlying medical conditions. There are still more than 20,000 hospitalizations and more than 2,000 deaths each week due to the coronavirus, according to the CDC. And people 65 and older have the highest hospitalization and death rates.
Some members of the advisory panel said a "should" recommendation is meant to more clearly prod doctors and pharmacists to offer the shots.
"Most people are coming in either wanting the vaccine or not," said Dr. Jamie Loehr, a committee member and family doctor in Ithaca, New York. "I am trying to make it easier for providers to say, 'Yes, we recommend this.'"
In September, the government recommended a new COVID-19 shot recipe built against a version of the coronavirus called XBB.1.5. That single-target vaccine replaced combination shots that had been targeting both the original coronavirus strain and a much earlier omicron version.
The CDC recommended the new shots for everyone 6 months and older, and allowed that people with weak immune systems could get a second dose as early as two months after the first.
Most Americans haven't listened. According to the latest CDC data, 13% of U.S. children have gotten the shots and about 22% of U.S. adults have. The vaccination rate is higher for adults 65 and older, at nearly 42%.
"In each successive vaccine, the uptake has gone down," said Dr. David Canaday, a Case Western Reserve University infectious diseases expert who studies COVID-19 in older people.
"People are tired of getting all these shots all the time," said Canaday, who does not serve on the committee. "We have to be careful about over-recommending the vaccine."
But there is a subset of Americans — those at higher danger of severe illness and death — who have been asking if another dose is permissible, said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccines expert who serves on a committee workgroup that has been debating the booster question.
Indeed, CDC survey data suggests that group's biggest worry about the vaccine is whether it's effective enough.
Agency officials say that among those who got the latest version of the COVID-19 vaccine, 50% fewer will get sick after they come into contact with the virus compared with those who didn't get the fall shot.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Eva Longoria calls US 'dystopian' under Trump, has moved with husband and son
- Makeup You Can Sleep in That Actually Improves Your Skin? Yes, That’s a Thing and It’s 45% Off
- British billionaire Joe Lewis may dodge prison time at his sentencing for insider trading
- Maritime terminal prepares for influx of redirected ships as the Baltimore bridge cleanup continues
- College football Week 12 expert picks for every Top 25 game include SEC showdowns
- Courageous K-9 killed while protecting officer from MS-13 gang members during Virginia prison attack, officials say
- Russia: US shares blame in a concert hall attack claimed by Islamic militants
- British billionaire Joe Lewis may dodge prison time at his sentencing for insider trading
- US inflation may have picked up in October after months of easing
- Armed teen with mental health issues shot to death by sheriff’s deputies in Southern California
Ranking
- RHOP's Candiace Dillard Bassett Gives Birth, Shares First Photos of Baby Boy
- A former Houston police officer is indicted again on murder counts in a fatal 2019 drug raid
- Without Lionel Messi, Inter Miami falls 2-1 to Monterrey in first leg of Champions Cup
- Caitlin Clark, Iowa return to Final Four. Have the Hawkeyes won the national championship?
- Video shows masked man’s apparent attempt to kidnap child in NYC; suspect arrested
- Foul play suspected in disappearance of two women driving to pick up kids in Oklahoma
- Ticket price for women's NCAA Final Four skyrockets to more than $2,000
- University of Kentucky Dancer Kate Kaufling Dead at 20
Recommendation
-
This is Your Sign To Share this Luxury Gift Guide With Your Partner *Hint* *Hint
-
Caitlin Clark of Iowa is the AP Player of the Year in women’s hoops for the 2nd straight season
-
9 children dead after old land mine explodes in Afghanistan
-
Police say 5-year-old Michigan boy killed when he and 6-year-old find gun at grandparents’ home
-
Taylor Swift drops Christmas merchandise collection, including for 'Tortured Poets' era
-
Houthis may be running low on their weapons stocks as attacks on ships slow, US commander says
-
Disney shareholders back CEO Iger, rebuff activist shareholders who wanted to shake up the company
-
Officer hired as sheriff’s deputy despite involvement in fatal Manuel Ellis arrest resigns