STORM WATCH

Snow, wintry mix & rain showers arrive overnight from an early-winter storm

FDA announces new guidance on COVID booster shots

Early data suggests that protection has started to decrease from the bivalent booster. That is the booster developed to protect against the omicron strain.

Rose Shannon and Gillian Neff

Apr 22, 2023, 2:19 PM

Updated 592 days ago

Share:

The FDA and CDC have approved additional doses of the bivalent COVID booster.
Health officials say serious cases of COVID-19 continue to decrease because many people have either been sick with the infection or received the vaccine.
However, early data suggests that protection has started to decrease from the bivalent booster. That is the booster developed to protect against the omicron strain.
The FDA now recommends people 65 and older receive an additional dose of the Pfizer or Moderna bivalent vaccine now, if it's been four months since their last one.
Most immunocompromised people can also get a second bivalent vaccine, two months after their first one.
For immunocompromised children between six months and four years old, a second vaccine will depend on the first vaccine received. Officials suggest parents speak to their children's doctor.
The FDA is expected to have further guidance for those not immunocompromised in June.
It will be based on input from doctors and scientists who are working to predict what strain or strains of COVID will surface in the fall.