The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strengthened its recommendations for the COVID-19 booster shot on Monday after the rise of the new Omicron variant.
The CDC initially said Americans over age 50 should get booster shots, while all other adults may decide to do so based on their individual risk, according to the New York Times. They recommend all eligible adults get a booster shot when they're six months after the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or two months after the single-shot Johnson Johnson vaccine.
The CDC is strengthening its recommendation on booster doses for people who are 18 years and older, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. The 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated should get vaccinated as soon as possible, and vaccinate the children and teens in their families as well. The new variant of Omicron has sparked a series of new recommendations from world leaders as they navigated how to deal with the new variant that is now labeled a variant of concern. On Monday, the World Health Organization warned that the new Omicron variant has a very high global risk and urged national authorities to step up relief efforts such as vaccination and testing.
The recent emergence of the Omicron variant further emphasizes the importance of vaccine, boosters, and prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID, according to Walensky.
Scientists don't know if current COVID vaccine protects against the new variant, but there have been no Omicron-linked deaths yet. It is not known whether this variant presents a different severity profile or whether it could escape protection against immunity induced by previous infections, the WHO said.
The Omicron variant has been found in at least 16 different countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and the U.K.
Walensky said that to prevent the spread of COVID 19 we need to follow the prevention strategies we know work, and that measures include vaccination, wearing masks, improving ventilation indoors and socially distancing.