DETROIT, August 13, 2021 ~ Monday, Pfizer and BioNTech submitted clinical trial data to the US Food and Drug Administration, seeking authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for everyone 16 and older — not just for those with compromised immune systems.
Wednesday, health officials announced booster shots will be available starting September 20, 2021, for fully vaccinated adults 18 and over. The booster dose will be administered a minimum of eight months after their second dose of the initial two-shot vaccine.
“I think we are sort of at this point mainly because we have not mandated vaccines for the population at this point,” Detroit Medical Center Dr. Patricia Wilkerson-Uddypack told 760 WJR’s Kevin Dietz.
August 18, 2021 ~ DMC\’s Dr. Patricia Wilkerson-Uddyback talks with Kevin Dietz about the Biden Administration\’s plan for COVID-19 booster shots.
August 18, 2021 ~ WJR Senior News Analyst Marie Osborne talks to Paul W. about the possibility of a third booster COVID-19 shot.
The booster will only apply to those who received the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Officials are still reviewing whether a booster is needed for those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and plans will be announced at a later date.
“As long as we continue to have unvaccinated folks in the community, the virus will continue to spread; and as long as the virus continues to spread, there’s going to continue to be mutations,” said Dr. Wilkerson-Uddypack. “And as long as there’s going to be mutations, then we need to have vaccine boosters.”
The federal government will instruct all nursing homes to require staff to be fully vaccinated, or face losses of funds for Medicare and Medicaid — an effort by the Biden Administration to get more Americans vaccinated.
“In order to make sure we are continuing to protect the population, then we have to give boosters,” said Dr. Wilkerson-Uddypack. “And this is no different from any virus that we’ve had to deal with, other than the fact that it is way more deadly.”
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