Third corona vaccination: Biden defends the booster shot

New findings and increasing numbers of infections have caused the US health authority to rethink. There should be a third corona vaccination from mid-September. President Biden defends the booster shot.

When representatives of the vaccine manufacturer Pfizer warned in mid-July that the effect of the corona vaccine was waning, the US health authority CDC held against it: The US data would not provide any evidence, the Washington Post quoted as saying. But something has changed since then.

At the daily press conference, the head of the health department, Vivek Murthy, now announced plans for a so-called booster shot for all fully vaccinated adults, eight months after the last vaccination. It could start on September 20th. “The plan is dependent on the independent FDA evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of a third dose of BioNTec / Pfizer and Moderna MRNA vaccines,” he said.

Change of direction due to new knowledge

Murthy cites new data as the reason for the change in direction. After that, the protection against a mild or moderate corona disease diminishes over time. And the doctors cite the high risk of infection of the Delta variant. Fully vaccinated elderly people and adults whose immune systems have been compromised have also developed serious Covid diseases in individual cases in the USA.

Biden defends third vaccination

US President Joe Biden defended the plans in the White House: “There are some heads of state and government who say Americans shouldn’t get the third vaccination while other states don’t even give the first dose. I disagree. We can take care of America and help the world at the same time. ”

In June and July the United States administered 50 million doses and exported 100 million doses. However, the sharp rise in the number of corona cases in the USA associated Biden with little interest in getting vaccinated at all, for example in states like Arkansas and Alabama.

The Washington government is therefore relying on regulations – for example in certain nursing homes. “If you work in a nursing home that’s funded by federal Medicare or Medicaid, you need to get vaccinated,” Biden said.

Previously, states like Maryland had begun to require vaccinations for employees in hospitals and nursing homes. There is a deadline of September 1st for employees. The US authorities are currently reporting an average of 140,000 new corona cases per day nationwide.