U.S. authorizes boosters for all adults starting Sept. 20

• All adults in the U.S. will be able to receive a third shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines beginning Sept. 20
• Officials are pushing for boosters after recent research found that the vaccines’ effectiveness wanes over time
• Critics argue that booster shots aren’t necessary right now and that other countries need the doses more

All adults in the U.S. will start to be able to receive a third shot of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines starting Sept. 20, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Individuals will be eligible once eight months have lapsed since their second dose of a vaccine. 

Health officials had debated for months whether a third dose of the vaccine was necessary, but recent data shows that protection from the initial doses, which were rolled starting in December, begins to fade over time.

“We know that even highly effective vaccines become less effective over time,” U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, said during a White House briefing. “It is now our clinical judgment that the time to lay out a plan for COVID boosters is now.”

Who is eligible for the booster shots?

People 18 years and older can get a booster shot eight months or more after their second dose. The first booster shots for all adults will be available starting Sept. 20.

As of now, adults who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines are eligible for the additional jab. There has not been a decision on another dose for recipients of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine. Health officials said that they will likely also need boosters, but they are waiting for data before recommending it.

The Food and Drug Administration had first approved additional doses for immunocompromised individuals last week. They attributed the emergency use authorizations of both vaccines due to the delta variant of the virus, which has caused COVID cases to skyrocket across the U.S. and threatens to bring daily case counts to over 200,000.

Side effects of the booster shot are similar to those of the second dose, according to research.

Why do I need a booster shot?

Virus variants are making booster shots necessary, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The New York Times reported that three studies from the CDC and the newspaper’s own reading of data from seven states has demonstrated that a rise in breakthrough infections among those vaccinated.

Still, the numbers back the idea that even without a booster, vaccinations help prevent recipients from having to be hospitalized for the virus. Recent data released by Israel showed that the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine reduced severe illness in people 60 and older who were vaccinated at the beginning of the year. A third dose is 86% effective in people aged over 60.

Doses for the rest of the world

Not everyone endorses the call for an additional shot. Much of the global population has yet to receive a first dose of the vaccine — just 23.9% of the world has been fully vaccinated. Earlier in August, the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on booster shots until at least the end of September in order to allow other countries to receive jabs.

“These data support giving additional doses of vaccine to highly immunocompromised persons and nursing home residents, not to the general public,” Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at Bellevue Hospital Center, told The New York Times. “Boosters would only be warranted if the vaccines were failing to prevent people from ending up hospitalized with COVID-19. … We’ll be better protected by vaccinating the unvaccinated here and around the world.”