The Biden administration plans to urge all Americans to get a booster shot for the coronavirus this autumn to counter a new wave of infections, a White House official said on Sunday.
The official said that while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reporting an increase in infections and hospital admissions from the virus, overall levels remain low.
On Thursday, Moderna (MRNA.O) said initial data showed its updated COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the “Eris” and “Fornax” subvariants in humans.
Moderna and other COVID-19 vaccine makers Novavax (NVAX.O), Pfizer (PFE.N) and German partner BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) have created versions of their shots aimed at the XBB.1.5 subvariant.
Pending approval from health regulators in the United States and Europe, the companies expect the updated shots to be available in the coming weeks for the autumn vaccination season.
“We will be encouraging all Americans to get those boosters in addition to flu shots and RSV shots,” the official said, referring to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
Is this gonna become a yearly thing?
When we failed to take the initial spread seriously and let the thing turn endemic, yes. Yes it will. Much like the flu.
Failing implies an attempt. The government deliberately chose to lift restrictions prematurely, knowing it would result in the deaths of millions of people, just to make billionaires richer.
While I agree with your assertion that it was done for financial reasons, it was already endemic by the time the world noticed.
Well that’s depressing.
Likely, but keep in mind, generally overtime, viruses become less* lethal as its the non lethal ones that survive to spread(as lethal ones kill host, and killing the host is detrimental for the spread of a virus)
While that is normally true, covid spreads before symptoms show. So it doesn’t select as well for non-lethality since lethal variants have plenty of time to spread before it kills the host.
Not really. Most viruses get weaker as they mutate. It only makes it easier for the virus to survive and thrive if it is less destructive to its host.
If viruses got more violent we’d all had died from the common cold a long time ago.
You said lethal where I think you meant non-lethal. This is confusing your point.
True it just sucks that it’s yet another thing I have to worry about just to live and perform my job correctly. I hate getting sick regardless of lethality.