The US Will Be Making COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Doses Available Starting In September

Some Americans who are fully vaccinated will be able to access COVID-19 vaccine booster doses starting on September 20.

Officials announced on August 18 that the U.S. plans to offer third doses to fully vaccinated adults who are 18 years of age or older. They will become eligible for the booster dose eight months after receiving their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that fully vaccinated Americans still have a "high degree of protection" against the worst outcomes of COVID-19 including severe illness, hospitalization and death but recent data shows protection against mild and moderate illness has decreased.

"This is likely due to both the waning immunity and the strength of the widespread Delta variant," he said. "We are not recommending that you go out and get a booster today. Instead, starting the week of September 20, fully vaccinated adults could begin getting their booster shots eight months after their second shot of an mRNA vaccine."

Rolling out boosters like this will ensure that people who were fully vaccinated earlier will be eligible for a third dose first, according to Murthy.

Before this announcement, both Pfizer and Moderna had said that booster doses of their vaccines would likely be needed soon. When it comes to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, American officials said they anticipate that boosters will likely be needed as well and more data on that will be available in the coming weeks.

For weeks now, the World Health Organization has been calling for countries to hold off on administering booster doses until at least the end of September because millions of people around the world still haven't received the first dose of a vaccine. The goal of the moratorium is to help at least 10% of the population in every country get vaccinated.

The CDC has a robust website with all the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines and can answer any questions you may have.