(Gray News) – The White House COVID-19 response team and federal public health officials will hold a virtual briefing on Tuesday to provide updates on COVID-19 response efforts.
Participants included Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jar, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Wallenski. increase.
Federal health officials on Thursday approved a new booster designed to combat the dominant Omicron subspecies.
The FDA has given the go-ahead for its latest booster targeting the most prevalent variants. (CNN, YOUTUBE/Healthcare Conversations, CDC, Pfizer, MODERNA)
“It may help restore protection that was designed to provide broader protection that has weakened since the last vaccination,” Wallenski said in a statement.
Pfizer-BioNTech boosters are available for those 12 years and older. Moderna boosters are approved for those 18 years and older.
The CDC said it plans to recommend the latest COVID-19 boosters to other pediatric groups in the coming weeks.
Booster shots are mixed or “bivalent” shots. Half of the original vaccine and half of the protection against the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron versions currently cause nearly all COVID-19 infections.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. CNN New Source and his Associated Press contributed to this report.