US CDC Shortens Pfizer Vaccine Booster Interval from 6 to 5 Months

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on the 4th (local time) that it has approved shortening the interval for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster shot from 6 months to 5 months.

Accordingly, individuals who have completed the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine can receive the booster shot starting 5 months later. The booster shot intervals for those vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Moderna vaccines remain unchanged at 2 months and 6 months, respectively.

Additionally, the CDC recommended that children aged 5 to 11 with moderate to severe immunocompromised conditions receive a booster shot 28 days after their second dose. The CDC added that currently, only the Pfizer vaccine is recommended for children aged 5 to 11.

As the highly contagious Omicron variant spreads rapidly, new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have surpassed 1 million per day. According to Johns Hopkins University, the daily confirmed cases as of the previous day were 1,082,549. The seven-day average daily cases also stood at around 480,000.

According to CDC estimates, the proportion of Omicron variant infections among new cases last week (December 26 to January 1) rose to 95.4%. Earlier, the CDC announced on December 20 that Omicron had become the dominant strain.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.