US health officials call for booster shots against COVID-19

Surging Delta variant and evidence that the vaccines’ effectiveness fades after eight months drive call for boosters.

US health officials are recommending that all Americans get COVID-19 booster jabs to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and evidence that the vaccines’ effectiveness is falling. “Recent data makes it clear that protection against mild and moderate disease has decreased over time,” Dr Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, said on Wednesday. “This is likely due to both waning immunity, and the strength of the widespread Delta variant,” Murthy said in a public briefing by the White House COVID-19 response team.