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U.S. President Joe Biden receives his coronavirus disease (COVID-19) booster vaccine in the South Courtyard auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, United States, September 27, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
President Joe Biden received a Covid-19 booster injection on Monday, according to the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At 78, Biden qualified for the extra shot under new guidelines released late last week. Biden received his first injection of the Pfizer vaccine late last year and his second injection in January.
“The boosters are important, but the most important thing we need to do is get more people vaccinated,” Biden said before receiving his injection.
“The vast majority of Americans are doing the right thing. Over 77% of adults have had at least one injection,” he said. “About 23% did not receive any injections. And this distinct minority is causing tremendous damage to the rest of the country. This is an unvaccinated pandemic. That is why I am moving forward with the demands. vaccination wherever I can. “
CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky on Friday authorized the distribution of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 booster vaccines for people in high-risk work and institutional settings, a decision that overturned an advisory committee .
Walensky also approved the distribution of booster shots to older Americans and adults with underlying health conditions at least six months after their first round of injections, according to the advisory committee.
The World Health Organization opposes a widespread rollout of booster shots, saying richer countries should give extra doses to countries with minimal vaccination rates.
Biden defended the United States’ decision to offer booster shots on Monday, saying America is doing more than any other country in the world to distribute vaccines to the poorest countries.
“We are going to do our part,” he said. “We have also given a lot of funding to COVAX, which is the vehicle that [provides vaccines to underserved parts of the world]. So we have lots and lots of opportunities to make sure everyone in the world… immunized. “
About 60 million of the 100 million Americans who initially received the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine are now eligible for a third injection as the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread across the country, including healthcare workers, teachers, grocery store workers and other essential workers.
The CDC’s final decision allows Biden to claim victory, even though he didn’t get everything he wanted. The administration said it plans to start giving booster shots to people 16 and older this month.
While the CDC panel’s recommendation doesn’t give the Biden administration everything it wanted, boosters will still be on the way for the millions of Americans who initially received the injections from Pfizer.
About 2.6 million Americans have received extra doses of a Covid vaccine since health officials allowed extra doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to be given to people with weakened immune systems in August, according to data compiled by the CDC.
Some scientists, including at least two from the FDA, said they were not fully convinced that every American who received the Pfizer vaccine needed additional doses at this time.
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