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The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of one in 500 Americans, according to Johns Hopkins University. Now the battle for booster shots is escalating.
Pfizer and Moderna are making a major push for boosters, but the Food and Drug Administration remains neutral.
The FDA released new documents from Pfizer on Wednesday ahead of an advisory group meeting scheduled for Friday to discuss COVID booster injections. The documents claim that protection against Pfizer’s vaccine loses some effectiveness after six months but improves to 95% after a third dose.
In a separate document, FDA staff said they had yet to verify some data that would support an additional dose, saying current vaccines “still offer protection against severe COVID-19 illness and death. in the USA”.
In the United States, the problem isn’t the third dose, it’s about convincing Americans to get their first dose.
In Tennessee, less than 45% of the population is fully immunized. In Shelby County, which includes Memphis, children account for 35% of active cases in the past two weeks.
“If we could increase our immunization rates even further, if we could get people to mask themselves consistently, we would be doing the job of protecting children under 12 who really don’t have a chance to get the vaccine. correctly. now, ”said Dr Michelle Taylor, county health director.
Jacob Rodrigues, 17, of Tipton County, was not vaccinated when he contracted COVID. “(I) felt really tired, headache. I couldn’t taste anything. It was awful,” he said.
His mother, Julie McDivitt, said a nurse told him: “It looks like Jacob played four quarterfinals with no pads inside his body.”
She said hearing this from a healthcare professional made her wonder, “My God, where are you taking us with this? Am I going to be on this list? Is my child going to be one of these numbers?
President Biden met with CEOs on Wednesday to to discuss its vaccine mandate for companies with more than 100 employees. In Memphis, that means employers like FedEx and AutoZone.
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