New COVID-19 boosters targeting dominant omicron subvariants have been approved by the CDC.
The new bivalent COVID-19 vaccines were first authorized by the FDA on Wednesday. The boosters are designed to target two omicron variants as well as the original strain of the virus.
Gabriel Moreno, spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Health Department, says that Salt Lake County could receive the updated boosters as soon as tomorrow, Friday, or even Tuesday of next week. Moreno adds that as soon as the boosters are ready to go into people’s arms, there will be an announcement made so that the public is aware of the booster’s availability.
People 18 years and older are eligible for the updated Moderna booster and anyone older than 12 is eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech booster, but boosters can only be applied at least two months after a person’s first vaccination. Pfizer plans on asking the FDA to authorize the new boosters so that children ages five to 11 can receive it in early October.
The Utah Department of Health is recommending that anybody who has an appointment to get the old booster should reschedule for whenever the new boosters are in stock.
