US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill to receive COVID booster shots in September

US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill are all set to get the COVID vaccine booster doses available from September. The US President announced the joint decision during an interview with ABC News on August 19. Taking about the duo's first and second jabs taken a year back, President Biden said that 'its past time.'

The US has announced the availability of booster shots for all adults who have had their doses about eight months ago. Also, the vaccines have mild to moderate effects against the new, more contagious Delta strain of the virus. The booster dose rollout will begin from September 20, the United States Department of Health and Human Services announced on Wednesday.

Vaccine-induced protection for prolonged durability

As per the latest reports by MayoClinic, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have displayed an ebb effect over time, which means the vaccine-induced antibodies become less effective in blocking Coronavirus infection. As per the study, Moderna vaccines showed a 10% drop from 86% effectiveness against Alpha strain to 76% against the Delta strain. Similarly, Pfizer dropped from 76% to 46%. Even though the vaccines develop strong protection against severe health hazards from the infection, the defence is very "plausible," said Dr. Alessandro Sette, professor at Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation and Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Research at the La Jolla Institute got Immunology, California.

Following a similar assessment by the US Health Department, the officials have decided to introduce booster shots for additional vaccine-induced protection for "prolonged durability". "Based on the latest assessment, current protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death could diminish in the months ahead. Especially, among those who are at high risk or were vaccinated during early phases of the vaccine rollout," an official statement said.

Talking about the eligibility, the government notice added that all individuals who were fully vaccinated in the earliest phase of vaccine rollout, including Covid warriors and frontline workers will be deemed fit for the booster shot. Although, the decision for the people who have received Johnson and Johnson shots are still awaited.

US has recorded over 3 crore cases with over 1,62,724 cases recorded on August 18. California has recorded the highest daily caseload followed by Texas and Florida. About 6.24lakh deaths have been reported in the country since the first report of the virus.

(With inputs from @USDepartmentofHealthandHumanServices/Twitter)

(Image: AP/representative)