Covid-19: tailored booster dose could save 90,000 lives in the US

Production of vaccines against covid-19

The country clarified that in the remainder of the year, vaccination in people over 12 could be a success.

Mass vaccination of those over 12 years of age in the US with the booster dose adapted to the omicron variant could save 90,000 lives in the remainder of 2022, the White House said.

(Keep reading: US estimates that covid-19 vaccines prevented some 370,000 deaths)

This was highlighted by the coordinator of the White House covid-19 response team, Ashish Jha, who encouraged Americans to get vaccinated before October 31. “Everyone over the age of 12 should get the booster to be protected this fall in winter,” Jha told a news conference in Washington.

If most fit people get the dose, the health expert said, the US could save nearly a million hospitalizations in the coming months.

If most fit people get the dose, the health expert said, the US could save nearly a million hospitalizations in the coming months. Jha expressed concern at what they expect to be a increase in the number of cases starting in November, when the US holiday season begins with Thanksgiving on November 24.

(You may be interested in: Covid-19: 36% of those infected without a vaccine do not have antibodies)

“We have a number of challenges ahead of us as we plan for and face the upcoming winter,” he said. To date, only 11.5 million Americans have received their last booster dose, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A study by the Kaiser Foundation revealed that there is little knowledge among Americans about the new dose: 33% of adults surveyed said they had heard “something” about the vaccine.