Federal regulators approved a second booster shot for Americans aged 50 and above, on Tuesday. On Wednesday afternoon, President Joe Biden received his second booster shot. This was his fourth Pfizer vaccine, since its development. He asked Congress for additional funds for vaccines “immediately.” He also spoke as the government launched a website that would deal with access as well as information about tests, vaccines, treatments, status updates, infection rates and more, in the same website.
Biden said, “Congress we need secure additional supply now.” He said that it was not “partisan” but was “medicine.” He cautioned that there could be shortages of tests, vaccines and treatments if immediate action was not taken.
Biden had taken his first two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine even before he had assumed the highest office in the nation. He had taken his first booster shot in September. The 79-year old president took his second shot on Wednesday, March 30. It was administered by a staff member of the medical unit in the White House. After being administered the shot, Biden said, “It didn’t hurt a bit.”
COVID-19 has killed more than 975,000 people in the U.S. Vulnerable people are more likely to catch the infection so federal agencies including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that those who were 50 years old or older could get an additional booster shot. It would also be made available for the immunocompromised. Such individuals who are above the age of 12 could get a Pfizer booster shot while those who are 18 and above could get a Moderna booster shot.
The latest omicron variant called BA2 can also cause infections in those who are already vaccinated in rare cases, even if they have already had been infected by the omicron BA1 variant. However, the infection has not been severe but the unvaccinated have a greater risk in contracting a serious form of the COVID. So, vaccinations and boosters are recommended.
(Photo: President Joe Biden Facebook)
