Everyone in the U.S. over age 60 should get a second booster shot of their COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Ashish K. Jha, a White House official responsible for COVID-19 response said on Sunday, according to reports.
Dr. Jha cited research from Israel which indicates that a second booster dose significantly reduces infections as well as hospitalizations and deaths among people over 60 in Israel, The New York Times reported.
The comments from Dr. Jha arrive after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the use of second booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus jabs covering people older than 50. “Emerging evidence suggests that a second booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine improves protection against severe COVID-19 and is not associated with new safety concerns,” the FDA said, in explaining this decision.
Dr. Jha who was appointed as a coordinator of the White House COVID-19 response team last month, told Fox News Sunday, that the second booster offered strong protection in people over 60. “When people got that second booster shot four months after their first booster, what we saw was a substantial reduction, not just in infections, but in deaths. So I think people over 60 should be getting it,” Dr. Jha added.
However, the study from Israel provided no data on the effect the second booster shot has on people under 60.
In another appearance on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Dr. Jha said that fourth shot for the age group between 50 and 59 was surely a very close call, adding that all those that want to receive a second booster should first consult their physicians.
