Feb. 29, 2024 — People ages 65 and older should get a COVID-19 booster shot 4 months after their last vaccination, the CDC advised Wednesday.
The step confirms a current one Recommendation from the agency's advisory committee that older adults should receive the extra vaccinations.
“The data continues to show the importance of vaccinations to protect those most at risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19,” a CDC statement said Press release specified. “An additional dose of the updated COVID-19 vaccine can restore protection lost since a lower dose of vaccine and provide increased protection for adults aged 65 years and older.”
People on this age group accounted for greater than half of COVID hospitalizations in the ultimate quarter of 2023. Older people remain amongst essentially the most vulnerable to severe illness, while younger people largely forego vaccinations.
As of mid-February, 22% of U.S. adults had received the updated vaccine that became available last fall. Public health officials expressed disappointment on the low uptake. Older persons are more prone to get vaccinated, with 43% of individuals aged 75 and older receiving the newest shot.
“Today’s recommendation allows older adults to receive an additional dose of this season’s COVID-19 vaccine to provide additional protection,” CDC Director Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, said in the discharge. “Most COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations last year were among people age 65 and older. An additional dose of vaccine may provide additional protection for those at highest risk that may have diminished over time.”
COVID metrics have been declining over the past week, with about 8% of tests coming back positive and about 19,000 recent weekly hospitalizations.
Hospitalizations as a consequence of COVID decreased from 2.5 million in 2021 to 900,000 in 2023. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 6.8 million hospitalizations and nearly 1.2 million people have died. For most of 2023, people ages 65 and older hospitalized with COVID-19 were probably to have the disease. A current CDC Pandemic update said 88% of people that died in hospital from COVID-19 in the primary seven months of 2023 were 65 or older.
This latest advice is meant to revive protections for older people in anticipation of a repeat of past COVID waves in the summertime.