FRIDAY, June 28, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- As a summer wave of COVID infections rolls across the country, U.S. health officials have recommended that all Americans over the age of 6 months get one of the updated COVID vaccines when they become available this fall.
The recommendation was issued Thursday by the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention after its vaccine advisory panel weighed in on who should get the shots.
The panel made the same recommendation for flu vaccinations this fall, with rare exceptions. “Our top recommendation for protecting yourself and your loved ones from respiratory illness is to get vaccinated,” CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement.
“Make a plan now for you and your family to get both updated flu and COVID vaccines this fall, ahead of the respiratory virus season.” By now, nearly all Americans have had a COVID infection, gotten a COVID vaccine or both, but the updated vaccines offer a timely boost as immunity wanes and the virus continues to evolve, the CDC said. “Professionals and the public in general do not understand how much this virus has mutated,” said Carol Hayes , the CDC vaccine advisory committee’s liaison to the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the New York Times reported.
“COVID is still out there, and I don’t think it’s ever going away,” Dr. Steven Furr , president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, told the Times . For Americans who decide to get the latest COVID shots, there wi.