It appears the federal government may be close to allowing residents to get booster doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
Health authorities could well recommend an extra dose of the vaccine for Americans eight months after they completed their initial series. The Food and Drug Administration has to issue the approval because the drugs are being administered through emergency use authorization.
This follows last week’s recommendation to allow booster shots for certain people with compromised immune systems. It also follows Pfizer’s request to have booster shots approved, although federal officials last month said it was too soon to say whether they were needed. The emergence of the delta variant has changed that thought process.
Nationally, just under 60 percent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated. No area county is above Lyon County’s 52.1 percent, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
This will increase public concerns about the effectiveness of the different vaccines as research is underway to determine when the vaccines lose their strength.
