Except in the event of the virus evolving too quickly, the American health authorities declared on Tuesday that they wish to carry out in the future only one anti-Covid reminder campaign per year, on the model of vaccination against the flu.
Unless a variant “very different” suddenly emerges, “we will likely move towards a vaccination cadence similar to that of the annual flu vaccination, with anti-Covid booster doses updated to stick to the latest strain in circulation”White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a press conference.
This perspective could help reminders to be better accepted, when only half of eligible people have taken their first booster dose in the USA. However, frail populations, such as the elderly or immunocompromised, may need more frequent boosters, Fauci said.
Americans are encouraged to get their flu shot at the same time. “I really think that’s why God gave us two arms, one for the flu vaccine, and one for the Covid vaccine”said Ashish Jha, who coordinates the US executive response to the coronavirus. “We expect millions of people to get their injection this month”he added.
According to projections, about 100,000 hospitalizations and 9,000 deaths could be avoided if the anti-Covid reminders were carried out in the same proportion as those against the flu this fall, underlined the director of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), Rochelle Walensky.
The United States authorized last week the new version of the vaccines against Covid-19 from Pfizer and Moderna targeting the Omicron variant, and more specifically the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages currently in circulation in the country. The doses have already started to be distributed, so that the vast recall campaign planned by the government to contain a possible new wave this winter can start as early as this week. The BA.4 and BA.5 variants currently account for more than 99% of the approximately 80,000 new daily infections in the United States.