The CDC may recommend an additional COVID-19 booster this spring, but likely only for those who are most vulnerable to the virus, NBC News reported Feb. 15.
The injection would not be a new formula, but still the same as the update that was recommended in the fall.
But, even with the fall guidance, few followed the agency's recommendation to get the updated immunization. The low uptake rate for the fall booster was just given to 21.9% of U.S. adults, which the CDC said in November was "lower than we'd like to see."
Nationwide, as of the most recently reported data, updated by the agency Feb. 3, COVID-19 test positivity, emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths were all trending down. But a spring booster, particularly for individuals more at risk, could be important to get because waiting until next fall, might be too long and leave some more vulnerable to catching COVID, experts told NBC.
"Waiting till the fall, I think, is a mistake," said Michael Osterholm, PhD, an infectious disease expert and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told NBC News. "We have clear evidence that either vaccine or previous infection probably gives four to six months of relative protection against serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths, but wanes substantially after that."