The current seven-day daily average of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is about 92,800. This is an 18 percent increase from last week’s seven-day daily case average.
The seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 5,600 per day, about a 6 percent increase from the prior seven-day average.
The seven-day average daily deaths are about 1,000 per day.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee’s expanded recommendations for booster shots to include all adults ages 18 years and older who received a Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna vaccine at least six months after their second dose. That means everyone over 18 years of age is eligible to get boosted.
CDC officials say the agency continuously monitors the state of the pandemic, and surveillance shows a rise in cases over the past few weeks.
Heading into the winter months when respiratory viruses are more likely to spread and with plans for increased holiday season travel and gathering, officials are urging people to boost their overall protection against COVID-19 disease and death.
Among key considerations: The current state of the pandemic, the data on vaccine effectiveness over time, and importantly, the safety profile of booster shots of over 30 million Americans who have already received an additional vaccine dose.
The safety data showed that serious adverse events after a booster dose are rare and, in general, people had fewer reactions after their third dose than after their second dose. Reactions that did occur included the previously seen sore arms, headaches, and joint aches.
This latest CDC action underscores the agency’s message: Booster shots are an important public health tool to strengthen our defenses against the virus.
And while vaccination plans continue to move forward, the administration also moves toward its goal of vaccinating all who are eligible with their primary vaccine series. Forty-seven million eligible American adults and more than twelve million teens are still not fully vaccinated and remain at highest risk of disease.
Data updated and posted today on CDC’s COVID Data Tracker continue to show that unvaccinated people are six times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than vaccinated individuals.
