COVID-19 vaccine boosters can further enhance or restore protection that might have decreased over time after your primary series vaccination. To be up to date on your COVID-19 vaccination means that you’ve received all doses in your primary series and all boosters you are eligible for.
How do COVID-19 booster shots work?
A booster shot “boosts” your immune system’s response with an additional dose of vaccine. This extra dose helps your immune system remember how to fight a disease if you get exposed.
Boosters are given to people whose immune response has weakened over time since their last shot. A good example of this is a tetanus shot, which most people get boosters for over their lifetime.
COVID-19 booster shot eligibility
COVID-19 vaccine boosters provide the best protection against hospitalization and severe illness – including for vaccinated people who test positive for COVID-19.
All four COVID-19 vaccines are authorized to be given as booster doses by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Boosters are not new vaccines – they’re additional doses of an existing vaccine. For some people, especially children, a booster dose is smaller than the original vaccine dose.
The question of whether to get a booster shot depends on several things:
Your age
Which COVID-19 vaccine(s) you already received
Whether you are considered immunocompromised
Certain medical conditions or taking medications to suppress the immune system can result in having a weakened immune system, also known as being immunocompromised.
If you have a weakened immune system, you’re especially vulnerable to COVID-19 and its risks. For example, this group of people is more likely to have a serious illness that lasts a long time.
Someone considered immunocompromised has:
Been receiving active cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood
Received an organ transplant and are taking medicine to suppress the immune system
Received CAR-T-cell or hematopoietic stem cell transplant within the last two years or are taking medicine to suppress the immune system
Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (some examples include DiGeorge syndrome and Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
Advanced or untreated HIV infection
Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that may suppress your immune system
Because booster shot guidelines depend on several factors, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed a tool to help you decide if or when to consider a booster shot for yourself or your child. Visit their website to check out this new tool.
Check out more information about the COVID-19 vaccine.
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