JAKARTA - Booster doses of immunity-boosting vaccines will be provided free of charge, US President Joe Biden said on Friday, September 24, a day after the federal health agency endorsed the launch of a booster vaccination program.
Biden also promised to get a booster dose for himself as soon as possible. "Like your first and second doses, booster doses are free and easy to get," Biden said at the White House.
The booster dose will be for residents aged 65 years and over or who have a congenital disease or who are at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 due to their work. The booster dose also includes only recipients of the complete Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, at least six months in advance.
According to the president, 60 million people are now eligible for the third vaccination. He reiterated his call to the more than 70 million Americans who have not been injected with a single dose of the vaccine.
"Listen to the voices of unvaccinated Americans lying in hospital beds saying... 'I wish I was vaccinated'," Biden said.
"People who are dying and about to die who shouldn't have died."
Biden had previously requested that COVID-19 booster doses begin to be administered this week to all vaccine recipients at least eight months ago, but no approval has yet been received from regulators.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week approved boosting doses for only certain groups, although they have extended the time to two months to assess eligibility.
US government officials have said they will rely on experts on additional doses and have set September 20 this week as the target to prepare for more vaccinations.
Regulatory decisions about boosters only apply to the Pfizer vaccine and those who have received the vaccine at least six months in advance.
The FDA has not yet considered Moderna's application for their third dose and Johnson & Johnson has not submitted an application.
"We will also look at the time when we can expand the booster dose, which is basically (given) to all." Biden said.
Health experts warn the public against mixing different brands of vaccines due to a lack of supporting data.
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