Why You Should Get a Booster Shot

 November 19th Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, supported an advisory committee’s advice and expanded the group of people who can now get a COVID-19 Booster shot to include all adults over 18.

Since more people are now eligible to get the booster dose, people question if they need one immediately or if the initial vaccination is no longer working. The CDC states that “all adults who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine are eligible to get a booster at least six months after their second dose.” However, before the CDC made a clear distinction between those over the age of 65 and with underlying health conditions, they said they “should” get a booster shot and those living in high-risk areas who “may” get the booster shot.

Dr. Anthony Fauci tells TIME that “I came down very strongly that I thought saying ‘should’ vs. ‘may’ has done nothing but confuse people,” he says. “If you want people to get a booster, just tell them what to do.”

“Right now, we are facing more than 90,000 new infections a day [on average], we are entering the winter season, and people are gathering for the holidays,” says Dr. Leana Wen, professor of health policy and management at George Washington University. “We know immunity to symptomatic infection wanes substantially at the six-month mark, and immunity even to severe disease wanes too. It’s mind-blowing to me that we cannot just be straightforward with people at this point and say it is essential to get a booster. The CDC playing around with ‘should’ vs. ‘may’ wording has further confused people.”

The urgency to get a booster shot isn’t as great as the urgency to get fully vaccinated. Studies show that the initial doses of all three vaccines continue to protect people from needing to be hospitalized. The agency’s decision to recommend booster shots is because of growing evidence from countries like Israel that infections among vaccinated people are possible and that some people are sick enough to go to the hospital.

The bottom line, getting the booster shot is your choice. It is something that could affect friends and family and be an added layer of protection for yourself. The stigma that the booster shot is somewhat of a luxury and not something people need to get “needs to change urgently,” states Wen.