Recently, the FDA approved the Pfizer-BioNTech “booster dose” / 3rd shot for individuals 65 and older as well as for high risk individuals 18+, including health care workers who operate on the frontline. The COVID vaccine is initially very effective, but after a certain amount of time in the body, it wears and loses some of its effectiveness. This additional booster shot reinforces protection against CoronaVirus and can be taken 6 months after the second administered dose.
It’s easy to think that since many people in our immediate communities have their Covid vaccinations, everything is back to normal, but this is still not the case. Indiana surpassed 15,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic and currently has twenty five counties that fall into the red category on the COVID spread map, LaGrange County being the most recent addition to that list. Elkhart county is in the “extremely high risk” category for unvaccinated individuals.
New U.S. Covid case averages rose dramatically near the beginning of September, but are currently on the decline. Many Southern states especially are starting to stabilize around a few thousand new cases per day after a long summer of outbreaks and rampant hospitalization. Covid deaths are also occurring less frequently, now hovering around 2,000 per day. Today, Saturday the 2nd is a mile marker, the U.S. having now passed 700,000 deaths in total.
As fall approaches keep in mind that your Covid-19 vaccine is not effective against the seasonal influenza. Doctors anticipate an intense flu season this year and they advise the administration of both vaccines to deter the torrent of disease that will sweep the nation this winter. Let us hope this isn’t the calm before the storm.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-risk-map.html