Skip to main content

Coronavirus Watch: CDC approves mix-and-match booster shots

Grace Hauck   | Paste BN

Americans will soon be able to choose among the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines as a COVID-19 booster shot.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky late Thursday signed off on allowing clinics, doctors and pharmacies to mix-and-match booster shots.

Walensky also endorsed a second shot for all 15 million Americans who received the one-dose J&J vaccine, as well as a booster dose for certain groups of people who got the Moderna vaccine. Read more here.

It's Friday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news to know:

  • More than 7,000 COVID-19 deaths have occurred among fully vaccinated people in the U.S., according to CDC data as of Oct. 12. In a country that has reported more than 720,000 COVID-related deaths, the fully vaccinated make up less than 1%.
  • The CDC is sending a team to Guam to investigate why so many COVID-19 patients arrive at the island's hospitals dead, according to the Associated Press.
  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that he plans to convene a special session of the state legislature in November to combat vaccine mandates by businesses.
  • Three lions at the Indianapolis Zoo have tested positive for the delta variant and have been taken off exhibit, officials said Thursday.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 45 million COVID-19 cases and 734,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 242 million cases and more than 4.9 million deaths. About 66% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 57% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among U.S. adults, 79% have received at least one shot, and about 69% are fully vaccinated.

Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck

Facebook Twitter Email