Biden says COVID booster shots will be free and accessible

WASHINGTON DC, (Reuters): US President Joe Biden said on Friday that booster shots to protect against the coronavirus will be free and easily accessible, noting that he himself would get the vaccine as soon as possible.

Delivering remarks at the White House, he also said 60 million Americans were now eligible for booster shots, 20 million of them today. (Reuters)

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overruled an advisory panel Friday by approving the distribution of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 booster shots to a wide array of workers across the U.S.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on a series of recommendations from the panel, including distributing the shots to older Americans and adults with underlying medical conditions at least six months after their first series of shots. But she broke from the panel by also clearing boosters for those in high-risk occupational and institutional settings in an unusual decision that’s likely to stoke protests from anti-vaccine advocates.