Omicron boosters: Do I need one, and if so, when?

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/09/05/ [login to see] /omicron-boosters-do-i-need-one-and-if-so-when
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending updated COVID boosters, for people ages 12 and older.

These newly authorized shots are reformulated versions of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines and they're available at pharmacies, clinics and doctors' offices around the country.

The boosters target both the original strain of the coronavirus and the two omicron subvariants which are causing most of the current infections. Vaccine makers have scrambled to rejigger the vaccines as they've become less effective against new variants.

"This virus has been mutating so quickly over the past two years," says Judith Guzman-Cottrill, an infectious disease specialist at Oregon Health & Science University. "I feel like we've been playing catch up and finally we have caught up," Guzman-Cottrill says.

Pfizer's updated booster is available for anyone 12 and older. The Moderna booster is available for anyone 18 and older.

"If you are eligible, there is no bad time to get your COVID-19 booster,'' CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told NPR. "I strongly encourage you to receive it," she says.