U.S. CDC authorizes COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all adults

Special: Battle Against Novel Coronavirus

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday endorsed booster doses of Pfizer/BioNTech's and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines for all U.S. adults.

"CDC continues to encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect themselves, their families, loved ones and communities," the CDC said in a statement.

This recommendation makes it clear that every adult should or may get a booster six months after finishing the first two doses, unlike the previous one only suggesting boosters to people aged 65 year and older, and to certain adults at high risk of infection or of severe disease.

Several CDC advisers said they hoped the simpler age-based guidelines would ease some of the confusion around who is eligible for the extra shots.

Earlier Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized boosters of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for everyone aged 18 years and over.

As of Friday, 229,291,004 people have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, making up 69.1 percent of the whole U.S. population; fully vaccinated people stood at 195,920,566, accounting for 59 percent of the total. A total of 33,454,832 people, or 17.1 percent of the fully vaccinated group, have received booster shots, according to CDC data.