WASHINGTON, D.C. (KERO) — This week new, updated COVID booster shots have started going into arms across America. The new booster comes as states grapple with an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
Nationwide, there have been 500 deaths each day attributed to COVID over the last two weeks. And the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's ensemble forecast is predicting COVID will kill an average of 450 people per day over the next month.
Health experts are hoping the new vaccine will reduce those severe cases.
"It's always challenging to predict exactly what COVID will do. We've learned to be humble about that over the last two years. We want to be prepared is the most important thing," said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. "This is an important moment. A landmark moment in our fight against COVID."
The updated boosters tell cells to make antibodies against two strains of the virus that causes COVID-19. The original strain and the omicron subvariants, which share the same spike proteins.
Pfizer's updated vaccine is authorized for people 12 and older. Moderna's is authorized for people 18 and older.
Meanwhile, the CDC is releasing new information when it comes to just how many people actually received previous booster shots. According to the latest data less than 49 percent of eligible people have received a booster dose.
That means only about 30 percent of our country's total population has gotten one.
As of June, the CDC says unvaccinated people are eight times more likely to die of COVID-19 than those who got the shots.
Locally, Kern Public Health updated the number of local cases just ahead of the weekend showing 1,276 new cases from Tuesday to Friday. That's about 425 new cases per day.
But there have been no new deaths attributed to the virus leaving our county total at more than 2,500.
