On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved Coronavirus Booster Shots for adults 60 and older who have traveled to at least one country where Coronavirus has been reported.
Coronavirus was included in the Global Health Preparedness and Response Plan, which is part of the US Government’s preparedness for a potential pandemic, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported.
The FDA also advises that all adults (and children) vaccinated against Coronavirus should continue to use the booster shot throughout their lives. This will allow them to be well protected against the coronavirus while also minimizing the effects of the flu on their health.
The single-dose Coronavirus Booster Shots also contain an adjuvant (a form of protein added to an injected drug to increase its effectiveness) in order to better protect the patient from experiencing pain, swelling, redness, or other symptoms.
Coronavirus is not a new infectious disease. It was first identified in a 70-year-old Saudi Arabian man in December 2012. He had traveled to several countries in the Middle East and Asia during the previous year.
In late 2016, CNN reported that a virus similar to Coronavirus had been detected in travelers returning from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The first reported case of a person being infected with Coronavirus outside the Middle East was confirmed in August 2017 in a Palestinian man who had traveled to Lebanon. This was followed by the second reported case of Coronavirus infection in a Jordanian national in October 2017. The last confirmed case of Coronavirus infection in a person outside the Middle East was in December 2018.
A person traveling from Qatar to Saudi Arabia in March was then diagnosed with Coronavirus. To date, there are no reported cases of coronavirus infection resulting in death.
“Coronavirus vaccine development is one of the FDA’s priorities because we want to protect the American public from potentially serious health complications associated with these rare infections,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a press release. “In addition to preventing illness from Coronavirus, FDA is actively engaged in developing a vaccine that could protect against any future types of the virus that may be identified.”