ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) — Governor Gavin Newsom visited the Bay Area to promote COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.
The press conference was held at the health clinic in Alameda County Wednesday morning.
Booster shots have been approved for the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. This comes after research showed protection from the coronavirus wanes overtime for vaccinated people.
“We are seeing concerning evidence of waning vaccine effectiveness over time,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky had said.
The booster dose is recommended after waiting a minimum of six months since the second dose of either Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccine, and at least two months since the J&J vaccine.
This week, the CDC said the following groups are eligible for a booster shot:
- 65 years and older
- Age 18+ who live in long-term care settings
- Age 18+ who have underlying medical conditions
- Age 18+ who work or live in high-risk settings
California has the highest vaccination rate than any other state in the U.S., according to Newsom’s office. About 72% of residents statewide are fully vaccinated as of state data collected Monday.
The state also said “unvaccinated people were 6.6 times more likely to get COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people,” according to data from Oct. 3-9, 2021.