When Orak entered the dorm room, he found Verum, Scorch, and Felix laughing hard. Around them were fruit peels. Orak wondered about the connection between the laughter and the fruits. He got his answer soon enough.
Felix waved something in Orak’s direction and said, “Look what we made!”
Orak looked closer. The thing had been an orange but now, it resembled an octopus. Orak was amazed. He said, “You transformed an orange into an octopus, tentacles and all!”
“Yes, we sure did. That’s the magic of fruit-carving,” said Felix. Right at that moment, Verum’s crystal ball began glowing a luminescent shade of blue. She rushed towards it without missing a beat. It was time for vaccine news!
Verum announced, “After the United Kingdom, Israel, France, and Germany, the United States (US) is ready to administer booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines to all Americans from 20th September.”
Orak chimed in, “A booster shot is an additional dose of vaccination given to people who have already received the recommended earlier doses. A booster shot boosts the effects of the initial vaccination.”
Verum added, “Healthcare workers, nursing home residents, and older people who were vaccinated eight months ago will get the booster jabs before everyone else.”
“Verum, Orak, do we need booster shots for Covid-19 vaccines?” said Felix.
“Well, in the US, Covid cases have been on the rise since early July. The number of cases went from fewer than 10,000 to more than 150,000 during this period. The extra contagious Delta variant is to be blamed for this increase,” explained Verum, “Along with this, studies have shown that the protection levels of the two doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines goes down as the time passes.”
“And the pandemic isn’t over. People will continue to need protection against Covid-19,” said Scorch.
“But there’s still a step before the initiative can be implemented,” said Verum, “The White House proposed this plan. But various people like heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci will have to approve the plan.”