President Biden’s administration is preparing another program to encourage Americans to get booster shots for COVID-19 in the coming months.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported an increase in COVID-19 infections across the U.S., though it remains far below levels seen during the pandemic. The Biden administration plans to urge Americans to get booster shots this fall, Reuters reported, citing a White House official.
“We will be encouraging all Americans to get those boosters in addition to flu shots and RSV shots,” the official said.
The news comes days after the CDC and World Health Organization (WHO) revealed they are tracking another variant of the virus that causes COVID-19.
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The newly discovered variant, referred to as BA.2.86, has been designated as a “variant under monitoring” by the WHO “due to the large number of mutations it carries.”
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The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
“Today we are more prepared than ever to detect and respond to changes in the COVID-19 virus. Scientists are working now to understand more about the newly identified lineage in these four cases, and we will share more information as it becomes available,” CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley told CBS News last week.
The variant is one of dozens being tracked by national health agencies in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new booster program would come nearly a year after Biden declared the COVID-19 pandemic “over” in September 2022, though he said, “We’re still doing a lot of work on it.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
