August 20, 2021: -U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNBC that the Biden administration recommends Covid booster shots for most vaccinated Americans beginning on September 20 to stay ahead of the virus.

“We put our heads together, the top public health and medical officials in the Department of Health and Human Services, and came to the judgment that starting booster dose at that eight-month mark would be the prudent thing to do to stay ahead of this virus, and be firm about the people have and continue to have the protection from the vaccines that is over the last in the previous months,” said Murthy.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory committee and the Food and Drug Administration need to officially sign off on the plan before states start administering third doses. 

Murthy said that the administration’s strategy on booster dose was also about transparency.

“We make plans now, because number one, you’ve got to plan, but two, we wanted the public to know what we saw the data, in our effort to be transparent and open with the public,” said Murthy.

The U.S. health officials are basing their decision on new data that shows vaccine protection weakens with time. The vaccine was 92% effective against Covid infection before the delta variant started spreading in the U.S, but the data shows defense has dropped to 64%.