People under 50 are still not eligible for the fourth Covid shot

HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) - It has been nearly four months since the CDC announced that people over the age of 50 were now eligible to receive the fourth Covid shot, but people under that age limit are still not able to get the last booster.

There is a great deal of people in the country who are wanting this fourth Covid shot for protection and are concerned that if another wave hits if they will be prepared.

“What we know right now is that vaccine manufacturers are developing, pretty quickly, variant specific vaccinations for the fall, that are expected in the mid fall, where we know right now there are two dominant variants,” Anthony J. Santella, Professor of Health Administration & Policy at the University of New Haven.

Dr. Anthony Santella says that the reason that everyone is not currently eligible for the fourth Covid shot is because we are not in the same place in the pandemic as we were just six months ago.

“It’s really this area where I said we have a lot of people who have recovered from Covid, or are in recovery from Covid, and on the Horizon we expect it, in the matter of probably the next two months or so, to see a newer booster that’s gonna be specific to these variants,” said Santella.

Santella says its important to note that although we are not in grim times at the moment, pandemic wise, It does not mean Covid is gone.

There are some residents who tell us they are still worried.

“I feel like if we cant get the other protection, I feel like a lot of people are going to be nervous if something were to happen to another wave,” said Orianna Strucks of New Britain.

Santella shares, as the virus evolves so will the way we address it.

“We have to be ready and prepared. Probably how we recommend folks get a flu shot every year, you are probably going to, for the time being, need to get a Covid variant specific booster each year as well,” said Santella.

Experts around the world have shared that come fall we could see a spike in Covid cases and vaccinating is an important tool in the fight against Covid.