WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is ready to roll out COVID-19 vaccine booster shots once the Federal Drugs Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approve the plan, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said on Friday.
“As soon as the FDA and CDC complete their evaluations, we will be ready to move forward accordingly,” Murthy told reporters at a White House briefing.
The CDC will invest $2.1 billion to protect patients and healthcare workers from COVID-19 and future infectious diseases, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at the briefing.
So far 89% of active U.S. military troops have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, said White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Ahmed Aboulenein, and Steve Holland; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
