Millions of people in the United States are eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine booster shot, but the confusing regulatory process can make it hard to figure out if you are one of them.
Now that most U.S. adults are vaccinated and children under 12 will probably be eligible soon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun to recommend a booster dose for high-risk adults to supercharge the immune system’s ability to fight off covid-19 and protect against its most serious effects.
Whether the CDC recommends you get one depends on your age, health, living situation, job, how long ago you were originally vaccinated and which vaccine you received. Not every jurisdiction or health care provider follows CDC recommendations, so some may use different criteria to determine who can get a booster and which one they should get.
[Follow the latest coronavirus news updates]
Start here to find out if you qualify for a booster according to the CDC
If you are not eligible now, you may be soon.
So far, the only booster the Food and Drug Administration has authorized for use in the United States is a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but an FDA advisory panel has recommended that Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters be authorized as well. Much is still to be decided, including whether a booster should be the same type of vaccine a person received originally. For instance, data suggests that Johnson & Johnson recipients may get greater benefit from a booster of Moderna or Pfizer.
[What to know about coronavirus booster shots in the U.S.]
Boosters are likely to become available to additional groups in the coming months, and we will update this calculator as the CDC announces newly eligible groups.
Related stories:
– Tracking vaccinations, state by state
– Tracking cases and deaths in the U.S.
– What we know about vaccines for kids under age 12
Grace Moon contributed to this report.