US health agencies will decide if COVID-19 booster shots are needed – not vaccine companies

There is still very little known about if and when a COVID-19 booster shot might be needed.

With coronavirus variants popping up across the globe, new questions are beginning to arise about how long the immunity from the vaccines will last, and whether booster shots will be needed to maintain protection against the mutating virus. Although vaccine companies are already in the process of conducting clinical trials for booster shots, and preparing for potential widespread distribution, a decision pertaining to if and when the updated shots will be needed in the months and years to come will ultimately be made by a team of independent scientists and U.S. government officials. But in this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, there is still very little known about COVID-19, and when a booster shot might be needed. "With less than a year of real world data on the vaccines, we still don't know how long immunity will last and what the role boosters will play going forward," said Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital and an ABC News contributor.