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Booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are not just reducing the number of infections with the highly contagious Omicron variant, they’re also keeping infected Americans out of hospitals, according to data published on Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The extra doses are 90 percent effective at preventing hospitalization with the variant, the agency reported. Booster shots also reduce the likelihood of a visit to an emergency department or urgent care clinic. The data also showed that extra doses are most beneficial against infection and death among Americans ages 50 and older. (Mandavilli, 1/21)

Vaccine boosters provide robust protection against severe disease from the omicron variant in the United States, according to three reports released Friday that use real-world data to show the shots are effective at keeping vaccinated people out of the hospital. But the reports by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived late to the winter surge in coronavirus cases that have choked the corridors of hospitals across much of the country. (Sun, Achenbach and Keating, 1/21)

Gov. Ron DeSantis again declined Friday to say whether he received the COVID-19 booster shot, even after his mentor, Donald Trump, called politicians who dodge the booster question "gutless." DeSantis called his booster status a "private matter" during an event in Sarasota, despite having revealed details of his vaccination status in the past. (Anderson, 1/21)

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Saturday he would recommend an annual COVID-19 vaccine over frequent booster shots, Reuters reports. The rise of the Omicron variant has pushed the need for vaccine boosters, and businesses, universities and others have begun to require the booster shots. Bourla said in an interview with Israel's Channel 12 News that he does not think the long-term COVID response should rely on booster shots that would need to be administered every four to five months, per Reuters. (Frazier, 1/22)

A fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine given to people over 60 in Israel made them three times more resistant to serious illness than thrice-vaccinated people in the same age group, Israel's Health Ministry said on Sunday. The ministry also said the fourth dose, or second booster, made people over 60 twice as resistant to infection than those in the age group who received three shots of the vaccine. (1/24)