Americans may need yearly shots to protect against Covid-19

Americans ages 12 and up are eligible to get their first updated Covid-19 shots now, and they probably won't be their last.

Going forward, Americans may need to get a single, annual Covid-19 shot every year, White House health officials said on Tuesday, making clear the country will be living with the coronavirus for the foreseeable future.

"This week marks an important shift in our fight against the virus," said Dr. Ashish Jha, who is leading the White House Covid-19 Response Team. "It marks our ability to make Covid vaccines a more routine part of our lives as we continue to drive down serious illness and deaths and protect Americans heading into the fall and winter."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says he expects this fall to be the beginning of annual shots for Covid-19, though he added that those who are immunocompromised might need more frequent protection.