About a sixth of vaccinated Americans have already received booster doses.

The chief infectious disease specialist of the United States called on millions of Americans who have already been vaccinated against COVID-19 to undergo revaccination “to optimize their status.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 34.5 million of the 196 million people in the U.S. have received booster doses. At the same time, approximately 60 million people have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the chief adviser to President Joe Biden in the field of health, told that “there is no ambiguity” about the need for repeated vaccinations since the effectiveness of initial vaccinations decreases over time.

According to him, revaccination will increase people’s resistance to the virus, although it is unclear whether they will need to undergo revaccination in the future every six months or a year.

“We will study what revaccination gives, follow the science, follow the data,” Fauci said.

The CDC advisory Board on Friday voted unanimously to make booster vaccines available to people over the age of 18.

The incidence of COVID-19 in the United States is growing again, more than 90 thousand new cases have been registered daily in recent days. According to Fauci, this is not a surprise, since it gets colder in the winter months and more people stay at home.

However, according to him, fully vaccinated families and friends can gather at the table on Thanksgiving Day, which will be celebrated on November 25, and not wear masks.

“This year you can celebrate Thanksgiving with joy–” he said. – Have a good holiday with your family.”

On Friday, U.S. regulators expanded the possibilities for obtaining booster vaccinations from COVID-19.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky approved expanding access to revaccination after the Food and Drug Administration extended the use of booster vaccines to all adults who received a second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine six months ago or earlier.

Earlier, regulators approved revaccination for all recipients of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine two months after vaccination.