Anyone 50 and older can now receive a second booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
The approval came hours after the Food and Drug Administration approved the seocnd boosteer on Tuesday.
“Boosters are safe, and people over the age of 50 can now get an additional booster 4 months after their prior dose to increase their protection further,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.
The FDA had already authorized a fourth shot for immunocompromised people. Also Tuesday, it cleared a second booster, or a fifth shot for that group.
The approval comes at a time of increased concern about the extra contagious omicron subvariant known as BA.2. About 55 percent of new cases in the US are attributed to the subvariant, according to the CDC.