--- title: Bivalent COVID-19 Boosters Help Protect Older Adults description: The bivalent boosters give adults ages 65 and older the most protection against hospitalization, according to new government data. canonical: https://time.com/6241893/covid-19-bivalent-booster-data/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-12-16T18:50:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:11:37.811Z article:section: Health og:title: Bivalent COVID-19 Boosters Help Keep Older People Out of Hospitals, CDC Says og:description: The bivalent boosters give adults ages 65 and older the most protection against hospitalization, according to new government data og:url: https://time.com/6241893/covid-19-bivalent-booster-data/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9aeda7cd4f4d2c85/698a38f04ee2626c1431af4e/covid-19-vaccine-booster.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: covid-19-vaccine-booster og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bivalent COVID-19 Boosters Help Keep Older People Out of Hospitals, CDC Says twitter:description: The bivalent boosters give adults ages 65 and older the most protection against hospitalization, according to new government data twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9aeda7cd4f4d2c85/698a38f04ee2626c1431af4e/covid-19-vaccine-booster.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bivalent COVID-19 Boosters Help Keep Older People Out of Hospitals, CDC Says by [Madison Muller/Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Madison Muller/Bloomberg Contributor Dec 16, 2022 6:50 PM UTC  Photo taken in Pskov, Russia Photo taken in Pskov, RussiaEyeEm—Getty Images by [Madison Muller/Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Madison Muller/Bloomberg Contributor Dec 16, 2022 6:50 PM UTC The updated COVID-19 booster shots give adults ages 65 and older the greatest level of protection against hospitalization, according to new U.S. government data. Bivalent boosters were 73% effective at preventing hospitalizations due to COVID in this group of older adults compared with people of the same age who got two or more doses of the original formulation of the vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The reduced risk of hospitalization was smaller in younger adults, the agency said. The findings add to research that shows the new booster shots have at least some benefit, although the magnitude seems to vary by a person’s age and how long they wait between doses. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6241893/covid-19-bivalent-booster-data/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6241893/covid-19-bivalent-booster-data/"},"headline":"Bivalent COVID-19 Boosters Help Keep Older People Out of Hospitals, CDC Says","datePublished":"2022-12-16T18:50:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T15:11:37.811Z","description":"The bivalent boosters give adults ages 65 and older the most protection against hospitalization, according to new government data.","url":"https://time.com/6241893/covid-19-bivalent-booster-data/","keywords":["COVID-19","wire","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9aeda7cd4f4d2c85/698a38f04ee2626c1431af4e/covid-19-vaccine-booster.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madison Muller/Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9aeda7cd4f4d2c85/698a38f04ee2626c1431af4e/covid-19-vaccine-booster.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"covid-19-vaccine-booster","caption":"covid-19-vaccine-booster","creditText":"EyeEm—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6241893/covid-19-bivalent-booster-data/","name":"Bivalent COVID-19 Boosters Help Keep Older People Out of Hospitals, CDC Says"}}]}] ```