US President Joe Biden has said he and first lady Jill Biden will receive booster shots against coronavirus as his administration plans to roll out a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines for adults by  September 20.

“We will get the booster shots,” Biden told ABC News in a television interview that was taped on Wednesday.

Biden, 78, and his wife received their first shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in December, just as the US was rolling out its COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

“It’s past time,” he said of the booster shots.

While millions of Americans are still awaiting their first COVID-19 vaccine shots,  health officials have defended the Biden administration’s booster programme amid the onslaught of Delta and other coronavirus variants.

“When we see evidence that immunity is waning, especially in the face of this Delta variant… we have an obligation to act to protect people at home,” US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program.

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US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said data seemed to back the need for providing people  additional protection.

“We know we need a boost now… but I don’t think it’s a given that we will be doing this continuously,” she told NBC News’ “Today” program.

The World Health Organization has condemned wealthy countries over plans to “hand out extra life jackets to people who already have life jackets, while we’re leaving other people to drown without a single life jacket.”

Since its emergence in China’s Wuhan city in late 2019, coronavirus has affected over 209 people and claimed more than 4.3 million lives worldwide. 

US, which remains the worst-affected country with a death toll of around 623,000, has recorded a sharp spike in cases over the past month. 

On Tuesday, the country reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths as the administration confirmed plans to extend requirements for travelers on modes of public transport.