White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci believes that everyone will need to get a third shot of the coronavirus vaccine “sooner or later.”
What he said: Fauci said that current data shows that most vaccines provide at least eight months of good protection. He added that health officials are monitoring the current studies being conducted and that they would be prepared to administer a booster dose if it’s determined that people would need one.
“As we mentioned, we are evaluating this on a day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month basis, looking at any of a number of studies, both international and domestic studies,” the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said during a press conference Thursday.
“If the data shows us that, in fact, we do need to do that, we’ll be very ready to do it and do it expeditiously,” he continued.
In an appearance on NBC NBC’s “Today, Fauci explained: “Well, I think the important thing to point out is, is the differences between the immune-compromised who really never really got a good response to begin with. So for them, it’s more of getting them up to what they hopefully had gotten the first time around, but we know because of their immune compromise they don’t.”
“That’s different than the durability of response, which means taking a ‘healthy individual,’ and just continue to very, very carefully follow them, and if the level of their protection goes below a certain level, to then be ready and have a plan ready … to get them their boost,” he said.
Fauci added that “no vaccine, at least not within this category, is gonna have an indefinite amount of protection. So in answer to your question, it’s right. Inevitably there will be a time when we’ll have to give boosts. What we’re doing literally on a weekly and monthly basis, is following cohorts of patients to determine if, when, and whom should get it.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved booster shots of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines for certain immunocompromised individuals.
The agency said it’s authorizing a third dose for “solid organ transplant recipients or those who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromised.”
They should receive the third dose of the vaccine at least 28 days after the second shot.
“After a thorough review of the available data, the FDA determined that this small, vulnerable group may benefit from a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna Vaccines,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.