Booster shots could be in Americans’ futures, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that Americans with underlying health issues “might likely” need to take a COVID-19 vaccination booster shot in the future.
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“Those who are transplant patients, cancer chemotherapy, auto-immune diseases that are on immunosuppressant regimens, those are the kind of individuals that, if there’s going to be a third booster, which might likely happen, would be among the vulnerable,” said Fauci, who serves as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser.
Pfizer, one of the leading drug makers producing a COVID-19 inoculation, said in early July a third shot would enhance immunity for those who have already received the first two vaccine jabs.
Some 57% of Americans have taken at least one dose of a vaccine.
The comments from Fauci and Pfizer contradict both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
Both government agencies said in a joint statement last week that fully vaccinated Americans “do not need a booster shot at this time.”
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Fauci also said federal health officials are “actively” considering reinstating guidances to require masks once again, including for people who have already been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
He said that, even if people are vaccinated, it is “prudent to wear a mask indoors.”
Several cities — including Los Angeles, New Orleans, Savannah, and St. Louis — are reinstating mask mandates as COVID-19 infections tick up.
Anything else?
While Fauci is projecting a gloomy outlook, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the FDA, said Monday the U.S. could “turn the corner” in the next three weeks.
The doctor, who sits on Pfizer’s board, said he believes the latest so-called “Delta variant” of COVID-19 is more widespread than is being reported, according to Forbes. However, he said, that means the country could get over the hump sooner rather than later.
“I believe there’s more virus than we’re picking up right now,” Gottlieb said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” noting he’s basing his projection on data from the U.K., which is about a month ahead of the U.S. with the “Delta variant.”
Then, on Monday, he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the “more observable trend is what’s going on in the United Kingdom, where cases are clearly coming down at this point.”
“There’s a very clear trend down,” Gottlieb said. “It seems like they’ve peaked.”
Nevertheless, he encouraged Americans to wear masks as the variant spreads.
Gottlieb warned during a separate interview with CNBC that companies across the country will likely begin mandating vaccines more broadly once the inoculation has received full FDA approval.
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