Big step on the way to booster vaccinations
Fauci expects USA data on COVID-19 boosters from J&J and Moderna in a few weeks

The data needed to determine the advisability of booster vaccines for COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) Inc and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is expected in a few weeks, the senior medical advisor said by US President Joe Biden on Sunday as officials signaled they expect booster vaccinations to be recommended for a broad mass of Americans. US health officials have already started testing a third dose of Pfizer / BioNTech's vaccine. An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday recommended a third dose of Pfizer / BioNTech's dual vaccine for people 65 years of age or at high risk for serious COVID-19 illness, but declined a booster for the general population away. Individuals who have received the Moderna vaccine in two doses or the J&J vaccine in one dose are still waiting for a recommendation for possible booster vaccinations. "The actual data we will get for the third vaccination for Moderna and the second vaccination for J&J are literally a few weeks away," said Anthony Fauci, US government's lead infectious disease advisor and advisor to Biden in the NBC show "Meet the Press". "We are working on submitting the data to the FDA so they can review it and make a decision about booster vaccinations for these people," added Fauci. More data could also show that booster vaccinations are needed for the entire US population, Fauci said. The United States ranks at the top of COVID-19 cases and deaths worldwide. Nearly 676,000 people died in the United States during the pandemic, figures compiled by Reuters show. The surge in cases and deaths in the United States in recent months has been greatest in areas with lower vaccination rates, despite health officials begging vaccinators to get vaccinated. The FDA advisors declined to recommend a third dose of Pfizer / BioNTech's vaccine for people 16 years of age and older who had received their second vaccination at least six months previously. While the FDA is not bound by the panel's recommendation, it will consider it in its decision on whether to recommend a third vaccination. "This is not the end of the story," Fauci said on CNN's State of the Union. "They will continue to look at this, literally in real time," added Fauci. Biden announced in August the government's intention to introduce booster vaccinations for people 16 years and older, pending approval by the FDA and the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The FDA's decision-making process does not nullify the White House's position in favor of booster vaccinations, Fauci said. Fauci urged that people who do not belong to the group that the FDA panel recommended booster vaccination should wait pending formal approval to vaccinate. Francis Collins, Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, said on Fox News Sunday that he expected "it will become clear in the next few weeks that booster vaccination may need to be expanded," citing existing data from the United States and Israel, which indicate that the vaccine is becoming less effective over time.





