Anthony Fauci Said on Sunday that priority in America coronavirus The response is not to ‘get a booster’, but to make sure that people who still haven’t been vaccinated get the jab.
Dr. Fauci told NBC News, ‘Our top priority is still, unvaccinated, and there should be no confusion about that.’ Meet press host Chuck Todd.
‘The top priority is not getting boosters,’ he said. ‘We think it is important for people to get boosters, but the biggest priority is to vaccinate the illiterate.’
The clarification came after Todd asked the country’s top immunologist about the priority of booster shots and whether it was a ‘luxury’.
The Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee voted last week to recommend against the Pfizer booster shot for the general public. However, shortly after, it approved the shot for elderly Americans and people with pre-existing conditions.
Fauci told NBC, ‘I don’t think boosters are a luxury.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that ‘the top priority is not getting boosters’ but getting unvaccinated Americans to get COVID shots
Vaccination rates drop drastically in spring and summer
He also explained in an interview Sunday morning on CNN’s State of the Union that while he’s old enough to get a booster — at 80 — he hasn’t got it yet.
‘I’m 80 and I’m an older man,’ he told host Jake Tapper. ‘I’ll definitely get a booster.’
Fauci, who heads President Joe Biden’s coronavirus response task force, said he doesn’t think the FDA has made a mistake by not recommending booster shots yet.
“They did this in a fair, deliberative process and they came up with a recommendation, which I think is a good recommendation,” Fauci said.
The people for whom a booster shot is recommended by the FDA are a ‘good chuck,’ he said.
In addition to people over 65, the FDA said the Pfizer booster is recommended for adults with underlying conditions and those 18 and older who are at high risk of exposure in the healthcare industry.
“They will continue to watch it in real time,” Fauci said in his interview with CNN. ‘More data on both safety, efficacy for young individuals is to come.’
‘So the story isn’t over yet. I think people need to understand this. This is not the end of the story.
Case rates of COVID-19 rising in the US as the delta variant rises and more success cases in vaccinated people
Deaths are rising as cases rise, reaching some daily rates in winter at the height of the epidemic.
Biden found himself ahead of the science on this, saying last month the administration would give a booster shot to boost the vaccine’s efficiency.
“Plan for every adult to get a booster shot eight months after you get your second shot,” Biden said on Aug. 18. Just remember as a simple rule: eight months after your second shot, get a booster shot.’
He noted at the time that his administration would be ready to launch the program on September 20.
Some of the nation’s top medical advisers are now warning the White House not to rush it – notably after the advisory board rejected Biden’s plan to deliver a COVID-19 booster shot across the board.
Dr. Peter Lurie, President of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said, ‘From a global perspective, this is a waste of a scarce global resource, which will result in people dying.’ According to ABC News. ‘I feel completely comfortable saying this.’
“It put tremendous pressure on the agency to act as the White House wishes,” Lurie said. ‘That’s what we’ve been trying to get ahead of since the Trump era.’
Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who serves on the FDA advisory board, told reporters after the meeting last week that the Biden administration had planned a booster for the general population, but “it hasn’t.”
‘It is: ‘We’re going to test the waters a foot at a time,’ he said.
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