WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci says an additional COVID-19 booster shot will soon be recommended for previously vaccinated people with weakened immune systems.
He told NBC’s ”Today” show on Thursday that he expects the booster recommendation to come “imminently.”
People have compromised immune systems for a variety of reasons, including organ transplants, cancer or other conditions. Any authorization for an additional booster shot would come from the Food and Drug Administration.
Fauci says for other vaccinated groups, such as the elderly, data is being collected to determine if or when their protection goes “below a critical level” and “that’s when you’re going to be hearing about the implementation of boosters” for others.
The nation’s top infectious disease expert says “at this moment, other than the immune compromised, we’re not going to be giving boosters.”
Fauci says “inevitably there will be a time when we’ll have to get boosts” because ”no vaccine, at least not within this category, is going to have an indefinite amount of protection.”
Fauci told ABC's "Good Morning America" the decision to administer booster shots to those who are immunocompromised would apply to “a relatively small proportion of the population, around 3 percent or so.”
COVID vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna have repeatedly stated they believe everyone will eventually need booster shots for coronavirus.