Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that he was “sure” that Americans would need booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, but the time they will have to wait to get them may change.
“I’m sure we’ll need this third dose, looking at the data we’re seeing,” the White House chief medical officer told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Fauci said the White House was moving forward with plans to give boosters eight months after people received their second shot, but “they were open to data” suggesting the dose should be available sooner.
“Right now we have eight [months] but we are totally open to any variation based on the data, ”Fauci said.
Fauci had held talks last week with President Biden on whether Americans should have booster shots as soon as five months after the vaccine.
“The question is should it be less than eight months? Do they have to spend only five months? It is being discussed. I talked to Dr. Fauci this morning about it, “Biden said Friday.
The third dose of Pfizer has been shown to dramatically improve the body’s ability to fight the virus, and the company has applied for FDA approval for a booster vaccine for the two-dose vaccine.
The Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine also increases protection with an additional shot, the company said.
Plans for the reinforcement campaign come as the country faces a resurgence caused by the Delta variant, which has complicated efforts to return to jobs and schools.
Fauci on Sunday encouraged schools to implement vaccine requirements for students.
“I think ordering vaccines for kids to show up at school is a good idea,” Fauci says he told CNN.
“We have done this for decades and decades, requiring polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis. So that would not be a new thing. “