The United States will continue to give two doses of coronavirus vaccines a few weeks apart and will not follow the UK’s decision to delay the second shot, Dr Anthony Fauci told CNN on Friday.
“I wouldn’t be in favor of that,” Fauci said when asked about the UK’s new dosing regime. “We will continue to do what we do,”
To date, US-approved coronavirus vaccines require two doses based on a few weeks apart.
The British government announced on Wednesday that “the UK will prioritize giving the first dose of the vaccine to those in the highest risk group” and will allow the second dose to be administered up to 12 weeks later.
The UK adopted the strategy of giving as many people as possible the first dose as quickly as possible, saying it provides some protection.
Asked on Thursday by NBC’s Today Show if the US should change its approach and adopt the UK plan, Fauci replied: “this is under consideration.” He told CNN Friday that this comment had been “misinterpreted.”
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that in their clinical trials, Pfizer and Moderna, the manufacturers of the two vaccines approved in the United States, studied the effectiveness of two doses with a few weeks apart, not a few months. apart.
“The fact is that we want to keep up with what science tells us and the data we have for both (vaccines) indicate that a maximum is given, followed by a boost in 21 days with Pfizer and 28 days with Moderna . And right now, that’s how we do it, and that’s the decision that’s being made, ”he said.
“We make decisions based on data. We have no data to give a single dose and to wait longer than the normal time period (to give the second dose) “.
When he told Today Show that following the UK’s example was “under consideration”, Fauci said on Friday what it meant for some people – not US health officials – to talk about it.
“It was a bit of a misinterpretation. I think some (not everyone), but people misinterpreted them when I said they were being considered (as) as if we were going to change. We are not, ”he said.