Health officials will continue to evaluate what should constitute
the official designation, Fauci, who is the director of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe
Biden's Chief Medical Advisor, said on ABC's "This Week With George
Stephanopoulos".
"Well, I certainly think, George, it's the optimal care," Fauci said
in response to being asked whether three vaccine doses could be the
new standard of care.
"I mean, for official requirements, it's still two shots of the mRNA
(Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna) and one shot of the J&J for the
official determination of what's required or not. But I think if you
look at the data, the more and more it becomes clear that if you
want to be optimally protected you really should get a booster," he
added.
[to top of second column] |
It will take months to tell
whether annual booster doses of the vaccine are
needed, Fauci said, adding that he is hoping
from an immunological standpoint that one
booster dose will be enough to provide
protection greater than just the six months
offered by the initial vaccine.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Will
Dunham and Daniel Wallis)
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