Fauci: FDA vote against Covid booster injections “is not the end of the story” | Antoine Fauci

Fauci also said he doesn’t believe one million coronavirus deaths in the United States are inevitable, despite the Delta variant-fueled wave that last week marked the grim milestone of one in 500 Americans having fell victim to the pandemic.

The near-unanimous vote on Friday by scientific advisers from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to recommend against a routine third injection of the Pfizer vaccine was seen as a reproach to Joe Biden, who announced the “third strategy of jab “as a main component of its six-pronged anti-Covid plan.

“I don’t think they were wrong,” Fauci told CNN’s State of the Union, “but people need to realize that the data is coming in, literally on a daily and weekly basis, and they are going to keep watching this literally in real time.

“It is quite conceivable and perhaps likely that in the end, the appropriate regimen for protection, optimal protection and durability of protection would be more than the first and the nudge followed by three to four. weeks, that could actually result in a third boost.

“… I think people need to understand that this is not the end of the story.”

Studies have shown that most Americans who get vaccinated want a booster. The FDA panel recommended providing them to people over 65 and at high risk of contracting severe Covid-19. But experts are divided over the benefits of Biden’s proposal for a third blow to the general population.

While the FDA panel’s 16-2 vote is not binding, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will review it before making a final decision.

In July, Fauci said he didn’t think a third recall was immediately necessary. Earlier this month, he seemed to be leaning into it.

“Their decision, which I respect, is to follow the path we have just said, with some limitations,” he said on Sunday. “Remembering that the data keeps coming in every week, we’re probably going to see an evolution of that decision. “

Defending Biden, Fauci said the president had always been “very clear” that the recall strategy depended on the assessment of medical experts.

“Although we have said that we plan to do so, it has always been said in his official statements, in the official written statement from all of us, including the FDA and CDC, that [it] was pending and subject to FDA review of the data set.

“It was still pending the assessment of the US, Israel data set and any data we could get. They did it through the proper deliberative process and they have made a recommendation which I think is a good recommendation. ”

Fauci said data is expected in “the next two to three weeks” to allow the FDA to assess recalls for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, both of which are currently being administered under an authorization from emergency use.

With the death toll in the United States now exceeding 670,000, according to the CDC, Fauci was asked about fears he could soon reach one million.

“I don’t think it’s something that is inevitable,” he said.

“With our vaccines, which are very effective and effective in the real world and safe, if we get the overwhelming proportion of our population vaccinated, we’re not going to see that at all.

“There are 70 million people eligible for vaccination who have not yet been. If we can get most of these people, the overwhelming majority, vaccinated, we won’t see the types of deaths you just mentioned. “

Dr Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) told CBS’s Face the Nation that he believes approval of a recall for the general population is still likely, and that he accepts that people are “confused” by White’s mixed messages. Internal and medical experts.

“It was very important that the FDA advisory committee voted unanimously in favor of offering recalls to people 65 years of age and older and others who have high risk exposures such as health professionals. health, so we are starting on that path, ”he said.

“Some of the data we’re seeing coming, especially from Israel, tells me it’s likely they will. I know people were confused about the different posts, but this is how it should be, the science sort of goes very transparently, looking at data from multiple places, from our country, from across other countries, and trying to make the best decision yet. This is what they did.

Collins also said the “high-risk” group identified by the FDA committee could potentially include professions such as teachers who have regular contact with children under 12 who are not eligible for vaccinations.

“Watch this space, as the CDC’s advisory committee on immunization practices will be meeting Wednesday and Thursday,” he said. “It will be a very important thing for them to struggle with what exactly is included in this group of very exposed people.”