FDA Vaccine Recall Panel Decision Shows The Process Has Worked: Fauci

After the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccine Advisory Committee on Friday rejected a plan to offer booster shots of Pfizer COVID-19 to all Americans, White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr.Anthony Fauci , defended the White House’s earlier plan to start rolling out the injections this month.

“The plan was that we had to be ready to do it as soon as the decision is made and when you have a plan you put a date on it and you say we want to be able to prepare to deploy the week of September 20,” said Fauci Sunday. “So giving that date, I don’t think that’s confusing. We needed a date to be able to say, let’s get ready to roll this out, pending the decision of the FDA and ultimately the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) deliberation. “

ABC “This Week” co-host Martha Raddatz asked Fauci if the White House’s premature announcement created any confusion.

“You yourself said how important consistency and messaging can be, and you mentioned earlier that President Biden talked about planning a September 20 deployment for all Americans. I know that. he said “planning”, I know he said it depends on the FDA, but isn’t a timeline like that confusing for people? ” asked Raddatz.

“It’s the kind of thing that when you make a decision you don’t snap your finger and it happens the next day and that’s, I think, the thing people in the United States have to understand,” a- he declared. responded.

The panel suggested that additional injections of Pfizer should be given to people 65 years of age and older or those at high risk of severe COVID-19. The panel also said it supported giving reminders to healthcare and other frontline workers, including teachers. A final decision is expected in a few days.

Additional vaccine doses, although not quite a booster, had already been approved by the CDC for the approximately 7 million immunocompromised Americans who had not had an optimal response to the first round of mRNA vaccines.

Fauci said on Sunday that in three to four weeks – as new data from Israel and the United States emerges – the FDA advisory group will continue to review and modify the recommendations for the boosters.

“The story is not over as more and more data is coming and going,” Fauci said.

He also said data on potential booster shots for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines was only “a few weeks away” and the information would be scrutinized in the same way as Pfizer’s data.

COVID-19 cases in the United States continue to skyrocket. The country has reported more than 1.02 million cases in the past week and the United States has recorded more than 10,000 confirmed COVID-19-related deaths in a week, according to federal data.

With many students returning to class in person, pediatric COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations remain at one of their peaks in the pandemic, and Raddatz asked Fauci when a vaccine might be available for children.

“It will definitely be this fall,” Fauci replied. “What we’re almost certainly going to see is that over the next few weeks – as we move into October – we may see childhood vaccines get enough data to be presented for safety and immunogenicity.”

“But in the fall, you know, rather than saying exactly what week, between mid to late fall, we will see enough data on 11 to 5 year olds to be able to make the decision to vaccinate them. . “, added Fauci.