COVID vaccine boosters about health, not politics, says Fauci
Politics had nothing to do with a recent decision from federal regulators on COVID booster shots, President Biden’s chief medical adviser said Sunday.
A Food and Drug Administration panel endorsed booster shots for all Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients and for select Moderna vaccine recipients last week, after White House officials had voiced support for additional shots.
The White House’s stance had no influence on the FDA’s decision, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“I don’t think there’s any political issue there. I think it’s just public health data and evidence,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”
It’s all about the data, Fauci added.
“It’s very, very clear that there’s waning immunity and that we do need to boost individuals who’ve received any of the three products that we’ve been dealing with right now,” he said, referring to the Pfizer vaccine in addition to Moderna’s and J&J’s.
An FDA panel on Friday recommended a booster for all recipients of J&J’s vaccine. On Thursday, it endorsed a Moderna booster for seniors and people with health problems. Last month, the government recommended booster shots for older people and high-risk individuals who had gotten the Pfizer vaccine.
The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected to accept the recommendations.
With about two thirds of Americans having received at least one vaccine dose, Fauci repeated calls for people to get jabbed.
“The more people we get vaccinated, the less likelihood there is going to be another surge as we go into the winter,” he said.
New York Gov. Hochul hailed the arrival of booster shots.
“Booster shots are underway, and we are laying the groundwork for getting our kids vaccinated pending final federal approval,” she said in a Sunday statement. “But there is still more work to be done and New Yorkers must remain vigilant so that we move well on our way to realizing a post-COVID future.”
Recent weeks have seen a steady decline in the outbreak. The country had a seven-day average of about 84,000 new cases as of Thursday, down from a recent peak of more than 170,000 in mid-September, according to USAFacts.org. About 1,500 Americans per day are dying of COVID, down from more than 2,000 per day around the middle of last month.
Thirty-six New Yorkers died of COVID on Saturday, bringing the state’s death toll to 57,288, according to Hochul’s office.
Amid progress against the virus, Republican officials around the country have been fighting mask and vaccine mandates.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbot of Texas recently moved to ban mandates on getting jabbed, drawing a rebuke from Fauci.
The stance is “really unfortunate,” the disease doc said on “Fox News Sunday.”
With News Wire Services
