Fox News Host Chris Wallace questioned White House chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci about booster shots on “Fox News Sunday.”
Wallace said that vaccine providers recommend that individuals get a booster shot while the data surrounding the Johnson and Johnson booster shot is weak. He asked Fauci if the politics of giving boosters has gotten ahead of public health.
“I’m not so sure the politics has gotten ahead of it,” Fauci responded. “If you look at the data that’s been accumulated not only from our cohorts that we’re following here in the United States, but the information, which is critical information, that we’re getting from Israel, 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.”
Wallace mentioned that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering whether it’s safe for individuals to “mix and match” and get the initial dose from one provider and the booster from another.
“What needs to be done, and I believe it will be done, Chris, is that there will be a degree of flexibility that will be left up to the individual based on their individual situation,” Fauci said in response. (RELATED: Dr. Anthony Fauci Says COVID Will Be Under Control By Spring 2022 And That It’s Time For Vaccine Mandates)
Fauci then went on to discuss the efficacy of “mixing and matching.”
“When you boost Moderna or Pfizer against the original J&J, you get a much higher antibody level … What you’re going to see, without a doubt, is that the FDA is going to take all of that under advisement from their advisory committee and then they’ll make a regulatory decision, which then will get to the CDC with their advisory committee, and they’ll make a recommendation.”
The FDA and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted Thursday to recommend a booster shot for the Moderna vaccine.