WASHINGTON — The National Institutes of Health director says a government advisory panel’s decision to limit Pfizer covid-19 booster shots to Americans 65 and older as well as those at high risk of severe disease is a preliminary step and predicts broader approval for most Americans “in the next few weeks.”
Dr. Francis Collins told “Fox News Sunday” that the panel’s recommendation Friday was correct based on a “snapshot” of available data on the effectiveness of Pfizer’s two-shot regimen over time. But he said real-time data from the U.S. and Israel continue to come in showing waning efficacy among broader groups of people that will need to be addressed soon.
NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins says an FDA review of the data on vaccinating 5- to 11-year-olds "will happen in weeks and not months …"
Dr. Collins also directly appeals again for everyone *around those kids* to get vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/wRy5NWKsz6
— The Recount (@therecount) September 19, 2021
Collins, who also appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” said: “I think there will be a decision in the coming weeks to extend boosters beyond the list that they approved on Friday.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, on Sunday praised the advisory board’s plan for covering a “good chunk” of Americans. But he stressed that “this is not the end of the story” based on evolving data and said the recommendations will likely be expanded in the coming weeks to months.
The Food and Drug Administration will consider the advisory group’s advice and make its own decision, probably within days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also is set to weigh in this week.
“The story is not over because more and more data is coming in and will be coming in,” Fauci said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
.@MarthaRaddatz presses Dr. Anthony Fauci on whether the White House's premature booster plan created any confusion.
"When you make a decision, you don't snap your finger and it gets rolled out the next day," Fauci responds. https://t.co/3ZySKbviUZ pic.twitter.com/BqU6KRkFsa
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 19, 2021
Last month, Biden said a broad booster plan would begin on Monday. The panel’s narrower recommendation on Friday was seen as rebuke to a president whose policy was getting ahead of the science.
Fauci said he did not believe the panel “made a mistake.”
“The one thing people need to realize is data are coming in literally on a daily and weekly basis,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “They are going to continue to look at this literally in real-time.”
