COVID-19 Booster Shots Needed in September? Dr. Fauci and Pfizer CEO Push More Jabs
Evan James
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The CEO of Pfizer and Dr. Anthony Fauci have said that the first Americans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine may need a booster shot as early as September.
“The data that I see coming, they are supporting the notion that likely there will be a need for a booster somewhere between eight and 12 months,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla at an event hosted by Axios.
The first Americans inoculated against COVID-19 received their shots in late December and early January. Based on Bourla’s timeline, many of them may need a booster in late August or early September.
Dr. Anthony Fauci also said at the Axios-hosted event that “I think we will almost certainly require a booster sometime within a year or so after getting the primary [shot] because the durability of protection against coronaviruses is generally not lifelong.”
Scientists and public health experts have not ruled out the possibility of increased COVID cases when summer fades and fall emerges. But with a significant chunk of the American populace vaccinated this time around, it’s difficult to predict how the virus will behave and how much protection people will lose.
“It’s not proven that we need boosters yet,” Cornell professor and virologist John Moore told Axios. “Whereas it’s appropriate to plan for boosters, you’ve got to look at whether there’s a corporate agenda behind this.”
“As of now we don’t have any evidence that protective immunity has dropped to a troubling point, and certainly not for people immunized in December, January, February. It’s hard to say where we will be in November because right now it’s May,” he added.
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