Fauci said that Pfizer is expected to launch a US vaccine booster, Moderna lags behind

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at the White House press conference in Washington on January 21, 2021.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top US infectious disease expert, said on Sunday that although the Moderna booster may take longer, officials may soon obtain regulatory approval to manage Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine booster .

When asked on the CBS “Face the Country” program that President Joe Biden’s goal is to provide boosters starting on September 20, Fauci said “in some ways” is still the plan.

But he said that although Pfizer-BioNTech has submitted the necessary data on booster injections to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Moderna has not yet completed the process. Fauci said that he hopes to receive both vaccines at the same time as the booster dose is launched, but if Moderna cannot complete the process before September 20, then Moderna will receive the booster vaccine later.

Moderna and the FDA did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Moderna stated that it has “started to submit” enhanced data to the FDA.

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As Covid-19 continues to kill unvaccinated people around the world, how—or even whether—managing boosters has become a thorny issue.

Last month, the Biden administration announced that it would start providing boosters to Americans before September 20, usurping the FDA and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s usual procedures for making decisions on such issues. Current and former FDA scientists and A member of the CDC advisory team told Reuters.

Scientists are still debating how much additional immune booster to provide and whether all Americans should be given another injection, not just those who are at high risk of serious illness.

Fauci emphasized in his speech on Sunday that both types of boosters are considered safe, but the FDA and other officials will study the data to make sure.

“When you are dealing with allowing the American public to accept intervention, you have to make sure you are absolutely sure,” he said.