WASHINGTON 鈥 Data needed to determine the advisability of booster shots of the Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines is just weeks away, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.鈥檚 chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, said on Sunday.听听听
Health officials signaled they expected boosters would ultimately be recommended for a broad swath of the population, but urged Americans not to seek booster doses until they have听approval from the听Food and Drug Administration听(FDA).听听听
鈥淲e recommend that people wait until you get to the point where you fall into the category where it鈥檚 recommended,鈥 he told CNN.听听听
On Friday,听an听FDA听advisory panel recommended a third shot of the two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for people age 65 and older or at high risk of severe COVID-19, but declined to endorse boosters for the wider population.听听听
Though the FDA is not bound by the panel鈥檚 recommendation, it will take it into consideration when deciding whether to recommend a third round of shots.听听听
鈥淭his is not the end of the story,鈥 Mr. Fauci told CNN鈥檚听State of the Union听program. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to continue to look at this, literally in real time,鈥 Mr. Fauci added.听听听
People who have received the two-dose Moderna vaccine or one-dose J&J vaccine are still awaiting guidance on possible booster shots.听听听
鈥淭he actual data that we鈥檒l get (on) that third shot for the Moderna and second shot for the J&J is literally a couple to a few weeks away,鈥 Mr. Fauci told NBC鈥檚听Meet the Press听program.听听听
鈥淲e鈥檙e working on that right now to get the data to the FDA so they can examine it and make a determination about the boosters for those people,鈥 Mr. Fauci added.听听听
More data may also show a broader need for booster shots across the general US population, Fauci said.听听听
The United States leads the world in total reported COVID-19 cases and deaths. Nearly 676,000 people have died during the pandemic in the United States, figures compiled by Reuters showed.听听
An increase in US cases and deaths in recent months has been most acute in areas with lower vaccination rates even as federal health officials implore vaccine holdouts to get their shots.听听听
Mr. Biden announced in August the government鈥檚 intention to听听for people age 16 and older, pending approval by the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts.听听听
The FDA鈥檚 decision-making process does not negate the White House鈥檚 position favoring boosters, Mr. Fauci said, saying the plan was always contingent on FDA鈥檚 regulatory process.听听听
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health, said on the听Fox News Sunday听program that he expects it would 鈥渂ecome clear over the next few weeks that administration of boosters may need to be enlarged,鈥 citing existing data from the United States and Israel indicating waning vaccine effectiveness over time.听听听
The officials also signaled the timeline for vaccine authorization for children from 5鈥11 years old is in the coming weeks.听听听
鈥淔or kids 5 to 11, the data is supposed to come in at the end of this month, and FDA will be working 24-7 to go through it,鈥 Mr. Collins said. 鈥淪o听we all hope that can happen in weeks, and not months.鈥 鈥斕Chris Prentice/Reuters听听听
