Fauci: 3rd virus shots soon for the immune compromised

US chief medical adviser says additional dose will be recommended for those with weakened immune systems, but data still being collected on boosters for older Americans

US top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 20, 2021. (J. Scott Applewhite, Pool/AP)
US top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 20, 2021. (J. Scott Applewhite, Pool/AP)

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci said an additional COVID-19 booster shot will be recommended for previously vaccinated people with weakened immune systems.

He told NBC’s ”Today” show on Thursday that he expects the booster recommendation to come “imminently.”

People have compromised immune systems for a variety of reasons, including organ transplants, cancer or other conditions. Any authorization for an additional booster shot would come from the Federal Drug Administration.

Fauci said for other vaccinated groups, such as the elderly, data is being collected to determine if or when their protection goes “below a critical level” and “that’s when you’re going to be hearing about the implementation of boosters” for others.

The nation’s top infectious disease expert said that “at this moment, other than the immune compromised, we’re not going to be giving boosters.”

Fauci said “inevitably there will be a time when we’ll have to get boosts” because ”no vaccine, at least not within this category, is going to have an indefinite amount of protection.”

Israelis receive their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a temporary Clalit health care center in Jerusalem, on August 12, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israel has already began administering third vaccine doses to those over the age of 60 and the immunocompromised, and may soon start giving booster shots those in younger age brackets.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday instructed health maintenance organizations to prepare to expand the campaign to administer third COVID-19 vaccine shots to younger Israelis starting next week, according to Hebrew media reports.

The booster shot drive will be expanded to those 50 and up next week, and possibly to those 40 and up a short time after, reports said.

Out of Israel’s population of some 9.3 million, over 5.8 million have received at least one vaccine dose, and nearly 5.4 million have gotten two.

At the end of last month, Israel rolled out a third vaccine shot to citizens age 60 and up. Over 715,000 have been administered a third booster shot since.

Israel hopes the booster shot will begin to show results soon and slow the growth in the number of serious cases amid the rapid spread of the super-contagious Delta variant of the virus.

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