Dr. Anthony Fauci says that Americans will “just have to deal” with getting another COVID-19 booster shot if it becomes “necessary.”
During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday, Fauci was asked by host George Stephanopolous if Americans should view three shots as the “standard of care.”
Fauci responded by saying three shots is the “optimal care,” however, he noted, “For official requirements, it’s still two shots of the mRNA and one shot of the J&J for the official determination of what’s required or not.”
“But I think if you look at the data, the more and more it becomes clear that if you want to be optimally protected, you really should get a booster. And I think we’ll be continuing to evaluate what the official designation is,” he added.
Stephanopolous asked if Americans “should expect yearly boosters.”
“It’s tough to tell because the third shot of an mRNA could not only do what we absolutely know it does, is it dramatically increased the level of protection,” Fauci responded.
He continued, “But from an immunological standpoint, it could very well increase the durability of protection by things that you can’t readily measure by the level of antibodies that you might have a maturation of the immune system that would prolong the durability.”
The infectious disease expert went on to say scientists will have to “just follow it over a period of months.”
Watch the video below:
Dr. Anthony Fauci tells @GStephanopoulos that it’s “tough to tell” now whether yearly boosters will be expected.
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 13, 2021
“If it becomes necessary to get yet another boost, then we'll just have to deal with it when that occurs.” https://t.co/SEtxBva72U pic.twitter.com/cYg72NWwzC
Finally, Fauci said, “If it becomes necessary to get yet another boost, then we’ll just have to deal with it when that occurs.”
“I’m hoping from an immunological standpoint that that third shot of an mRNA and the second shot of a J&J will give a much greater durability of protection than just the six months or so that we’re seeing right now,” he added.