Booster Shots From Pfizer Likely to Be Ready by September 20th

According to top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, Covid booster shots from pharma giant Pfizer will likely be ready by September 20th but Moderna may be delayed.

Moderna may not get regulatory approval in time for a rollout that week said the White House chief medical advisor on Sunday.

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is the most widely administered in the U.S. More than 95 million people have received the full two-shot regimen says CDC data.

Only the Pfizer vaccine booster may get Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approval in time for a rollout the week of Sept. 20, Fauci said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

The United States had plans to give additional Pfizer and Moderna shots eight months after a second dose.

The Biden administration has announced plans to offer third doses to people who received the Pfizer and Moderna shots, pending approval from public health officials.
Moderna is waiting for regulators to sign off on a third dose.

“Looks like Pfizer has their data in, likely would meet the deadline,” Fauci said on CBS. “We hope that Moderna would also be able to do it, so we could do it simultaneously.”

“But if not, we’ll do it sequentially,” he continued. “So the bottom line is, very likely, at least part of the plan will be implemented, but ultimately the entire plan will be.”

Fauci also told CNN on Sunday that for people who got two doses of the Moderna vaccine, “it’s better to wait” for a third Moderna dose than get a Pfizer shot. He noted that the U.S. plans to release data in the coming weeks on mixing vaccines from different manufacturers.

On Sunday, White House chief of staff Ron Klain told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the administration will have booster shots “ready to go” whenever regulators approve them for wider use.

Fauci told CNBC in August that the U.S. has given 120 million doses to 80 countries.

“We are doing both,” he said of vaccinating Americans and people around the world.

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