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Fauci: Booster shot for weakened immune systems

Published:Thursday | August 12, 2021 | 9:28 AM
In this July 20, 2021, file photo, top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci responds to accusations by Senator Rand Paul as he testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Fauci said on Thursday, August 12, an additional COVID-19 booster shot will be recommended for previously vaccinated people with weakened immune systems. He told NBC’s ”Today” show he expects the booster recommendation to come “imminently.” (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)

WASHINGTON — Dr Anthony Fauci says 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 authorisation for an additional booster shot would come from the Federal Drug Administration.

Fauci says 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 says “at this moment, other than the immune-compromised, we're not going to be giving boosters.”

Fauci says “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.”

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