Pfizer and BioNTech seemed inclined to think so on Thursday July 8, 2021, when they issued the media release we link to below. They had seen ‘encouraging data in the ongoing booster trial of a third dose of the current vaccine’ they said. And they believed a booster dose six months after the second dose would increase resistance to new variants. Fair enough, but do we need a third Pfizer shot now?
Or Are There Better Things to Do With the Vaccine at Present?
Dr. William Schaffner is a professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. ‘It’s wonderful to have a booster approved for emergency use authorization on the shelf’ he told CNN Health. ‘And ready to go any time we need it, but I do not think we need it right now.’
U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control pushed back sharply too. They seldom do joint statements. However, this time they said people who are fully vaccinated ‘do not need a booster shot at this time’.
However, they believed unvaccinated people should have shots ‘soon as possible to protect themselves and their community’. But they would reconsider this ‘when the science demonstrates that boosters are needed’.
We Do Not Need a Third Pfizer Booster Shot Now (Fauci)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci pushed back strongly too. He recommended Americans follow official government agency advice, although he respected the work Pfizer and BioNTech were doing.
Dr. Jerome Adams was the previous U.S. Surgeon General. ‘The companies are thinking about where the hockey puck is going,’ he said on New Day. ‘Whereas the government, FDA and CDC are looking at where the hockey puck is right now.’
The message seems clear to us, from where we sit at least. Everybody needs a full vaccination, and then we can talk about what happens next. Two Pfizer shots, or the equivalent are what we need now.
Related
Will We Need COVID Boosters If So When?
Do I Still Need the Vaccine After COVID-19?
Preview Image: Two Vials of Pfizer BioNTech Vaccine
