Covid booster doses are currently not required, said the dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University on Friday, as highly transmissible new variants test the protection of available vaccines.
“Let me tell you where we are: the data is very clear, if you got your two shots from Moderna or Pfizer or a single shot from J&J you have a very high level of protection against all variants, including Delta” said Dr. Ashish Jha. “I haven’t seen any evidence yet that anyone needs a third shot.”
Jha’s comments come after Pfizer and BioNTech announced Thursday that they are developing a Covid-19 booster shot that will target the Delta variant. Company officials say another vaccination may be needed as immunity to the vaccine appears to decline over time.
In CNBC’s The News with Shepard Smith, Jha emphasized the importance of waiting for the dates when it comes to a booster shot.
“When this evidence comes along, and of course we will want to take that into account, I think I think it is unlikely that we will need third shots for most people,” Jha said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration issued a joint statement stating that Americans who are fully vaccinated do not need a booster vaccination.
“Americans who have been fully vaccinated currently do not need a booster vaccination. FDA, CDC, and [the National Institutes of Health] are involved in a science-based, rigorous process to check if or when a refresher might be needed, “said a joint statement released Thursday evening.
