Pfizer to meet US officials over COVID vaccine booster

US chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci has said it is too soon for the government to recommend a third booster shot.

Pfizer says it plans to meet with top United States health officials on Monday to discuss the drugmaker’s request for federal authorisation of a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci acknowledged that “it is entirely conceivable, maybe likely” that booster shots will be needed. The company said it was scheduled to have the meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other officials on Monday, days after Pfizer asserted that booster shots would be needed within 12 months. Pfizer’s Dr Mikael Dolsten told The Associated Press last week that early data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels jump five to 10-fold after a third dose, compared with their second dose months earlier – evidence it believes supports the need for a booster.