The FDA panel decision on vaccine boosters shows the process worked: Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on ABC's "This Week" Sunday.

After the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory panel rejected a plan on Friday to offer Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots to all vaccinated adults 18 and over, White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci emphasized the panel's recommendation that extra Pfizer shots should be given only to those 65 and older or those at high risk of severe COVID-19.

"The approval was for people 65 years of age or older, and a considerable number of people who are 18 to 64 who have underlying conditions that put them at a higher risk for severe disease, and people from 18 to 64 who are in institutional or occupational situations that would put them at an increased risk to exposure and infection," Fauci said Sunday. "So that's a pretty good chunk of the people."

Fauci told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz that he was not disappointed by the panel's decision and he thinks the process worked.

"We would hope that ultimately when we get the proper vaccination to everyone or we get a more extensive distribution of the boosters, that it will have an effect of stopping the spread, but the -- but the goal of this particular decision was to prevent people from getting serious disease who are at risk, such as the elderly and those that have underlying conditions," Fauci said. "Ultimately, Martha, we hope that enough people will be vaccinated either with the primary regimen or following a third-shot booster with Pfizer that we will get that effect of preventing spread."