The United States will continue to deliver two doses of coronavirus vaccine a few weeks away and will not follow Britain’s decision to delay the second blow, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Friday.
“I would not be in favor of this,” Fauci said when asked about the new dosing regimen in the UK. “We will continue to do what we do”
To date, US-approved coronavirus vaccines require two doses based a few weeks apart.
The British government announced on Wednesday that “the UK will give priority to administering the first dose of vaccine to those in the highest risk group” and will allow the second dose to be given up to 12 weeks later.
The UK has adopted the strategy of giving the first dose to as many people as possible as soon as possible, saying it offers some protection.
Asked on Thursday by NBC’s Today Show if the US should change its approach and adopt the UK plan, Fauci replied: “That is a consideration.” He told CNN on Friday that the comment was “misinterpreted”.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in their clinical trials, Pfizer and Moderna – the makers of the two US-approved vaccines – studied the effectiveness of two doses a few weeks apart, not a few months apart.
“The fact is that we want to stick to what science tells us, and the data we have for both (vaccines) indicate that you give a premium, followed by a boost in 21 days with Pfizer and 28 days with Moderna. And right now, that’s how we go with him and this is the decision that is made “, he said.
“We make decisions based on data. We do not have data on the administration of a single dose and waiting longer than the normal period of time (to give the second dose). “
When he told the Today Show that following Britain’s example is “under examination”, Fauci said on Friday that he meant that some people – not the US health authorities – were talking about it.
“It simply came to our notice then. I think some – not everyone – but people misinterpreted when I said that it is considered (as) as if we will change. We are not, “he said.