Some people may benefit from an extra dose of a coronavirus vaccine, particularly those with immune system deficiencies, says the head of the National Institutes of Health.
“People who have immune deficiencies, who did not get a full response to the original pair of doses from Moderna or Pfizer, or the one dose from Johnson & Johnson — maybe an additional dose might help those people,” Dr. Francis Collins told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday.
Collins said the extra dose wouldn’t be considered a booster shot, but rather a necessity for getting one’s immunity levels to
Pfizer said a booster shot could be needed six months to a year after the administration of its two-dose vaccine, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration both said no boosters are necessary at this time.
“There was nothing there that would change the view of myself, or the FDA or the CDC, that we need boosters imminently,” Collins told CNN. “I think Pfizer was a bit apologetic that they might have jumped the gun a bit on that.”
As of Thursday, more than 160 million people in the U.S., or roughly 48% of the population, has been fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
