Now’s not the time to be picky about which coronavirus vaccine to get — even with several candidates already approved for use and more likely to come — because there’s currently not enough to be selective, says Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to President Biden, told CNN Thursday that Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, if approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use, wouldn’t immediately alleviate the dearth of doses in the U.S.
“I don’t think right in the beginning they will, because right now, the demand is far excess of the supply,” he said, CNN reported. “So, people will, I think, gladly take whatever is available to them.”
The FDA so far has approved two vaccines, developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, that require two doses. The Johnson & Johnson candidate requires just one dose.
But Fauci said even with the likely approval of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, people will who get inoculated in the near future won’t have the option of choosing which one they want.
“As we get through February, into March, and April and May, when the amount of vaccine becomes much more plentiful, there is certainly a possibility that people will know that this particular vaccine is maybe given in the pharmacies, and this might get in a clinic, or in your doctor’s office, or wherever,” he said. “They could potentially have a choice.”
As of Friday, the U.S. has administered roughly 35.2 million of the 57.5 million vaccine doses available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.