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A possible move to open up additional COVID-19 booster shots to all US adults is up to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a Tuesday White House briefing.
"It's a regulatory decision on the part of the FDA, and the CDC will examine it with regard to whether or not they will recommend it or allow it," Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert , said after he and Dr. Ashish Jha were asked whether the Biden Administration is considering expanding eligibility of the current round of booster shots to all adults.
Jha said that there are ongoing conversations about "what are possible things we can be doing to better protect the American people."
He added that these decisions are made by the FDA and the CDC and that both agencies are looking at available data.
"We are a team here," Fauci added. "The FDA is part of the team. The CDC is part of the team. The White House Group is part of the team. We're all part of a team. And we discuss this continually."
"But as Dr. Jha said," Fauci continued, "we also have the situation where there are certain elements of the team that are the decision-makers and in this case."
Currently, the CDC only recommends a second COVID-19 booster shot to US adults over the age of 50 and some people over 12 years old who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.
Fauci encouraged everyone who can get a booster to get one, and said getting a shot now won't disqualify a person from getting a variant-specific booster formulated against Omicron BA.5 in the fall.
"The threat to you is now," Fauci said. "If you are not vaccinated to the fullest ... then you are putting yourself at an increased risk that you can mitigate against by getting vaccinated."
