Fauci says ‘inevitably’ everyone will need boosters

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, said Thursday that “inevitably” everyone will need booster shots for the COVID-19 vaccine because like any vaccine, its protection won’t be “indefinite.”

NBC News’s Craig Melvin asked Fauci on “Today” whether it’s “inevitable” that “in the not too distant future everyone is going to need a booster shot,” as the debate over the necessity of third shots has ramped up.

President Biden’s chief medical adviser at first emphasized that immunocompromised people “never really got a good response” from the vaccine to more robustly protect them from COVID-19. He noted the decision to give boosters to others depends on if general protection falls below “a certain level.”

But Fauci responded to the original question by saying, “No vaccine, at least not within this category, is going to have an indefinite amount of protection.”

“So, in answer to your question, it’s right,” he said. “Inevitably, there will be a time when we’ll have to give boosts. What we’re doing, literally, on a weekly and monthly basis is following cohorts of patients to determine if, when and whom should get it.

“But right now at this moment, other than the immunocompromised — we’re not going to be giving boosters to people,” he continued. “But we will be following them very carefully and if they do need it, we’ll be ready to give it to them.”

Fauci’s comments come as news outlets reported that the Food and Drug Administration is preparing to approve booster vaccinations for immunocompromised people in the coming days.