Fauci Says ‘We Will Almost Certainly’ Require A COVID-19 Booster Shot

Top White House doctor Anthony Fauci said this week that even fully vaccinated Americans will “almost certainly” need to get a COVID-19 booster shot within a year of getting their first vaccine.

CNN reported on Wednesday that Fauci said, “We know that the vaccine durability of the efficacy lasts at least six months, and likely considerably more, but I think we will almost certainly require a booster sometime within a year or so after getting the primary.”

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COVID-19 Shot Could Be Like Annual Flu Shots

Fauci’s comments are similar to those of Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who said last month “Every year, you need to go to get your flu vaccine.”

“It’s going to be the same with COVID,” Bourla added. “In a year, you will have to go and get your annual shot for COVID to be protected.”

Fauci said that booster shots would be imperative to fighting off possible variants of coronavirus.

He also didn’t think that COVID-19 needed booster shots specific to each variant, saying it is “likely that you could just keep boosting against the wild type, and wind up getting a good enough response that you wouldn’t have to worry about the variants.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recently updated their guidance to say that fully vaccinated people can “resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”

Fauci Says New CDC Guidelines Are Not A No-Mask Pass

Many locales and businesses have ended mask requirements altogether, which has apparently been confusing for some.

Fauci told Good Morning America this week, “The problem and the issue is that we don’t have any way of knowing who is vaccinated and who’s not vaccinated.”

Fauci said at an Axios virtual event that some have confused the new CDC guidelines as the removal of a mask mandate “for everyone.”

“It’s not,” Fauci insisted. “It’s not their fault.”

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“People either read them quickly, or listen and hear half of it,” he explained. “They are feeling that we’re saying: ‘You don’t need the mask anymore.’ That’s not what the CDC said.”

“They said: If you are vaccinated, you can feel safe — that you will not get infected either outdoors or indoors,” Fauci continued. “It did not explicitly say that unvaccinated people should abandon their masks.”