Fauci Tells Acosta FDA Will Finalize Recommendations About Booster Shots Soon, Advises Against ‘Mixing and Matching’ Pfizer and Moderna

Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN Newsroom host Jim Acosta that he expects recommendations to be finalized soon regarding booster shots for the Covid-19 vaccines, and urged viewers against mixing and matching shots from different manufacturers.

The Biden administration had originally identified September 20th for when booster shot programs for the Pfizer and Moderna shots would be rolled out but now the “exact timing” for the booster shots was “up in the air right now,” Acosta said to introduce the segment.

“You have said [the week of September] 20th is still in play,” he said to Fauci. “Help us sort this out. Where are we headed when it comes to boosters and when is that going to get up and running?”

Fauci replied that it was still possible that the programs for both Pfizer and Modern could be operation by the 20th, but that still depended “on a few factors.”

One issue was that the FDA was still awaiting the drug companies to submit information from their studies on the efficacy of the boosters. Pfizer, Fauci explained, has sent in their data and “things look like they are ready to go,” but “Moderna might be a bit behind that.”

That wasn’t really a problem, Fauci continued, it simply meant that instead of a “simultaneous rolling out of the booster program of both those products,” there might be a short delay between them.

“Can you mix and match or is it better to wait?” Acosta asked, wondering if those who had received the Moderna vaccine could go ahead and get a Pfizer booster if that was approved first.

“It’s better to wait. We are looking at mix and match studies now,” said Fauci, adding that they expected to have “all the necessary information in a few weeks,” so it might not be ready “exactly on the week of September 20th,” but it would be “very soon thereafter.”

Some good news Fauci highlighted were the studies showing that the booster shots “had a dramatic and profound increase in the protection against infection as well as protection against hospitalization…to an even higher level than before.”

Acosta asked Fauci about the eight-month timeline for booster shots that had been discussed, and asked why that time period and not six months.

“Good question, Jim,” he replied, explaining that the plan for the roll out for the week of September 20th “would actually be about eight months from the time the very first people in this country got their vaccinations in January.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.