J&J Could've Been 2 Shots All Along, Fauci Says

In hindsight, the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine probably should have been two shots from the start, as other vaccines are, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday. Asked on ABC's This Week whether people who received the company's single dose should be alarmed because an FDA advisory panel has recommended adults have a booster shot, Fauci said there's nothing to be concerned about. The outside panel just saw data indicating that "very likely this should have been a two-dose vaccine to begin with," said President Biden's chief medical adviser, the Hill reports.

The new policy from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which hasn't yet been announced, probably will allow Johnson & Johnson recipients to receive another company's product for their booster, Fauci said. He added that the data indicates that one of the mRNA vaccines on top of the J&J dose generates more antibodies than surface after a second J&J dose, per Axios. The decision on which brand of booster to get will vary, depending on the recipient's health condition, Fauci said. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have always been double shots.

When he appeared on Fox News Sunday, Fauci was asked whether Biden's enthusiasm for booster shots had any effect on the regulatory process, per Politico. "I don't think there's any a political issue there; I think it's just public health data and evidence," he answered. Some members of the panel thought the companies didn't provide sufficient data on their products. Fauci said data from elsewhere, including Israel, shows booster shots are a good idea to counter the fading effectiveness of the vaccines over time. (More coronavirus vaccine stories.)