US chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) in an interview on Thursday that he believed the US will eventually adopt Israel’s move to offer third doses of COVID-19 vaccines to its population.
Fauci, who in the past has praised Israel’s vaccination campaign, told the station that US officials are receiving information from Israel on the booster shot campaign, and there is particular interest in data on young people.
He opined that everyone who has received the Pfizer vaccine would ultimately require three doses and said that this would be the case for the US population, even below age 65.
“I think ultimately there will be enough data to show that Israel is doing the right thing,” said Fauci, who added he takes the statistics coming out of Israel “very seriously”.
“So I am very favorably disposed to what the Israelis have done and we get a lot of good information from them,” he said.
Fauci said he believes there will soon be “good safety data” on younger people receiving the third dose.
“There is a great concern about the benefit-to-risk ratio of younger individuals in the context of myocarditis,” Fauci said, adding, “We know it is a very rare event and we know that the Israelis are starting to gather a considerable amount of data that in fact will give us good insight into the risk, particularly in the vaccination of young people in your military.”
Fauci’s comments come days after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines for Americans aged 65 and older, younger adults with underlying health conditions and those in jobs that put them at high risk for COVID-19, but rejected the idea of providing booster shots to all people over the age of 16.
In the interview, Fauci commented about his well documented differences of opinion with former US President Donald Trump.
The former President reportedly at one point considered demoting the top doctor after he criticized his policies.
Last October, Trump was heard criticizing Fauci in a call with campaign staffers, suggesting he was an "idiot" and saying, "He's been here for, like, 500 years.”
In interviews he gave after President Joe Biden took office, Fauci acknowledged that it was difficult at times to work for Trump. At his first press briefing after Biden took office, Fauci promised transparency when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
“I do not take any pleasure in contradicting the president of the United States,” he said in Thursday’s interview. “But I had to make a disagreement in order to preserve my own integrity but also as my responsibility as a public health official. I did not enjoy having to speak against what the president was saying. Unfortunately, I had to do it.”