Another Booster? Omicron Shot? What's Next For COVID Vaccines
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 April 2022
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
Dr. Anthony Fauci tells NPR the path forward is paved with uncertainties — about whether more variants will arise, how long booster protection lasts, and what kind of funding will be available for research. Fauci spoke to NPR's Rob Stein, who explains what's likely for booster guidance later this fall.
Whatever the future of the pandemic holds, public health officials are hoping to get early glimpses of it by monitoring waste water treatment plants. John Daley reports.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | There's a lot going on this week. |
| 0:02.8 | I want to welcome everyone and thank everyone for joining the meeting today on Wednesday an FDA advisory committee met to talk about the future of COVID boosters. |
| 0:12.2 | You're hearing Peter Marx, the agency's top vaccine scientist who pointed out many Americans haven't gotten an initial booster dose, |
| 0:20.1 | even as a second one is authorized for some and many more are waiting to see if they can get one soon. |
| 0:25.6 | And so what we'll be doing is having a variety of presentations relevant to the broad discussion of boosters. |
| 0:31.2 | A broad discussion of big questions. |
| 0:34.2 | What about as we get into the fall and the winter, the entire population, will they or will they not require a fourth boost? |
| 0:44.1 | Or Dr. Anthony Fauci told NPR this week boosters could be given once a year, like the flu shot. |
| 0:50.0 | That is certainly possible. |
| 0:51.8 | Or there could be a threshold after a number of boosters where immunity stays strong enough long enough that you will not need that regular a boost. |
| 1:02.3 | I have to emphasize we don't know the answer to that right now. |
| 1:07.1 | Then there's the possibility of another variant emerging. |
| 1:10.6 | There are a lot of moving parts here. |
| 1:13.5 | We have to take it, you know, point by point, month by month, you know, segment of the year by segment of the year to determine what the proper approach would be to keep this on the control and to protect our citizens. |
| 1:28.6 | Consider this. There are way more questions than answers about the future of the pandemic and what role vaccines will play in that future. |
| 1:36.6 | But we do have some answers based on what we know in the press. |
| 1:41.2 | From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly. It's Wednesday, April 6th. |
| 1:46.4 | Support comes from our 2022 lead sponsor of Consider This, the new venture X card from Capital One. |
| 1:52.7 | Earn 10 X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5 X miles on flights when you book through Capital One travel. |
| 1:59.0 | Capital One, what's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com for details. |
| 2:05.0 | This message comes from NPR sponsor, SOTFA, the comfort company. |
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