Dr. Anthony Fauci estimated Americans will need a coronavirus booster vaccine shot within a year, he predicted at a media event sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry.
“I think we will almost certainly require a booster sometime within a year or so, after getting the primary [shot], because the durability of protection against coronaviruses is generally not lifelong,” Fauci said about the future of the coronavirus vaccines.
The media event was organized by Axios and sponsored by PhRMA, a trade group representing the pharmaceutical industry.
Fauci joined Axios co-founder Mike Allen and reporter Caitlin Owens for the event with the Chairman and CEO of Pfizer and the President and CEO of PhRMA that airs online Wednesday afternoon.
The federal government encourages all Americans to get two shots of the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccine before being allowed to take off their masks in public and return to daily life.
Fauci expressed concern that even unvaccinated people were unmasking, after the updated CDC guidelines for vaccinated people.
“I think people are misinterpreting, thinking that this is a removal of a mask mandate for everyone. It’s not,” he said. “It’s an assurance to those who are vaccinated that they can feel safe, be they outdoors or indoors.”