Anthony FauciAnthony Fauci Two US cruise lines requiring COVID-19 vaccinations before boarding. Sunday Show Preview: Budget Resolution Paves Way for 0.9 Trillion Stimulus; Senate prepares for impeachment lawsuit Maine Governor Warns MORE Against Super Bowl Parties, the country’s top infectious diseases expert, said Sunday he disagreed with experts who have suggested that the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine could be delayed to prioritize more first doses.
“One of the problems is that if you really want to study it to see that, the amount of time it will take, the number of people you should put into the study – by then we will already be in the arena to get enough. – to still have enough vaccines to go around, ”Fauci said on NBC’s“ Meet the Press. “
Fauci said that “from a theoretical point of view” information on the shelf life of a single dose would be helpful. “But what we have now, and what we have to deal with, is the scientific data that we’ve collected, and it’s really really solid,” he added. “We know it’s 21 days or 28 days with each of these. You can do both. You can get as many people as possible on their first dose while reasonably sticking to the second dose schedule. “
Under the current circumstances, Fauci added, “demand clearly outstrips supply.”
WATCH: The mismatch between supply and demand of Covid vaccines is “kind of inevitable,” says Dr. Anthony Fauci on #MTP.
Fauci: “Sure, I think we could have contracted a little more aggressively with the companies to get more doses, but right now this is what we have.” pic.twitter.com/bmRiWAOm9y
– Meet the press (@MeetThePress) February 7, 2021
“If you look at the escalation of dose availability purely on the basis of the ability and the ability to produce it, it will escalate and continue to escalate from February to March to April and beyond,” he added. “So while there is a clear, clear discrepancy between this, the demand and the supply, it will get better as we get to February to March.”