Anthony Fauci says US won't be following UK's step of delaying COVID vaccine's 2nd dose

The United States infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said that the US will not follow the UK's decision to delay the second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The UK decided to give as many people as possible the first dose as quickly as possible. However, according to the report by ANI, while speaking to CNN, Fauci said, “I would not be in favor of that... We're going to keep doing what we're doing”.

Fauci talks about US' plan 

Talking about his previous remark on whether the US should change its approach and follow the UK's approach, Fauci said, “that's under consideration”. He said, “The fact is we want to stick with what the science tells us, and the data that we have for both (vaccines) indicate you give a prime, followed by a boost in 21 days with Pfizer and 28 days with Moderna. And right now, that's the way we're going with it, and that's the decision that is made”. Fauci added, “We make decisions based on data. We don't have any data of giving a single dose and waiting for more than the normal period of time (to give the second dose)”. 

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Recently, Fauci also expressed his concern over a post-seasonal surge after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Fauci has described it as a "surge upon a surge" because of the incline the country has seen since late fall and early winter. Fauci said that it is very troubling, adding that the United States is at a very "critical point" right now. Fauci added that he now shares the concern of President-elect Joe Biden that the situation in the country might get worse in the coming weeks. The public health officials are particularly worried because of the rise in travel in the past few days. According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a record 1.2 million people travelled through airports across the United States, which is the highest footfall since March this year. 

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The health officials are also worried about the new strain of COVID-19 that has been discovered in the United Kingdom and has since been detected in few other nations. Health officials are continuously tracking the new strain of the virus and are taking precautions to prevent the variant from entering the country. Passengers arriving from the United Kingdom are required to show a negative COVID-19 result, which should have been conducted no longer than 72 hours prior to boarding.

Read: BMA: Vaccination Distribution In UK Is A "shambles"

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(Image Credits: AP)