Fauci defends vaccine boosters, Moderna seeks FDA approval of booster

Anjalee Khemlani joins Brian Sozzi and Seana Smith to break down the new developments arising around COVID, including Dr. Anthony Fauci defending the administration’s decision to recommend booster shots for vaccinated people and Moderna asking the FDA to allow the use of a third booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine.

Video transcript

BRIAN SOZZI: Yahoo Finance senior health care reporter Anjalee Khemlani is here with the latest on the COVID-19 front.

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: That's right, Brian. So we know now that the FDA is looking at the Moderna vaccine and its potential for a booster shot. The company did submit information earlier this week looking at basically a half dose. And that's kind of interesting compared to Pfizer, which is just going straight through on their full dose as a third shot. We know that as of right now, Moderna is also kind of interested in what the White House has to say about the eight month post-initial dose versus the six month, which is what the data shows. And we know that that's been a conversation that has been ongoing.

And, meanwhile, this 50 microgram, which is that half dose of what the original dose is, is really important for Moderna because, as we know, they're tapped out on manufacturing for the rest of the year and into 2022. And this could free up about a billion doses, company officials said earlier today. So that is really interesting to watch.

Of course, all of this booster conversation or additional dose, depending on how you want to phrase it, fits into what Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the White House COVID medical advisor, said yesterday. And that is that looking at what the data is currently showing out of Israel specifically, Israel has adopted the idea of a third dose being a full course. And you are not considered fully vaccinated unless you get three doses. And it seems like the US might be following that trajectory, especially when it comes to mRNA vaccines.

So a lot going on right now. We know that the FDA'S advisory panel is set to meet later this month. And we'll get a lot more information about that then.

SEANA SMITH: And, Anjalee, a lot of the focus still on the Delta variant and the need here for booster shots. But the WHO show is now talking about a new variant. What can you tell us about this, and how potentially, I guess, worrisome this could be?

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: Right now, information is very skimpy. We know that this original, this mu variant, did come up from Columbia. So it originated there, and is now in 39 countries, including South Korea and parts of Europe as well as in the US. And what we know about it is that some early indications that it could evade some antibody protection. So that is something that scientists are really closely watching right now. No further details because it's still so new. It could possibly also be more transmissible.

And these are all things that in the coming weeks and months as they study this variant, we'll get to know more. But as of right now, that's all that's out there. The World Health Organization designated a variant of interest, making it the fifth to make that list. Meanwhile, there are other variants still roaming around that they're following, but this has really caught their attention. So stay tuned for more.