US must stick to two-shot strategy for coronavirus vaccines, Anthony Fauci says

The US must stick to a two-dose strategy for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines, top infectious disease official Anthony Fauci has said.

Mr Fauci said that delaying a second dose to inoculate more Americans creates risks.

His remarks came as a top UK expert said the decision to delay second doses of Covid vaccine in an effort to jab more older people could have saved a "large number" of lives.

But Mr Fauci warned that shifting to a single-dose strategy for the vaccines could leave people less protected, enable variants to spread and possibly boost skepticism among Americans already hesitant to get the shots.

"There's risks on either side," Mr Fauci was quoted as saying by the Washington Post in a report published late on Monday.

"We're telling people (two shots) is what you should do and then we say, 'Oops, we changed our mind'?" Mr Fauci said. "I think that would be a messaging challenge, to say the least."

He added that he spoke with UK health officials on Monday who have opted to delay second doses to maximise giving more people shots more quickly.

Mr Fauci said that strategy would not make sense in the US

He said the science does not support delaying a second dose for those vaccines, citing research that a two-shot regimen creates enough protection to help fend off variants of the coronavirus that are more transmissible.

Whereas a single shot could leave Americans at risk from variants such as the one first detected in South Africa, he added.

"You don't know how durable that protection is," he said.

Mr Fauci said on Sunday he was encouraging Americans to accept any of the three available COVID-19 vaccines, including the newly approved Johnson & Johnson shot.

The US authorised Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine on Saturday, making it the third to be available in the country following the ones from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna that require two doses.

Covid has claimed more than half a million lives in the United States, and states are clamouring for more doses to stem cases, hospitalisations and deaths.

Results from a Public Health England (PHE) study have indicated that the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective in reducing infections among those aged 70 and over.

England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said data showing vaccine effectiveness against illness of approximately 60% and a reduction in the likelihood of hospital admission by 80 per cent after a single dose gives the “first glimpses” of how the jabs programme is working.

Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said the “bold” decision to delay the second dose so more older people could be protected by a single dose more quickly had saved lives.

He said: “These real world results from Public Health England demonstrate a very good effect from both vaccines after the first dose.

“The Covid vaccination strategy was designed to prevent as many deaths as quickly as possible.

“The bold decision to vaccinate more older people by delaying the second dose has undoubtedly saved a large number of lives.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock hailed the “exciting new data” as “extremely good news”.

He said the results may go some way to explaining why the number of Covid admissions to intensive care units among people aged over 80 in the UK have dropped to single figures in recent weeks.

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