White House may need to scale back booster shot plan

The Biden administration last month unveiled plans to start offering COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans beginning on Sept. 20. But officials are reportedly now weighing whether this plan will have to be scaled back.

Top health officials are urging the White House to scale back the COVID-19 booster shot plan because more time is needed to review the data, The New York Times reported. CNN also reported that the Biden administration is discussing whether to scale the plan back, citing an official as saying the FDA doesn't currently have enough data to recommend a third dose of the Moderna vaccine. "The officials warned that more time may be needed before enough data is in to recommend boosters for all adults," CNN writes. Data that Moderna recently submitted was "found inadequate and needs strengthening," an official said, NBC News reports.

When announcing the booster rollout plan last month, top health officials said the administration was "prepared to offer booster shots for all Americans beginning the week of September 20" subject to FDA approval. The booster shots, the officials said, would be offered starting eight months after an individual received their second dose, though The Wall Street Journal later reported that regulators would likely approve the shots after six months.

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A White House spokesperson told the Times that "we always said we would follow the science, and this is all part of a process that is now underway." The spokesperson added that when the booster shots received "full review and approval" from the FDA, the administration "will be ready to implement the plan our nation's top doctors developed so that we are staying ahead of this virus."