FDA advisory doctor says it's time to rethink booster shot recommendations

NEW YORK - A member of the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee says it is time to rethink COVID-19 booster shot recommendations.

Dr. Paul Offit says not everyone should run out to get the latest booster shot.

He made the comment on FOX 5 New York's Good Day New York on Tuesday morning.

He says if the goal is to keep people from contracting serious cases out of intensive care at the hospital, then the elderly and people with underlying health conditions should get the booster but others may not need to get it if they have had three doses of the mRNA-containing vaccine or two doses and have had a natural infection.

"I think we've created this unrealistic expectation that this vaccine can protect against mild disease. That's not true," Dr. Offit says.

He says data show that the vaccine didn't make sense to be recommended for everyone and doesn't know why the CDC went in that direction.

In a previous appearance on Good Day New York, Offit said that the notion of trying to vaccinate as much of the population as often as possible to try to decrease transmission, "I just don't think that is a viable public health strategy."