CDC, FDA Push Back On Pfizer's COVID Booster Shot Request

WASHINGTON, DC — Just hours after Pfizer said it planned to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pushed back, saying Americans do not need a booster shot at this time.

In the statement, the agencies said it is not up to companies alone to decide when a booster shot is needed.

"FDA, CDC, and NIH are engaged in a science-based, rigorous process to consider whether or when a booster might be necessary," the statement reads. "This process takes into account laboratory data, clinical trial data, and cohort data – which can include data from specific pharmaceutical companies, but does not rely on those data exclusively."

Pfizer plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization of a third dose in August, according to a report by The Associated Press.

On Thursday, Pfizer's Dr. Mikael Dolsten told The AP that early data from the company's booster study suggests people's antibody levels jump five- to 10-fold after a third dose, compared to their second dose months earlier.

In a statement to CNN on Friday, the World Health Organization said limited data is available on how long protection from current doses lasts and whether an additional booster shot would be beneficial.

"We don't know whether booster vaccines will be needed to maintain protection against COVID-19 until additional data is collected," the statement read.