CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — An FDA committee is set to discuss COVID-19 vaccine boosters for general public on Friday.
Moderna has also submitted data to the FDA for approval of booster doses.
But, this morning, there's contiuning debate over the need for a third shot.
Friday, the FDA could give the green light to COVID-19 boosters -- that's a third shot for everyone who got the Pfizer vaccine.
Moderna is also seeking the same for those who got its vaccine
For weeks, top U.S. health officials have said an additional dose may help provide further protection against the coronavirus.
But, the booster debate took a turn Monday after an opinion piece was published in the Lancet from an international group of vaccine scientists, including two retiring FDA leaders.
It says COVID-19 vaccines do not currently show a need for boosting.
The lead author saying "taken as a whole, the currently available studies do not provide credible evidence of substantially declining protection against severe disease, which is the primary goal of vaccination."
But, about 75 million eligible people in the United States have yet to recieve a vaccine at all and some experts say the focus needs to be on them.
"Let's get vaccine doses into people who are unvaccinated and then we will see," said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of the division of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.
On the other side of the booster argument, the FDA says "the views of the authors do not represent the views of the agency...we look forward to a robust and transparent discussion on Friday about that application."
The Lancet paper also argued the current COVID-19 vaccine supply could "save more lives" if used in people who are not yet vaccinated than if used as boosters.