Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Sunday said that the U.S. has the capability to administer millions of COVID-19 booster shots while assisting vaccination efforts globally.
On “Fox News Sunday,” host Chris Wallace asked Murthy about the White House’s plan to administer booster shots to immunocompromised individuals, pointing out that the World Health Organization has criticized countries for hoarding vaccines.
“This is a critical issue because we know that to end this pandemic and to prevent the development of future variants, we need to vaccinate both America and the world. … We have to do both,” Murthy said.
Murthy also said that the U.S. has been trying in recent months to enhance vaccine supply and production around the world to ensure vaccine availability through means other than donations.
“Rest assured, Chris, we will not stop in these efforts until America and the world are vaccinated,” Murthy told Wallace. “That is our commitment.”
At the beginning of August, the White House announced that the U.S. had donated roughly 110 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to more than 60 countries.
COVID-19 booster shots are expected to begin being administered in the U.S. on Sept. 20.