Top health officials advise Biden admin to back off booster shots: report

 President Joe Biden in recent weeks has championed COVID-19 vaccine booster shots as a means of strengthening protection against the virus, but now experts are reportedly advising the president's administration to back off, arguing the science doesn't justify widespread use of the third shot.

According to Politico, several prominent doctors and scientists outside of the administration held a call with federal officials last week advising against promoting COVID-19 booster shots. These experts said that current data on vaccine performance doesn't support using booster shots widely to reduce the risk of a breakthrough COVID-19 infection.

The call reportedly took place on Sept. 27, the same day Biden made a big deal out of receiving his booster shot, and included White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci and policy adviser Cameron Webb, as well as the heads of the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outside experts advised that booster shots should only be given to "people most at risk of severe Covid-19 to reduce hospitalizations and deaths," Politico reported.