Fauci downplays new study on COVID-19 vaccines and their efficacies against delta variant

Dr. Anthony Fauci dismissed a new study on how effective the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are on the delta variant of COVID-19, showing that the Moderna vaccine offers better protection than the Pfizer vaccine.

The Mayo Clinic and biotech company found in the study of 25,000 Minnesota residents that the effectiveness of both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines dropped in July, amid the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19. While the researchers said the vaccines provided good protection, the effectiveness of the Moderna vaccine was 76%, while Pfizer's was 42%.

"That study … is a pre-print study, it hasn't been fully peer-reviewed," Fauci told CBS' "Face the Nation."

"I don't doubt what they're seeing, but there are a lot of confounding variables in there, about when one was started, the relative amount of people in that cohort who were Delta versus Alpha," he said, in reference to the different COVID-19 variants, The Epoch Times reported.

"Right now, if we get boosters … it's clear we want to make sure we get people, if possible, to get the boost from the original vaccine," Fauci said, referring to whichever shot people originally received, whether Moderna or Pfizer.