Donald Trump said he 'doesn't think' he'll get a coronavirus booster shot because he feels he is in 'good shape' after getting vaccinated.
The indecisive former president said, however, that he would likely get another jab if he feels 'it's good' and 'necessary.'
'Do you anticipate getting the booster if that becomes available and recommended?' Sharyl Attkisson asked in an interview with Trump taped on Saturday.
'I don't think so,' Trump responded.
'I mean, I don't think so – I really feel I'm in pretty good shape with respect to that. But let's see what happens.'
He then backtracked: 'If I feel it's good, if I feel it's necessary, I would get it.'
Trump has been clear that he recommends Americans get the vaccine, insisting that they were developed while he was president – and therefore can be trusted.
Former President Donald Trump said in an interview taped Saturday that he 'doesn't think' he'll get a coronavirus booster shot because he feels he is in 'good shape' after getting vaccinated
The former president got the vaccine last January after a COVID infection in October and publicly encourages his supporters to do the same, despite many far-right and MAGA supporters openly opposing getting vaccinated against the virus.
At a rally in Alabama last month, Trump was booed by the crowd when he recommended they get inoculated.
Trump, in his interview that will air next week, took credit for the swift development of the vaccine and blamed his successor for failing to earn the trust of Americans.
'I'm very proud of what we did with the vaccines,' Trump said. 'I did the vaccines in a short period of time – less than nine months.'
'I blame him for the fact that the vaccine is not being taken in the levels that it should because the people don't trust him,' he said of President Joe Biden's vaccine roll out.
Trump told the Wall Street Journal last week that he would 'probably' will not get a booster shot, but added that he was not 'against' them.
'I feel like I'm in good shape from that standpoint—I probably won't,' he told the Journal. 'I'll look at stuff later on. I'm not against it, but it's probably not for me.'
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized an additional jab for those with weakened immune systems last month. The White House announced recently that both Pfizer and Moderna plan to roll out booster shots, as the Delta variant rages across the US.
Trump got vaccinated last January, after he was infected and hospitalized with COVID-19 in October
Meanwhile, Biden said in August that he and First Lady Jill Biden plan on receiving COVID-19 vaccine booster shots when available in September.
The two pharmaceutical giants have both submitted data to the FDA for approval of their next round of jabs.
Trump was booed last month by his own supporters at a rally in Alabama for touting the coronavirus vaccine.
'I believe totally in your freedoms, I do, you've got to do what you've got to do. But I recommend that you take the vaccines,' Trump said to the crowd, who replied with jeers.
'You've got your freedoms,' he responded. 'But I happened to take the vaccine.'
Of those eligible for a vaccine (aged 12 and older), 61.9% are fully vaccinated and 72.7% have received at least one jab.
Still, 19% of Americans say they do not intend to take the jab, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll taken Aug. 26-31. Only 5% of Democrats are refusing, while 37% of Republicans are saying no.
Trump last month expressed skepticism about boosters, saying a third dose of vaccine 'sounds like a money-making operation.'
'You know what, that sounds to me like a money-making operation for Pfizer , okay, think of the money involved. That's tens of billions of dollars,' Trump told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo.
'If you're a pure businessman you'll say, 'You know what, let's give them another shot, $10 billion of money coming in,' the whole thing is crazy.'
The former president continued: 'When these first came out they were good for life. Now they're only good for a year or two. And I could see the writing on the wall.'
'I could see the dollar signs in their eyes— of that guy that runs Pfizer. You know, the guy that announced the day after election that he had the vaccine. But we knew that, and I knew that, and the people knew that.'
In a joint statement last month, Biden's top health advisors called for a booster course of an additional Pfizer or Moderna shot for anyone who had received any of the three vaccines now in use, starting eight months after the initial dose.
'We have developed a plan to begin offering these booster shots this fall subject to FDA conducting an independent evaluation and determination of the safety and effectiveness,' the statement said.
The joint statement released by the FDA was signed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, and FDA Acting Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock, among others -- but it was merely a press release, and did not amount to an official FDA authorization.
Moderna reports that its third shots brings people to a higher antibody level than they had after receiving two shots. It found that immunity granted by its original two-shot vaccine had begun to wane six months after the second dose was given.
But the CDC on Monday admitted it may be difficult to determine at this point whether immunity from prior vaccination is waning over time or if the vaccines are just less able to prevent infection by the highly-transmissible Delta variant.
Trump promoted the vaccine during a rally in Alabama last month, and as booed by thousands of his supporters who oppose getting inoculated or having vaccine or mask requirements
Meanwhile, two top FDA regulators plan to leave the agency in the next several months amid a reported power struggle with the over booster shots.
Dr. Marion Gruber, director of the FDA's Office of Vaccines Research and Review, plans to step down on October 31 and her top deputy Dr. Philip Krause also plans to leave the FDA in November, according to a department memo seen by EndPoints News.
Gruber played a key role in approving COVID-19 vaccines for the public, but her departure comes amid reports that FDA officials are frustrated with the White House for announcing booster shots before regulators formally approve them.
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