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Representatives of Pfizer met privately with senior U.S. scientists and regulators on Monday to press their case for swift authorization of coronavirus booster vaccines, amid growing public confusion about whether they will be needed and pushback from federal health officials who say the extra doses are not necessary now. The high-level online meeting, which lasted an hour and involved Pfizer’s chief scientific officer briefing virtually every top doctor in the federal government, came on the same day Israel started administering third doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to heart transplant patients and others with compromised immune systems. Officials said after the meeting that more data — and possibly several more months — would be needed before regulators could determine whether booster shots were necessary. (Gay Stolberg and LaFraniere, 7/12)

HHS officials had a briefing from Pfizer on Monday regarding their latest, preliminary data on vaccinations and will continue to discuss when and if booster shots will be needed in the future, the spokesperson said. Pfizer said it planned to publish "more definitive data" in a peer-reviewed journal. "Both Pfizer and the U.S. government share a sense of urgency in staying ahead of the virus that causes COVID-19, and we also agree that the scientific data will dictate next steps in the rigorous regulatory process that we always follow," said Pfizer spokesperson Sharon Castillo. (7/13)

Biden administration health officials believe the most vulnerable Americans will eventually need coronavirus booster shots — but they are still debating how quickly that should happen, two administration officials said. The internal deliberations have stretched on for months as health officials watch for signs of waning immunity among the vaccinated. The talks have included extensive behind-the-scenes coordination between the administration and drug companies manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines. (Cancryn, Owermohle and Banco, 7/12)

Conflicting statements from Pfizer and the Biden administration were just the beginning of what will likely be a contentious debate over if and when vaccinated Americans need another shot to protect them against the coronavirus. Making decisions based on emerging science is difficult on a good day. But until global supply outpaces global demand for the vaccine, how to allocate doses will remain a life-or-death decision. (Owens, 7/13)

Former Obama administration official Dr. Kavita Patel told CNBC on Monday she expects a Covid vaccine booster will, eventually, be authorized by U.S. regulators due to new, more transmissible coronavirus variants. “With the threat of the delta variant and potentially other looming variants in the future, it seems like it’s an inevitability that we’re going to need a booster shot,” Patel said on “Squawk Box.” “But that trillion-dollar question is, when? It seems like six months might be too soon.” (Singh, 7/12)

There’s a lot we don’t yet know about the data behind Pfizer and BioNTech’s renewed push to change its two-shot Covid vaccination series to a three-shot regimen. But as the sides bicker about whether a third shot is going to be needed, one thing is certain: The final decision will not rest with the company. Public health officials, not pharmaceutical executives, will be making the final call on when and whether booster shots will be needed. (7/12)