The Biden administration has announced plans to begin offering vaccine booster shots starting on September 20, citing new CDC studies showing the declining effectiveness of COVID vaccines. The U.S. decision has been widely criticized. On Tuesday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted, “It’s unconscionable that some #COVID19 vaccine-producing companies are reporting record profits, and some countries are offering boosters, while so many people remain unprotected.” On Wednesday, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy defended the decision.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy: “Look, I do not accept the idea that we have to choose between America and the world. We clearly see our responsibility to both and that we’ve got to do everything we can to protect people here at home, while recognizing that tamping down the pandemic across the world and getting people vaccinated is going to be key to preventing the rise to future variants.”