>> Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Sharon LaFraniere, The New York Times Published: 13 Jul 2021 08:51 AM BdST Updated: 13 Jul 2021 08:51 AM BdST A tray contains Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines at a vaccination event in Miami on May 17, 2021. The New York Times Representatives of Pfizer met privately with senior US scientists and regulators Monday to press their case for swift authorisation 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.