Doctors are in hospitals right now treating COVID-19 patients who know their immunity is waning, and they are eager for a third dose.

That will hopefully come soon for those front-line workers who got their first dose more than eight months ago.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

The Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to Pfizer’s vaccine in August, but booster shots require separate authorization.

Dr. Rajiv Bahl, an emergency medicine physician, knows the vaccine is waning, and it’s not a shock.

READ: COVID-19 boosters are coming but who will get them and when?

“Vaccines tend to reduce the efficacy and effectiveness as time goes on,” Bahl said.

That’s why federal health officials believe people need another dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

Pending approval from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, President Joe Biden said, come Sept. 20, the U.S. will start offering the shots to people roughly eight months after they got their first shot.

READ: Departments weigh whether officers who die of COVID-19 should receive line-of-duty death benefits

The FDA has a meeting set for next Friday for their vaccine advisers to discuss authorizing a third dose of Pfizer, and Moderna will come later.

If the FDA recommends that booster, the people who were first in line last time will be first in line again: Older adults, long-term care facility residents and health care workers.

Right now, only a specific set of immunocompromised people has been allowed to get a third dose.

READ: WHO: COVID-19 likely ‘here to stay with us’

AdventHealth said it is scheduling boosters for front-line health care workers and will start administering them later this week.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.