Written by: Sasha Reva
Since the onset of the pandemic, COVID policies have been driven mainly through politics and not science. The Biden Administration has been pushing for a COVID booster shot to be released by September 20th. However, as the New York Times first reported, top federal health officials have warned the White House to “scale back these plans to release a booster shot because regulators need more time to collect and review all the necessary data.”
The White House has been urging the FDA and CDC to get a third dose ready. However, they are pushing back, saying the data is insufficient and more research needs to be done before administering a third dose. Recently, two top FDA officials, Marion Gruber (director of the agency’s Office of Vaccines Research & Review) and Phil Krause (OVRR’s deputy director), announced their departure from the FDA. Their premature exit, especially in such a critical time, sends a message that they do not work with political interference.
Many critics say that pushing out a third dose of a vaccine is very dangerous without thoroughly studying the complete data set from the original vaccine. Furthermore, it is unclear what a proper dosage would even be without an adequate review of full-time data. The White House is still missing the bigger picture. Non-immune adults still need to get vaccinated; they are the ones dying at the highest rate.
The head of the World Health Organization, General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, asks countries with ample supplies of Coronavirus vaccines to resist offering booster shots through the end of the year. Saying in a news conference: “I will not stay silent when companies and governments that control the global supply of vaccines think the world’s poor should be satisfied with leftovers.”
Tedros had already asked for a moratorium on booster shots through the end of September. It remains unclear what the White House’s response will be. More information is to come in the ensuing days.
Photo from: Getty Images
