Top scientists around the world — including experts at the Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization — widely dismissed the need for coronavirus booster vaccines on Monday.
in a The review was posted on Writing in the top medical journal, The Lancet, the scientists argued that booster injections are not necessary in the general population because vaccines are still very effective in preventing severe disease and death. They also noted the urgent need to dose unvaccinated people around the world to save lives and prevent the emergence of more dangerous variants.
The review comes as the United States approaches the controversial Biden administration Suggested start date For a booster release, it is recommended eight months after an individual’s second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The report also comes one week after the White House announced a major boost to vaccination state Among nearly two-thirds of the US workforce, pockets of unvaccinated individuals continue to do so driving large numbers in hospitalizations and deaths nationwide.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) External Expert Committee is holding a highly anticipated meeting this friday To discuss the application of Pfizer booster dose.
The 18 co-authors of the Lancet review included Marion Gruber, director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines, and Philip Krause, its deputy at the agency, both They announced that they would resign in the fallThis is due, in part, to their opposition to the plan to strengthen the Biden administration. The review was also co-authored by several experts at the World Health Organization, which called for a global investigation stop booster shot In order to maximize vaccinations worldwide – especially in developing countries, where vaccination rates stay too low.
Browse the Lancet Paper current directory on the protection provided by existing vaccines. While all vaccines offer less protection against delta variant infection than the previously prevalent alpha, they still provide very good protection against severe disease. And while the ability to prevent infection or even symptomatic illness may decline over time, protection against severe illness appears strong so far.
Three reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published last week confirmed these findings across most age groups, and decreased more in people. 75 or greater. Almost one study was reviewed 570,000 cases of COVID-19 in the United States From April to July, showing that unvaccinated people were about 5 times more likely to get infected, and more than 10 times more likely to be hospitalized or die than people who received a vaccine.
“The current evidence does not appear to show a need for reinforcement in the general population, where efficacy against severe disease remains high,” the Lancet paper authors wrote.
Data from Israel, which had already begun rolling out booster doses, showed an increase in protection against infection and severe disease after the third shot of the Pfizer vaccine, which was originally given in two doses. But the Lancet authors note that the data was only collected for a week after the booster dose was given, and it is unclear how long this protection will last.
The Lancet authors argued that boosters may eventually be necessary if immunity declines over time, but more research is needed to determine when this will be necessary. For now, they said, there is a more urgent need to administer the doses that exist among the unvaccinated. They also suggested that booster doses tailored against the main circulating variants of the coronavirus might be more potent and longer lasting.
Even if some gains could eventually be obtained from reinforcement, the authors wrote, “they would not outweigh the benefits of providing primary protection to the unvaccinated.” “If vaccines are deployed where it would be beneficial for them to hasten the end of the epidemic by preventing the development of more variants.”
Mike Ryan, head of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme, condemned the launch of booster vaccines in stark terms last month. “We plan to distribute additional life jackets to people who already have life jackets, while letting others drown without a single life jacket,” Ryan said. “this is the truth”.
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