President Biden announced last week that starting in September, Covid booster shots will be available and encouraged Americans to get it eight months after their second shot. Some scientists began screaming about the administration’s position given that one, he jumped the gun since boosters do “not yet have the blessing of the CDC advisory panel, and the FDA has not authorized” them for all adults, according to Kaiser Health News; two, they argue the need for boosters is “based on weak evidence;” and three, it’s throwing a wrench into the messaging about vaccine efficacy, which is still strong.
In case you missed it, “TODAY” show’s Savannah Guthrie pressed CDC Director Rochelle Walensky last week about the booster shots, wondering if there is data to support a third dose actually preventing transmission, since right now the Delta variant has shown that breakthrough infections in the vaccinated are possible and that they can still be spreading the virus even if they are asymptomatic.
“So there’s actually hope, we don’t have data yet," Walensky replied. "We do know that the higher levels of protection certainly in the alpha variant resulted in less transmission and we have not yet seen the data, but we are hopeful that the booster will not only protect you, give you a higher level of protection, not just against the delta variant but against a broad range of variants. It might also decrease the level of virus that you have and make it less transmissible."
Dr. Robert Malone, the inventor of mRNA vaccines, urged the administration to respect human life by taking an evidence-based approach to policy rather than relying on wishful thinking.
High zone tolerance is a real thing. With vaccines and vaccination, more is not always better. Sometimes it can be decidedly worse. So please, respect us, our lives, and our health. Policy must be evidence based. Thank you.
— Robert W Malone, MD (@RWMaloneMD) August 26, 2021