Dr. Mandy Cohen, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the COVID vaccine will likely be pushed as an annual jab similar to the flu shot.
“I don’t want to get ahead of where our scientists are here and doing that evaluation work, but yes, we anticipate that COVID will become similar to flu shots, where it is going to be you get your annual flu shot and you get your annual COVID shot,” she said when asked by Spectrum News whether Americans should be receiving the shots each year.
“We’re not quite there yet, but stay tuned,” Cohen added. “I think within the next couple of weeks, month we’re going to hear more from our experts on COVID shots.”
After acknowledging the CDC lost trust during the pandemic, Cohen went on to state that she is "very worried about parents not vaccinating kids."
When asked if there were things the CDC could have done differently, Cohen said that “folks have been very clear that the CDC did lose trust.”
“There were some early places where the CDC didn’t perform and execute in the way they needed to,” she added.
One factor that worries Dr. Cohen is vaccine distrust – particularly as the threat of the so-called “tripledemic” of COVID-19, influenza and RSV, continues to be an issue.
“I’m very worried about parents not vaccinating kids,” she said. “I got my kids vaccinated from the circulating viruses. There’s plenty of other things that are hard as parents that we can’t do. This is one we can do to protect our kids.” (Spectrum News)
Cohen’s comments were blasted on social media, where some users claimed to have been suspended from Twitter for predicting annual COVID shots during the pandemic.
New CDC Director Mandy Cohen: “We anticipate that COVID will become similar to flu shots, where it is going to be you get your annual flu shot and you get your annual COVID shot.”
— Michael P Senger (@michaelpsenger) July 29, 2023
I was literally suspended from Twitter for predicting this back in 2021.https://t.co/WeeECeh3ym
It doesn’t matter if it works or not. You just need it. The cdc is a clown show. https://t.co/Y7pLdzsLPG
— Dr. Urso (@richardursomd) July 31, 2023
CDC : we have some extra credibility we don't need. Anyone got a match?https://t.co/9KMAh3eKyQ
— David McCune, MD, MPH (@davidemccune) July 29, 2023
"I got my kids vaccinated from the circulating viruses. There’s plenty of other things that are hard as parents that we can’t do. This is one we can do to protect our kids." - new CDC Director Cohen
— Kristen Mag (@kristenmag) July 28, 2023
So she’s pushing kids to get an annual covid vax w/unproven benefit? Terrifying. https://t.co/18YSERQ9QT
Cohen became CDC director at the beginning of the month after her predecessor, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, stepped down in June.