Two outgoing members of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Vaccines Research and Review were among the authors of a paper blasting Biden’s plan for increased COVID-19 booster vaccines.
Director Marion Gruber and Deputy Director Phil Krause announced their resignations from the FDA on Aug. 31 and are set to leave this fall. Current administration sources told Politico that the pair resigned due to disagreements between the Biden administration and the agency over the efficacy of booster shots for the coronavirus vaccines.Gruber and Krause were among 18 scientists who penned a Sept. 13 article in medical journal Lancet calling for vaccines to be dispensed to the unvaccinated rather than provided as boosters for those who have already received a full dose. Krause was listed as the primary author.“Careful and public scrutiny of the evolving data will be needed to assure that decisions about boosting are informed by reliable science more than by politics,” the paper said. “Even if boosting were eventually shown to decrease the medium-term risk of serious disease, current vaccine supplies could save more lives if used in previously unvaccinated populations than if used as boosters in vaccinated populations.”
Agency scientists are also questioning if Biden is willing to “follow the science.”
The experts reviewed studies of the vaccines’ performance and concluded the shots are working well despite the extra-contagious delta variant, especially against severe disease.“Even in populations with fairly high vaccination rates, the unvaccinated are still the major drivers of transmission” at this stage of the pandemic, they concluded.The opinion piece, published in The Lancet, illustrates the intense scientific debate about who needs booster doses and when, a decision the U.S. and other countries are grappling with.After revelations of political meddling in the Trump administration’s coronavirus response, President Joe Biden has promised to “follow the science.” But the review raises the question of whether his administration is moving faster than the experts.
Additionally, the Biden administration and the FDA are reportedly clashing with officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Biden and the FDA are reportedly accusing the CDC of withholding crucial data that would help shape the administration’s plan to push COVID-19 booster shots, according to a recent Politico report that cited several administration officials.Two of the officials spoke about their frustration when senior officials bucked Biden’s booster shot plan by pushing the prioritization of shots for frontline health care workers and elderly Americans.Weeks before, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky had signed onto an endorsement of Biden’s booster plan with other top Biden administration health officials.Some officials are fed up with the White House’s timeline and vaccination goals, saying the administration’s expectations are not realistic and are part of a push to get good press.
Biden’s promise to ‘follow the science’ would occur only if convenient to do so. The need to drive the epic failure of Afghanistan out of the headlines is more important.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY