Current FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf, in 2018 when he served as Duke Health’s vice chancellor for Health Data Science, addresses attendees at the National Drug Abuse (NIDA) Treatment Clinical Trials Network 2018 Annual Steering and Scientific Meeting March 21-22.2018 Rockville, MD
Are you getting a 4th COVID vaccine dose? Trust in public health is at a record low, and now the FDA is bypassing its own experts.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration authorized Americans 50 and over to get a fourth COVID vaccine dose, reports the WSJ. Some of the FDA’s own experts disagree with the decision, but the agency has ignored them. Its advisory committee is to convene this week to discuss future vaccine needs.
“That’s like having lawyers present arguments to a judge who’s already issued a verdict,” warns Dr. Makary in the WSJ.
- According to Eric Rubin, editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and a member of the advisory committee, he hasn’t seen enough data to determine whether anyone whose immune system isn’t seriously deficient needs a 4th dose.
- Cody Meissner, also a member, agrees with Dr. Rubin. Dr. Meissner, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Tufts Children’s Hospital, said the fourth dose is “an unanswered scientific question for people with a normal immune system.”
- Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told the Atlantic that he advised his 20-something son to forgo the 3rd shot, which the FDA recommends for everyone 12 and over.
The FDA has approved 4th doses quickly and with little supporting data.
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