FDA Vaccine Adviser: Most Americans Don’t Need Another COVID-19 Booster
Americans Don’t Need Another COVID-19 Booster, Says Vaccine Adviser
A longtime vaccine adviser to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said most Americans don’t need another COVID-19 booster as the Biden administration prepares to push another round of shots.
Dr. Paul Offit, who advises the FDA on various types of vaccines, told the Daily Mail that the upcoming updated COVID-19 boosters that are meant to target new variants don’t need to be taken by middle-aged and younger Americans without underlying health conditions.
“Specifically, those over 75 years of age, those who have health problems that put them at higher risk of severe disease (such as obesity, chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease and diabetes, among others) [and] those who are immune-compromised and those who are pregnant,” Dr. Offit said, listing some of the conditions that he thinks warrant the newest COVID-19 booster.
Low-Risk, Low-Reward Strategy
It’s an argument he’s made before, when in an article in a medical journal in February 2023 he said that asking young, healthy people to get boosted with a variant-specific booster is pointless.
“I believe we should stop trying to prevent all symptomatic infections in healthy, young people by boosting them with vaccines containing mRNA from strains that might disappear a few months later,” Dr. Offit wrote in the paper.
COVID-19 Alarm
Dr. Offit’s remarks come amid warnings from government and health officials about a new COVID-19 variant circulating, while President Joe Biden said last week that all Americans would likely be advised to get another booster.
Overall in the United States, there’s been a 15.7 percent rise in hospital admissions due to COVID-19 in the most recent week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Over the same period, there’s been a 10.5 percent increase in COVID-19 deaths while test positivity is down 0.6 percent, per the CDC.
Despite a rise in some COVID-19 indicators, the numbers are much lower than a year ago. Still, some institutions have started to adopt mask mandates, sparking pushback in some circles and a “we will not comply” trend on social media.
For instance, former President Donald Trump recently accused “left-wing lunatics” of fear-mongering about new COVID-19 variants in order to justify the reintroduction of lockdown policies and other mandates—all in a bid to rig the 2024 election.
“We will not shut down our schools. We will not accept your lockdowns. We will not abide by your mask mandates, and we will not tolerate your vaccine mandates,” the former president said in a video posted on Truth Social.
Also, President Trump recently told former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon in a conversation on her podcast that pharmaceutical companies have an ”obligation to be honest” about vaccine side effects and should disclose all relevant data on vaccine harms.
During their conversation, Ms. Dixon asked about President Biden’s announcement to fund a new COVID-19 vaccine.
“He wants everyone to get this vaccine,” Ms. Dixon said. “And we’re hearing about a lot of complaints from vaccine injured. To say a lot is an understatement.”
“Numerous pharmaceutical companies have refused to release their data on vaccine side effects,” she continued. “But we’ve seen cases of myocarditis, blood clots, and heart attacks; they’re all increasing. The research has never been released.”
She then asked if President Trump would “demand that the v
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