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Unpublished data from Israel is pushing the Biden administration to provide COVID-19 vaccine boosters to all Americans starting next week.
This data would have provided the White House COVID-19 team with compelling evidence that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine becomes less effective over time, unnamed officials told POLITICO.
The Israeli results are “more comprehensive and more alarming” than the US data, officials say.
Even Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert, told POLITICO the data provided enough evidence “that you would be impressed.”
Yet, as these data are not yet public, many American scientists and public health experts are still not convinced that booster injections are necessary for the general population.
Officials in the Biden administration are backing the planned roll-out of the booster vaccination with unpublished data from Israel, POLITICO reports. Pictured: Dr Rocelle Walensky (CDC Director) and Dr Anthony Fauci testify before the Senate, July 2021
About 63% of U.S. adults have been vaccinated so far, and many will soon be eligible for booster shots if the Biden administration follows its planned deployment in September.
Booster injections – third doses of Covid vaccines – have been a major source of debate for the American scientific community in recent weeks.
At the end of August, the Biden administration announced that the boosters would be available to all Americans who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, eight months after their second injection.
Deployment of the recall is expected to begin on September 20 – although President Joe Biden has promised that deployment will not begin until the appropriate federal agencies agree.
The potential deployment has sparked tensions within those agencies – the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Executives from both agencies argued that booster shots are not yet necessary for all Americans.
In fact, two FDA officials – Dr Marion Gruber and Dr Philip Krause – have announced their intention to step down following the announcement of the recall.
These two experts joined sixteen other senior FDA officials in writing a report recently published in The Lancet, which said there was no evidence of booster doses at this time.
“Even if the booster was ultimately shown to reduce the medium-term risk of serious illness, current vaccine supplies could save more lives if used in previously unvaccinated populations than if used as boosters. in vaccinated populations, “wrote the Lancet authors.
But the White House Covid team would have access to data that shows booster injections are needed to reduce the risk of serious illness, according to POLITICO.
These data – which are not yet accessible to the general public – come from research in Israel.
The Israeli results reportedly showed that “the ability of the Pfizer vaccine to prevent serious illness and hospitalization declines over time,” according to two government sources who spoke to POLITICO.
Fauci said he found the Israeli data on the effectiveness of the vaccine to be impressive. Pictured: Fauci in May 2021
Israel has been a source of vaccine efficacy data throughout 2021, as the country has an earlier and faster deployment than the United States
Unlike other countries, the United States has also not comprehensively tracked groundbreaking cases, other than those that led to hospitalization or death.
Israel is one of the first countries to give booster shots, which started with residents aged 60 and over in July and now include residents over 30.
The American recall plan could follow a similar trajectory.
The CDC has published studies suggesting that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines become less able to protect recipients from infection over time, suggesting a potential need for boosters.
A study published on September 10 found that the vaccine’s effectiveness against the infection increased from 91 percent to 78 percent during the Delta Wave.
But the Israeli data would be “more complete and more alarming”, according to POLITICO.
During Delta Wave, Covid vaccines became less effective in protecting Americans from infection, CDC analysis shows
Fauci said this unpublished data shows vaccines are becoming less effective, to a degree “that you would be impressed.”
“I would be very surprised if the US data ultimately does not turn out to be very similar to the Israeli data,” Fauci told POLITICO.
The new data would be released soon, possibly later this week.
Based on current public information, however, many scientists remain skeptical about the need for widespread booster doses in the United States.
For example, Covid physician and commentator Dr Eric Topol argued that boosters should be offered to adults over 60 – not to all Americans.
Many experts are now arguing that the US government should instead prioritize sending vaccine doses to other countries, where the majority of people have not even received a single injection.
The Biden administration maintains the government can push for home reminders and overseas vaccinations at the same time.
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