Covid Usa, experts divided on third dose: “Evidence of efficacy and safety is not sufficient”

There are many diverging rumors about the need for a third dose of the covid vaccine for certain categories of people in the United States, writes The New York Times. The recommendations of the agencies involved – even those adopted unanimously – mask significant dissent and malaise among their scientific advisors. Several scientists advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, explained that the data shows that, except for adults over the age of 65, the vast majority of Americans are already well protected against severe forms of the disease and not. they need a booster. Some experts have reported that they felt obliged to make difficult choices, based on still sporadic research, in the midst of a health emergency. But some said they felt compelled to vote in favor of the third dose because of the way federal agencies put the matter before them. “These are not evidence-based recommendations,” summarized Sarah Long, an expert in pediatric infectious disease at Drexel College of Medicine in Philadelphia and on the CDC Advisory Committee. There are limited data on the safety and efficacy of the third dose. Those supporting the booster with Moderna and J&J are “of very low quality,” explained Kathleen Dooling, a CDC scientist. The official position of the FDA and CDC is that the elderly, the frail and those who are particularly exposed to the virus for work can request a third dose of one of the three vaccines approved in the USA (the last category has been included in the recommendations of CDCs despite expert opinion to the contrary) “I don’t think there is evidence that every person in these categories needs a booster today,” said Matthew Daley, researcher at Kaiser Permanente Colorado and member of the CDC Advisory Committee. after approving Pfizer’s data, the scientists did not want to rule out the other products. “The thing that worries me is that we don’t know if boosters are needed,” said Cody Meissner, a pediatrician at Tufts University School of Medicine and an advisor to the FDA.