Several outside experts had an off-the-record phone call with federal health officials last week during which they objected to the White House's plan to eventually make COVID-19 vaccine booster shots available to all previously-vaccinated adults, Politico reports, citing five people familiar with the matter. The experts reportedly made the case that current data does not back up the strategy and that only people who are at most at risk of severe coronavirus infections should get the extra dose.
The phone call was "very tense," one source told Politico, and involved pretty clear disagreements between the outside voices and Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden's chief medical adviser. Fauci is in the camp that supports a wide booster rollout with the goal of reducing the spread of the virus, rather than just limiting hospitalizations and death. He also argued the U.S. didn't face a choice between boosters and donating extra doses to other countries that need their initial shots. Several participants on the call were left "mystified" by the exchange and the government's plan, Politico reports. Read more about Politico.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
July 12 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include generational ennui, tariffs on Canada, and a conspiracy rabbit hole
-
5 unusually elusive cartoons about the Epstein filesCartoons Artists take on Pam Bondi's vanishing desk, the Mar-a-Lago bathrooms, and more
-
Lemon and courgette carbonara recipeThe Week Recommends Zingy and fresh, this pasta is a summer treat
-
Cytomegalovirus can cause permanent birth defectsThe Explainer The virus can show no symptoms in adults
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
