Available science does not yet indicate a need for most in the general population to receive a COVID-19 booster shot, an international group of scientists said Monday.
Included in the group are two senior FDA officials reportedly stepping down from their positions over a disagreement with the White House.
Indeed, as previously reported by Human Events News, Marion Gruber, director of the Office of Vaccines Research and Review, and Phil Krause, deputy director, will leave their positions in October and November, respectively.
The two officials are allegedly leaving their positions because they are frustrated with White House pressures to move forward with booster vaccines without FDA approval, as well as with the CDC’s involvement in the vaccine approval process.
The group of international scientists published a viewpoint in The Lancet on Monday, arguing that the COVID-19 vaccines remain effective in preventing severe disease, including against the Delta Variant, Fox News reports.
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“Careful and public scrutiny of the evolving data will be needed to assure that decisions about boosting are informed by reliable science more than by politics,” authors wrote.
“Widespread boosting should be undertaken only if there is clear evidence that it is appropriate,” they added.
The comments come after Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the FDA, and CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky advised the White House that regulators need more time to review data before approving a booster plan.
Gruber, Krause and the other authors urged caution over drawing conclusions about vaccine efficacy from preliminary observational studies possibly affected by “confounding and selective reporting.” Vaccine supply, they warned, should instead be allocated to unvaccinated populations to best reduce the risk of serious illness and emerging variants.
