It's not about the science, but then, it never was

the two least trusted faces of public health

CDC advisors express their doubts that booster is necessary

“These are not evidence-based recommendations,” Dr. Sarah Long, a member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and pediatric infectious disease expert at Drexel University College of Medicine told The New York Times. “We are in a very difficult position to do much of anything other than what everybody has already announced that we’ve done,” she added, apparently referencing the fact that the Biden administration announced boosters would be available before they were approved by health authorities.

“I don’t think that we have evidence that everybody in those groups needs a booster today,” said fellow ACIP member and senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Colorado Dr. Matthew Daley. Daley and Long both voted in favor of the CDC’s recommendation.

The ACIP only narrowly passed a recommendation for Americans aged 18-49 with underlying health conditions, and did not pass a recommendation for individuals in high-risk occupations, but CDC director Rochelle Walensky overruled the panel with her final recommendation.

“You can see the hesitancy in all this,” Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia told the NYT. “It’s because in our hearts, I think people don’t quite agree with this notion of a booster dose.”

“The door just got bigger and bigger and bigger, it got wider and wider with each step,” he continued. “The companies got what they wanted, the administration got what they wanted.”