The U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) approved a new batch of updated antiviral vaccines but limited them to the population with health risks, and also rescinded the authorization for their emergency use.
The agency authorized booster vaccines from Moderna (ages 6 months and older), Pfizer (5 years), and Novavax (12 years), but they will now be available only after medical consultation and to “high-risk” patients, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in X.
That high-risk population encompasses those over 65 years of age in general, and adults and children with any health condition that could result in “severe” disease following infection with covid-19, according to a Pfizer release, for example asthma, obesity, cancer or diabetes.
Kennedy Jr. disclosed the actions of the FDA – which did not issue a statement – and equated them to the “fulfillment” of several campaign promises, primarily to end government enforcement of coronavirus vaccination and allow anyone who wants it, especially the “vulnerable,” to do so.
“Emergency use authorizations for covid vaccines, once used to justify broad impositions on the general public during the (Joe) Biden) Administration, have now been rescinded,” the Health official added.
Kennedy Jr. also noted that as part of the regulator’s green light, drug companies will have to conduct placebo clinical trials of these vaccines.
The announcement marks a shift in U.S. covid-19 vaccination policy, as the Biden Administration recommended an annual booster shot starting at 6 months of age, and aligns with Kennedy Jr.’s skepticism toward vaccines.
In June, Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the committee that advised on who should be vaccinated, including children, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claiming that such action restored public confidence in vaccines, which was criticized by health experts, EFE reported.
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