After telling the Atlantic on Monday that she plans on getting a Covid booster shot, but wants to make sure all those at higher risk get one first, Kaiser Health News quoted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky clarifying her remarks. Shepard Smith spoke with Walensky on CNBC’s Daily News and he doesn’t seem concerned by supply at all. It has been quite crowded in pharmacies as people have been trying to get their booster as quickly as possible, so he told the pharmacist he would wait a week or two since those over 65 years old could be at greater risk than he is and get his booster.
A CDC Official Says He Isn’t Worried About Covid Booster Shots’ Supply
According to the CDC, people 65 and older, people with certain underlying health conditions, and people in frontline jobs such as teachers, nurses, and grocery store workers should receive an extra dose of Pfizer’s vaccine. An advisory panel of the CDC ruled Friday that the Covid-19 booster shots, released by Pfizer and BioNTech, could be delivered to a wide range of workers nationwide.
As part of the panel’s recommendations, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky approved a series of vaccinations that would be given to older Americans and adults with underlying medical conditions six months after the initial vaccinations. Nevertheless, she disobeyed the panel by also authorizing boosters for people working in high-risk occupational settings or in institutions, which is an unusual move that is certain to stir protests from anti-vaxxers.
Walensky said in a statement that part of his job as Director of the CDC is to identify where CDC actions have the most impact. For CDC, the challenge is to formulate concrete recommendations that help optimize health by analyzing complex, often imperfect data. When there is uncertainty about the pandemic response, they should take steps they anticipate will be most helpful, he said. As the highly contagious delta variant spreads across the United States, a third dose of the Pfizer & BioNTech Covid vaccine is now available to 60 million as a free option. This vaccination was originally distributed to about 100 million people.
As pediatric hospitalizations for Covid continue to soar, Shepard Smith asked Walensky if the approval process should have been accelerated. Doctors say that as schools reopen and the rapidly spreading Coronavirus delta variant increases the number of hospitalized children, the situation could get worse.
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and Prevention report that new pediatric hospital admissions peaked at an average of 303 per day over the week ended 22nd Aug, the highest level seen for about a year.
Smith was told by Waldensky that it was an extremely important question that was being addressed urgently by the agency. To make sure vaccines are safe and effective, the process must be balanced between getting children vaccines quickly as well as conducting clinical trials.
Vaccine makers BioNTech and Pfizer recently reported that a lower dosage of their Covid-19 vaccine was safe and generated a “robust” immune response among kids age 5 to 11. However, although the company intended to notify the FDA and other health regulators as soon as possible, gathering information on more than 2,200 children took a year. The FDA will address those data with urgency, according to Walensky. A final recommendation will be finalized by the CDC once the FDA gives its approval, which should begin happening shortly after.
POINTS TO NOTE
- People 65 and older, people with certain underlying health conditions, and frontline workers such as teachers, nurses, and retail workers were recommended to receive an extra dose of Pfizer’s vaccine.
- According to the Director of CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky: She is not concerned by supply at all.
