Episode Details

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, amended the emergency use authorizations (EUAs), https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-moderna-pfizer-biontech-bivalent-covid-19-vaccines-use of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to authorize bivalent formulations BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. Omicron booster shots, with lots of questions https://www.science.org/content/article/omicron-booster-shots-are-coming-lots-questions United Kingdom has authorized Moderna Omicron subvariant BA.1 Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, have submitted data about their BA.4/BA.5 vaccines Biden administration Has already placed an order for 170 million doses What do the new boosters contain? Messenger RNA (mRNA) coding for the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 Bivalent, Wuhan strain and BA.1 or BA.4 and BA.5 (which have identical spikes) What sort of data have the companies collected? Human data, only available BA.1 booster BA.1 trails did not look for protection against severe disease, (People trials are very expensive) For the BA.4/BA.5 boosters, the companies have submitted animal data. (not released publicly) Pfizer presented preliminary findings in eight mice given BA.4/BA.5 vaccines as their third dose, (for EMA) Showed an increased antibody response to all Omicron variants tested: BA.1, BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5. Clinical trials for the BA.4/BA.5 vaccines will begin next month Why still target the ancestral strain? Probably for new variants, more polyclonal response Still has some neutralising power against the new variants If the benefits are limited, do we really need the new boosters? Some scientists don’t think we do. Paul Offit, vaccine researcher, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia COVID-19 vaccines still prevent the most severe outcomes If the goal is to stop infections, even updated vaccines will have little impact (Incubation period is too short) (Measles or rubella, 2-week incubation period, so can stop spread) even if 100% of the population were vaccinated, and the virus hadn’t evolved at all, vaccines would do very little to stop transmission https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/11161123 Efficacy of vaccines: content claiming that vaccines do not reduce transmission or contraction of disease https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9891785 Claims that any medication or vaccination is a guaranteed prevention method for COVID-19 The Biopharmaceutical Industry Provides 75% Of The FDA's Drug Review Budget. Is This A Problem? https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2018/06/28/the-biopharmaceutical-industry-provides-75-of-the-fdas-drug-review-budget-is-this-a-problem/?sh=7bf0d65049ec Caroline Chen the agency is beholden to the biopharmaceutical industry Given this level of support, one might assume that the FDA would bend over backwards to meet the needs of its financial backers. Caroline Chen ProPublica https://www.propublica.org/article/fda-repays-industry-by-rushing-risky-drugs-to-market Dr. Thomas Marciniak (former FDA medical team leader) You don’t survive as a senior official at the FDA unless you’re pro-industry The FDA has to pay attention to what Congress tells them to do, and the industry will lobby to get somebody else in there if they don’t like you Pfizer https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/03/pfizer-covid-sales-pricing-vaccine-paxlovid-pill has made nearly $26bn (£21bn) in revenues in the first three months of the year Covid-19 vaccines and treatments Expects record sales of $98bn to $102bn this year, half of which will come from Covid products, Comirnaty and Paxlovid prompting fresh accusations of pandemic profiteering. AstraZeneca, Chief executive officer, Pascal Soriot https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/astrazeneca-people-medicine

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices