FDA Officials Resign Over COVID-19 Booster

A group of 18 Food and Drug Administration officials, including two who resigned, wrote a report detailing, in light of the White House rolling out boosters, that doing so should be "evidence-based."

According to the report published by The Lancet on Monday, the FDA officials write, "although the idea of further reducing the number of COVID-19 cases by enhancing immunity in vaccinated people is appealing, any decision to do so should be evidence-based and consider the benefits and risks for individuals and society."

"Current vaccine supplies could save more lives if used in previously unvaccinated populations than if used as boosters in vaccinated populations," they add.

According to the Daily Mail, starting Sept. 20, the Biden administration plans to rollout boosters but says the decision will ultimately be left to the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Authors of the report include Dr. Marion Gruber and Dr. Philip Krause, who announced they plan to step down in the coming months due to disagreements over the dissemination of vaccines.

Among the reasons Krause and Gruber chose to resign was the White House's announcement of the shots prior to approval.

The authors added that "boosting might ultimately be needed in the general population because of waning immunity to the primary vaccination or because variants expressing new antigens have evolved to the point at which immune responses to the original vaccine antigens no longer protect adequately against currently circulating viruses."

According to scientist Geert Vanden Bossche, who has no affiliation with the FDA but does have concerns over vaccines, "conducting mass vaccinations...promotes viral evolution toward more infectious variants."

• FDA Official Hopeful Younger Kids Can Get Shots This Year
• The Real Vaccine Skeptics Work at the FDA