NEW: Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie, Robert Malone and many others sign an open letter expressing disappointment about the state of MAHA.
The letter accuses the admin of a "bait and switch."
How did we get here?
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 9.7% of children have received a COVID vaccine this year. 9.2% are not recorded as being at high risk of complications from COVID and thus are not eligible for COVID booster shots under Food and Drug Administration rules released under former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. Makary resigned under pressure in May.
An FDA assessment conducted before his departure found that 10 children’s deaths may be attributable to the COVID vaccine. FDA career staff later revised that figure down using methods that a forensic pathologist who investigated two of the deaths said amounted to dishonest spin.
- Last month FDA authorized Moderna's mRNA flu shot under "accelerated approval," a pathway that's supposed to be for drugs treating diseases with few other treatments. Just six months ago, in February, Makary's deputy deemed the data so poor he swiftly returned the application to the drug company. Moderna had compared its new shot against a standard dose vaccine. But that's not the flu vaccine recommended for seniors, who are at highest risk of serious disease, for whom the CDC recommends a more powerful dose. The mRNA causes side effects at twice the rate of the traditional flu vaccine.
- A new indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract with Pfizer allows HHS to purchase as much as $1.24 billion in mRNA shots for adults and children.
- The extension of the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act declaration through December 31, 2029, grants COVID vaccine manufacturers continued liability protection.