US House Panel requires info on opposing COVID-19 Booster guidance
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The ACIP had advised against boosters just a day prior to the recommendation of former CDC director Rochelle Walensky, who recommended booster vaccine doses in 2021.
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Brad Wenstrup administered a Covid-19 vaccine to Eli Livingston with the aid of a doctor in Norwood, Ohio, on March 28, 2021. (AP)
Brad Wenstrup, Chairman of the US House oversight panel's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, wrote to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday to inquire about its 2021 decision to advise COVID-19 booster shots for individuals in high-risk occupations, despite contraindications.
Former CDC director Rochelle Walensky recommended booster vaccine doses for people in high-risk occupational and institutional settings in September 2021, despite the fact that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) had advised against boosters in that population just a day prior to her recommendation.
"[Walensky] disregarded the carefully considered guidance of the expert panel composed of 15 voting members, eight ex officio members, and 30 non-voting representatives designed to inform vaccine policy," the letter said, adding that it took only a few hours of consideration in light of the panel's recommendations for Director Walensky to make her decision of disregarding ACIP's fair reservations over the necessity and viability of such a recommendation.
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The letter said that the decision is particularly troubling because the CDC Director was given such vast authority while being an unelected position that does not need Senate approval.
The letter stated that ACIP will reconvene on September 12th to discuss whether or not another COVID-19 booster is necessary. According to the letter, lawmakers are worried that the Biden administration has a "preferred outcome" and that politics may have an impact on ACIP's decision.
It added that by September 20th, lawmakers would like the CDC to send facts regarding the 2021 booster recommendation made by ACIP and the opposing recommendation made by Walensky.
The ACIP meeting takes place as COVID-19 instances have increased recently in several regions of the world. Although US President Joe Biden has so far tested negative, US First Lady Jill Biden recently tested positive for Covid-19.
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