Share and Follow
“Restricting access to vaccines can only increase the impact of COVID-19,” he said.
It comes down to what US health officials say is a lack of evidence about the efficacy of COVID-19 boosters.
What’s happening in the US?
“We want to know more about what these products are doing, especially as we enter the seventh, eighth and ninth dose.”
Prasad said all the COVID-19 vaccine makers will be asked to conduct placebo-controlled trials in healthy 50 to 64-year-olds and encouraged to conduct them in very young children.
‘Unethical’ process
“While people with co-morbidities and the elderly are typically more vulnerable, the unfortunate reality is severe disease isn’t restricted to those groups,” he said.
“Typically, when we’re improving vaccines, we include the current standard of care, the approved vaccine rather than a true placebo.”
Some 20,000 people have left the department as part of mass layoffs.
How will supply and cost be impacted?
But for those still wanting to get vaccinated, supplies could decrease, and costs increase, he said.
“These companies are profit-driven like any business and are working in the best interest of shareholders.”
Could the same thing happen in Australia?
“The fear that I have is that people, the public and certain politicians are already aligning with some of those concerning things that are happening abroad, including in the US, and may call for these sorts of things to happen and further undermine their confidence in vaccines,” he said.
A 2024 report from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance found that children aged from 12 months to 5 years old were less vaccinated in 2023 than in 2020.
