I\u2019ve written a lot about division in the last few weeks. There were essays about the division in our nation, divisions in the Democratic Party, and the lack of division in the Republican fealty to Trumpism. Why there was even an essay about trying to remember how to do division of fractions as a substitute teacher: that whole flipping over and changing to multiplication thing. Thank goodness for decimals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there is plenty of division to talk about.\u00a0\u00a0But there are some apparent divisions that aren\u2019t really there.\u00a0\u00a0And one of those is the so-called big \u201cdivide\u201d between the Food and Drug Administration and the White House over Covid \u201cbooster\u201d shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few weeks ago, the Biden Administration announced that they were prepared to begin booster shots for all Americans. Folks would be eligible to receive them eight months after their second Pfizer vaccination, with the program beginning on September 20th (that\u2019s today!!). In that announcement the President himself made sure to say the \u201cmagic words\u201d; \u201cPending FDA approval\u201d. (Moderna and Johnson and Johnson \u201cboosters\u201d are a few weeks away). <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The FDA didn\u2019t approve the \u201cBiden Plan\u201d. Perhaps some of the scientists were annoyed that the President got \u201cahead of their science\u201d. But to give them full credit, most of the panel simply didn\u2019t feel that the existing evidence for boosters was compelling enough to require a national booster program. They did, however, approve booster shots for those sixty-five and over, immune compromised, and those working in environments with increased exposure risk. So, I guess the science really says that boosters work, but aren\u2019t overwhelmingly necessary \u2013 yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So Joe Biden wasn\u2019t wrong.\u00a0\u00a0Boosters do increase resistance to Covid, including the Delta Variant.\u00a0\u00a0And most of the scientists acknowledge that booster shots are necessary in the long run.\u00a0\u00a0They simply say it\u2019s not time, yet, for everyone to get a Covid vaccine booster shot, particularly when so many in the United States and the world haven\u2019t even gotten the first (or second) shot yet.\u00a0\u00a064.5% of Americans have received at least one dose.\u00a0\u00a0That percentage includes kids under twelve who cannot get the vaccine.\u00a0\u00a0But the big news this morning \u2013 Pfizer released results from their trials with vaccines for five to eleven year old children.\u00a0\u00a0The data looks good, kids are gaining immunity without a lot of side-effects.\u00a0\u00a0The \u201ckids\u2019 vaccine\u201d is on the way.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure the President is more than anxious to find a \u201cstop\u201d to Covid. When he entered office, the \u201cscience\u201d said if we could only get 75% of the adult population vaccinated, we could go back to \u201cnormal\u201d. But we didn\u2019t reach that point soon enough, and the Delta Variant changed the Covid rules. There is a direct correlation between Covid and the President\u2019s approval rating \u2013 Joe Biden knows that, like Donald Trump, he will be judged by his handling of the Covid pandemic. So it should be no surprise he was ready for the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, Biden also knows that when he entered office, there were vaccines developed in the Trump Administration. \u201cOperation Warp Speed\u201d was remarkable, developing amazingly effective vaccines in record time. But the Trump Administration seemed to lose interest after the election, with little effort to get the vaccine out to the public. Biden\u2019s team had to pick that \u201cball\u201d up, and did a remarkable job between January and May getting the vaccine out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden didn\u2019t want to be left \u201cholding the ball\u201d this time should the FDA approve mass booster shots. And he wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know why today\u2019s society has to make a controversy over every difference. I guess once you head down the \u201cdivision\u201d trail, ever problem looks like a divide (there\u2019s my favorite paraphrase again \u2013 if your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail). <\/em> The headline could have read, \u201cBiden ready if FDA demands boosters\u201d. Instead, there\u2019s all the talk about Biden getting \u201cturned down\u201d by the FDA, as if he was applying to the panel, instead of the Pfizer company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I guess it makes good headlines \u2013 and puts Dr. Fauci \u201con the spot\u201d, defending the FDA process and the President at the same time. He did that well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So where are we? Currently if you\u2019ve had the vaccine, you have a 1 in 5000 chance of getting a \u201cbreakthrough infection\u201d, getting the Covid Delta variant despite vaccination. That\u2019s a .02% chance (there\u2019s that division thing again). And even if you do get a breakthrough infection, your risk of serious illness is very small, and risk of hospitalization even smaller. So get vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And get a booster when you can \u2013 just like we got the vaccine when we could. I promise, as a sixty-five year old substitute teacher, that will be soon for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not Ready Yet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Moving the Ball<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
This Isn\u2019t a Nail<\/h3>\n\n\n\n