Breaking: EU Regulators Warn Against Frequent Boosts
From Bloomberg h/t Alex Berenson:
Repeat Booster Shots Spur European Warning on Immune-System Risks
European Union regulators warned that frequent Covid-19 booster shots could adversely affect the immune system and may not be feasible.
Repeat booster doses every four months could eventually weaken the immune system and tire out people, according to the European Medicines Agency. Instead, countries should leave more time between booster programs and tie them to the onset of the cold season in each hemisphere, following the blueprint set out by influenza vaccination strategies, the agency said.
The advice comes as some countries consider the possibility of offering people second booster shots in a bid to provide further protection against surging omicron infections. Earlier this month Israel became the first nation to start administering a second booster, or fourth shot, to those over 60. The U.K. has said that boosters are providing good levels of protection and there is no need for a second booster shot at the moment, but will review data as it evolves.
Boosters “can be done once, or maybe twice, but it’s not something that we can think should be repeated constantly,” Marco Cavaleri, the EMA head of biological health threats and vaccines strategy, said at a press briefing on Tuesday. “We need to think about how we can transition from the current pandemic setting to a more endemic setting.”
Let’s see. I seem to recall credible scientists warning for many months about harm to the immune system. Alex Berenson comments:
Last month, the European Medicines Agency authorized boosters EVERY THREE MONTHS:
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Today, not even five weeks later, and barely 24 hours after Pfizer’s CEO downplayed a fourth dose, they said they think frequent boosters may not be safe:
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What changed? What data have they seen since Dec. 9? Animal studies? Side effect reports? Epidemiological data? Or is this just an abundance of caution - caution that did not exist last month?
And just yesterday we saw Pfizer CEO Bourla downplaying a fourth boost. What does he know? And what are we not being told?
Risk/reward has changed significantly with Omicron. They never owned up to the risks in the first place, which would have allowed people to make an informed decision about whether to get vaccinated. Many people would have correctly concluded the risk/reward was not in their favor even for the more dangerous earlier strains.
More people would have insisted on less risky treatment options, and that would have blown apart the vaccination-is-only-solution mantra. They wanted to vaccinate the whole population in order to protect the small number of people truly at risk. They didn't want to explain why healthy, young people were being asked to take unreasonable risks for a purported mild benefit to sicker/older people.
https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/boosters-are-over/comments