The Biden administration is now recommending that Americans who have received either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID vaccines begin getting booster shots eight months after their last injection. The boosters are needed, officials say, because the efficacy of the shots wanes over time. The boosters will be available starting the week of September 20.
The government regulations and recommendations surrounding COVID have been changing almost weekly since the virus first became part of the public consciousness a year and a half ago. This new change was predictable if for no other reason than the simple fact that change is the only permanence where COVID regulations and recommendations are concerned.
Not only is this a change; it is a complete reversal from just weeks ago. As late as early July, the Biden CDC and FDA publicly rejected the notion that boosters were needed. In a previous article on this topic, this writer wrote:
Biden had promised Americans the vaccines would protect them and allow them to return to life as normal. Now his administration is indicating that the effectiveness of the vaccines “may wane over time” and that boosters may be required every few months. Coming almost hand-in-hand with the catastrophic results of Biden’s slapdash withdrawal from Afghanistan, this confusing message about the need for boosters is likely to hurt Biden’s approval rating — even among many of his supporters.
This message is particularly confusing given that in early July (less than six weeks ago), when Pfizer said it was seeing waning immunity in those vaccinated with the Pfizer shots and was beginning development of a booster, the CDC and FDA released a joint statement within hours, saying, “Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time.”
That statement went on to say, “The United States is fortunate to have highly effective vaccines that are widely available for those aged 12 and up. People who are fully vaccinated are protected from severe disease and death, including from the variants currently circulating in the country such as Delta,” and “We continue to review any new data as it becomes available and will keep the public informed. We are prepared for booster doses if and when the science demonstrates that they are needed.”
Well, that escalated quickly.
Just six weeks after saying, “Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time” and “We are prepared for booster doses if and when the science demonstrates that they are needed,” Biden administration health officials announced earlier this week that the effectiveness of the vaccines — previously touted as full protection against COVID — begins to — wane almost immediately and dropped to a mere 53.1 percent by July for those injected months before. In cases of Delta variant infection considered mild to moderate, the efficacy of the vaccines dropped to a paltry 42 percent, according to three studies published by CDC.
As Daily Mail is reporting:
At a press conference held on Wednesday, Biden administration officials said the data had them concerned that the decline of the vaccines’ efficacy would only continue — and led to their decision on boosters.
And:
In one of the studies, researchers looked at cases and hospitalizations in New York between May 3 and July 25.
On the week of May 3, the effectiveness of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines was 91.7 percent effective against infection.
Of the 8,087 people who tested positive for the virus that week, 7,387 were unvaccinated and just 700 were fully vaccinated.
Against hospitalization, the vaccines were 95.3 percent effective with just 154 of the 1,632 hospitalized with COVID-19 that week occurring among the fully vaccinated.
However, by the week of July 19, the effectiveness against infection had fallen to 79.8 percent with 2,793 of the 8,293 COVID-19 cases that week occurring among those who had completed their vaccine series.
Declines were seen across all age groups falling from 93.5 percent to 83.4 percent for those age 50 to 64 and from 92.3 percent of 88.9 percent for over-65s.
The biggest drop was experienced in the age 18-to-49 age group 90.6 percent in early May to 74.6 percent in late July.
The study also found that vaccine effectiveness dropped from 74.7 percent in the pre-Delta era (from March to May) to 53.1 percent in the Delta era (from June to July).
So, roll out the boosters. But given the rapidity with which the vaccines lose the ability to do the one thing that are touted for — namely to protect against COVID — it appears the boosters will only accomplish two things. First, to create a lifestyle drug for those seeking artificial immunity from the virus (as opposed to the superior natural immunity that comes from exposure). Those who choose the artificial path could possibly find themselves getting boosters every few months for the remainder of their lives.
And that leads to the second thing the boosters will accomplish — insanely high profits for the companies that make them. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Pfizer and Moderna “are on track to notch billions more in sales than previously expected, as new booster-shot strategies and concerns about the Delta variant push demand, and the companies raise prices in the U.S. and elsewhere.”
That article — looking only at this round of boosters and not predicting future rounds — says:
Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE Covid-19 vaccine sales are expected to reach $74 billion through next year, excluding Germany and Belgium, 17% more than previous estimates, according to Ronny Gal, a Sanford Bernstein pharmaceuticals analyst.
Meanwhile, the analyst projects Moderna will ring up $35 billion during the span, 25% more sales than previously forecast.
The sums are further evidence the coronavirus pandemic is proving to be a significant moneymaking opportunity for vaccines, a business many drugmakers had abandoned because it was seen as requiring heavy investment while offering limited growth and carrying legal risks.
But with the government protecting vaccine manufacturers from liability under the pretense of an “emergency” caused by a virus with a 99-plus percent survival rate, the legal risks are no longer a concern. Add to that the heavy-handed push from government, media, and Big Tech for everyone to take the experimental drug, and it is easy to see just how profitable this cash cow is for Pfizer and Moderna.
If this round of boosters sets the stage for ongoing rounds of boosters, the profits predicted above will appear minuscule by comparison.
There are billions (possibly trillions) of reasons for Pfizer and Moderna to push their vaccines and boosters. And every one of those reasons brings to mind the adage “follow the money.”
Given that natural, lifetime immunity beats artificial, temporary (and in this case extremely temporary) immunity, and that the vaccines carry their own risks (which in some demographics are considerably worse than the effects of the virus), the advent of boosters appears to be purely driven by profits and the ability to maintain and increase government control over the population.