COVID Booster FDA Approval Sparks Resistance for Some

On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an updated round of COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer and Moderna, which are expected to be available this week.

While some Americans find this a reassurance for safety against COVID variants, others are skeptical regarding the need for another round of shots.

Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to follow up on Tuesday to discuss who exactly should get the new shots by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, some are already turning down the opportunity and questioning their validity.

A poster on X, formerly Twitter, shared his concerns of potential aftereffects: "Do the new ones give you blood clots and myocarditis?" asked @OldRowSwig.

Another X user, Henry Rodgers simply said, "No thanks," in response to the news.

The FDA announcement follows the agency's asking of drugmakers to formulate the fall boosters to target the then-dominant XBB.1.5 subvariant in June, and after a more recent surge in COVID cases amid the coming winter season.

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said he's wary of the booster's effectiveness as he warned against getting the new COVID booster.

"There's been no clinical trial done in human beings showing that it benefits people," Ladapo said in a news conference. "There's been no clinical trial showing that it is a safe product for people."

Despite the concerns of effectiveness, Dr. Eric Topol, executive vice president of Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, said he is "not concerned" about vaccine effectiveness.

According to NBC News, Topol states that the vaccines developed so far have consistently provided protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death.

"The new booster will certainly ameliorate protection," Topol told NBC News.

For the first time since COVID vaccines emerged, the federal government will not cover the cost of the shots, due to the end of the public health emergency, which expired in May.

This leaves private insurance and government payers like Medicare to provide the vaccines for free.

However, according to The New York Times, many experts are uncertain how much demand there will be for the latest shots.

Pfizer and Moderna have said they are pricing each vaccine dose at more than $100.

Political analyst Farooq Hameed Khan also took aim at the booster's potential aftereffects, along with the potential financial windfall for Pfizer and Moderna.

"Vaccine mafia ready to mint billions of dollars at common people's expense. What about those huge reports/analysis of severe aftereffects that still devastate those vaccinated with MRNA vaccines," Khan wrote on X.

According to the Times, vaccine manufacturers are expected to donate doses for the uninsured.