(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) More and more doctors come out to say that they won’t get COVID-19 vaccine boosters because there is a lack of clinical trial evidence.
“I have taken my last COVID vaccine without RCT level evidence it will reduce my risk of severe disease,” Dr. Todd Lee, an infectious disease expert at McGill University, said.
Lee pointed out the lack of randomized clinical trial (RCT) results for the updated vaccine boosters, which were cleared in the U.S. and Canada in the fall of 2022 primarily based on data from experiments on mice, according to the Epoch Times.
Lee, who was vaccinated three times, said that he still was infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant — the vaccines provide little protection from getting the virus — and described himself as a healthy man in his 40s.
Dr. Vinay Prasad, a professor of epidemiology and biostatics at the University of California–San Francisco, also said he is not going to take any additional vaccine boosters until clinical trial data become available.
“I took at least 1 dose against my will. It was unethical and scientifically bankrupt,” Prasad said.
Allison Krug, an epidemiologist who co-wrote a study that found that teenage boys are more likely to suffer heart inflammation after COVID-19 vaccination rather than COVID-19 infection, said that she explained to her doctor why she doesn’t want a booster and said that the doctor agreed with her.
Krug called on people to “join the movement to demand appropriate evidence,” referring to a blog post from Prasad.
“Pay close attention to note this isn’t anti-vaccine sentiment. This is ‘provide [hard] evidence of benefit to justify ongoing use,’ which is very different. It’s only fair for a $30 billion-a-year product given to hundreds of millions,” Lee stated.
Dr. Tracy Hoeg, an epidemiologist at the University of California–San Francisco, also agreed with Lee and Prasad, at least for now.
She said that she didn’t need clinical trials to know that she isn’t getting any boosters after receiving a two-dose primary series, pointing out that, like Prasad, she took her second dose against her will.
“I also had an adverse reaction to dose 1 moderna and, if I could do it again, I would not have had any covid vaccines,” Hoeg wrote on Twitter.
“I was glad my parents in their 70s could get covid vaccinated but have yet to see non-confounded data to advise them about the bivalent booster. I would have liked to see an RCT for the bivalent for people their age and for adults with health conditions that put them at risk.”
