The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for a new Covid vaccine to address the Omicron variant KP.2 strain of SARS-CoV-2. Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech will make the shots.
There is no clinical trial data for these vaccines. Zero. None. But Pfizer and Moderna both said that testing in animals shows the shots trigger neutralizing antibodies so I guess the FDA is cool with that.
But what is the emergency?
Who knows. Covid-related emergency room visits are down, Covid-related hospitalizations are up from the summer decline but still far lower than last year's December peak, and Covid-related deaths are significantly declined. Plus no data shows that any Covid vaccine ever lowered any of these markers.Also, KP.2 is no longer a strain of concern. As of this week, the CDC confirms that "KP.3.1.1, of the Omicron family, is now the predominant SARS-CoV-2 variant circulating in the United States, having overtaken its parent linage KP.3 and previous KP.2 variants."
So why in the world do we need a KP.2 Covid vaccine with no clinical trials? Who the heck knows?
