FDA officials unwisely limit COVID-19 vaccine, says Public Citizen

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to sharply restrict vaccine availability to millions of Americans without a persuasive justification based in science.

In a medical journal commentary, Dr Vinay Prasad, the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Dr Martin Makary, the FDA Commissioner, announced that the agency will move to limit the approval of COVID-19 vaccines to adults over the age of 65 years and “all persons above the age of six months with one or more risk factors that put them at high risk for severe Covid-19 outcomes.”

The risk factors include many chronic and infectious diseases, obesity, pregnancy and smoking. Estimates suggest that 100 million to 200 million Americans will have access to vaccines in this manner, according to the article.