Sunday, November 20, 2022

Of note, all of the Omicron sublineages that we are currently dealing with are offshoots or sublineages of BA.2 (see below): Had a Sunday evening Zoom call regard the situation of boosts for children 5-6 years and younger (see above). It involved: me, Rochelle, Robbie Goldstein, Peter Marks, Rob Califf, Dawn O’Connell, Vivek Murthy, Larry Tabak, among others. We all agreed that this was a close call and both sides have a good point. The important issues is that this involved only about 5% of the eligible children since the other 95% have not yet received their primary vaccination and those are truly the vulnerable ones if we get a winter surge. At the end of January, 2023, the VRPAC will meet to recommend that going forward all vaccinations (primary series and boosters) will be the BA.4/5 bivalent and so this will be a moot point. The question still remains unsettled as to give the children the best boost now even though it logistically will be difficult for the pediatricians since they will have multiple (11) different products in their offices from Moderna + Pfizer) or wait until we have a uniform boost for everyone at the end of January. No firm decision was made. FDA will try to push the date for VRPAC closer to close the gap. More to come PRESS; Taped a segment with Margaret Brennan – CBS “Face the Nation” for next Sunday – somewhat of an exit interview