CDC reaffirms annual COVID-19 shots for protection.

The‌ U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is still planning on recommending people receive a COVID-19 shot​ on an annual basis, the agency’s director says.

“We are likely to‌ see this as a recommendation for an annual COVID shot, just like we have an annual flu ⁣shot,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, the director, said in a podcast ⁢episode released on Aug.⁤ 9. “And I‍ think that will give more folks clarity about should⁣ they get one or not, because the answer is ​like, ‘Well, did‍ you get one this year? If not, go get the new COVID shot.’”

She said ⁣that ⁤the CDC will‌ likely make the recommendation in⁤ the coming weeks.

“This will be an annual vaccine … to make sure that‍ you stay protected,” Dr. Cohen said.

Dr. Cohen was​ commenting after Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives ⁢Select Subcommittee⁣ on the Coronavirus Pandemic, questioned her over ‍what data would support annual shots and asked ⁢for a briefing⁤ on the matter.

Dr. Wenstrup gave the CDC until Aug. 16 to provide answers. The agency has not done so yet, a spokesperson for the panel​ said.

Dr. Cohen had said ‌ in July, in one of her first interviews after becoming the CDC’s‌ director, that the agency was⁢ poised to recommend annual shots.

Waning Immunity

U.S. officials initially said people would only need ​a primary series to protect themselves against COVID-19 but in 2021, less than a year after recommending⁤ vaccination for virtually everyone, they authorized and advised boosters to⁤ try ‍to stem waning immunity.

As newer‍ variants have emerged, the vaccines have performed even worse, leading to recommendations for additional boosters and, in the fall of 2022, the clearance of updated bivalent shots from ⁢Pfizer and Moderna. Those shots later replaced the companies’ old vaccines.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which decides whether to clear vaccines, said in June that it was directing Pfizer and other manufacturers to update the shots again to target the XBB.1.5 strain because the vaccines “appear less effective against currently circulating variants (e.g., ‍XBB-lineage viruses) than​ against previous strains of virus.”

But XBB.1.5 has already been ⁣ largely displaced by other variants,‍ including EG.5. That undercuts‌ the new strategy, Dr. Harvey Risch told The Epoch Times⁤ in an email.

“The boosters will be out-of-date before they‍ are even released,” Dr. Risch, professor ⁣emeritus of ‍epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, said. “As well, ⁤CDC has already said that efficacy of new boosters in preventing spread is transient and wanes, thus there is little reason to see the boosters as beneficial.”

A CDC spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email:⁢ “Dr. Cohen’s expert opinion is based on the science, which indicates that vaccine-induced immunity wanes ⁢and the COVID-19 virus is likely to continue to evolve. As she has said before, if the science changes, the agency will adapt its recommendations.”

The COVID-19 vaccines have never been 100 percent effective. No trial efficacy data exists for the currently available vaccines, but observational data​ indicate they provide transient protection against infection ‌and severe illness, even turning negative after several months.

There is no evidence supporting the idea that the shots provide protection for one year.

“Federal mandates did not‌ stop the spread or transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Should the CDC issue a recommendation ⁢for ⁣an annual COVID-19 vaccine, it will mark a ⁢significant change in federal policy and guidance regarding the COVID-19 vaccines and how they⁤ are utilized,” a spokesperson for the House panel told The ​Epoch Times via email. “Serious questions ​remain as to whether the science would support such a recommendation.”

In support of the​ planned recommendation,⁤ the CDC pointed to a‌ modeling study and a series of other studies highlighting waning immunity⁢ from ⁣the original shots, all of which were based on data from 2022 and earlier. The agency also cited a study that found the currently available ‌boosters did not produce “robust neutralization” against newer variants.

Some of the papers concluded that peopl