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lunch note #005: Close-ish reading
Apr. 29th, 2025 02:41 pmAs part of today's lunch break, I thought I'd read a bit of news, too, to sort of inform today's lunch post. And this headline stood out to me: "FDA appears to be slow-walking vaccine approvals" by Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Brandy Zadrozny for NBC News.
Since I got COVID recently and am still recovering (it's going to take weeks for me to get rid of this cough, if past experience is any indication), I wanted to just post a few readings and reactions to this piece as I read through it.
A few things I hate about this: 1) That this is a, supposedly, official government position that's being posted on social first, which always feels at least tacky and unprofessional, if not downright foolish, and 2) the rhetoric used sounds anti-corporate, but it's hiding the fact that this kind of (in)action is deeply anti-human.
I know that we've lived in a world for a while where social media seems to be the first line of information dissemination, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it. A social media-forward communications strategy for government agencies and the like feel like they further erode trust, not build up rapport with "ordinary" people. Because that, to me, is always the line for being social media-forward: it's an attempt to meet people where they are.
However, slow-rolling boosters means that people aren't getting the care they need. The anecdotal evidence of my own getting COVID recently is a testament to the fact that it's still around, that we aren't in a "post-pandemic" world, and that vaccines are still necessary to combat its spread. And using all the same buzzwords and turns of phrase that "The Left" likes to use (science, and attacking Big Pharma) is deeply upsetting.
Again, I just want to reiterate that those clinical trial requirements were waived during the COVID pandemic—and we are still in that pandemic.
This, to me, is one of the more alarming things about this administration. I remember that during the election season, many people had lots of criticisms of President Biden's pandemic response, ranging from it being a worse version of Trump's pandemic response in his first term. I remember hearing some buzz that the Biden administration declared the pandemic "over" when it so clearly wasn't.
But I can't imagine that a Democratic administration, Biden or Harris or anyone else, would take basically take away the path to rapid vaccine development and distribution. Based on this (admittedly, one) article, it seems like that is much more of a possibility under Trump 2.
Anyway, those are just some thoughts. COVID is one of those issues that I tend to pay more attention to for a whole host of reasons, and this headline, and the story that followed it, warranted a bit more of my attention.
Since I got COVID recently and am still recovering (it's going to take weeks for me to get rid of this cough, if past experience is any indication), I wanted to just post a few readings and reactions to this piece as I read through it.
On Saturday, [FDA commissioner] Makary suggested in a post on X that Novavax was seeking approval for a “new” vaccine because the strain used in its trial has since been updated to target a more recent Covid variant called JN.1.
“Under this administration, we are prioritizing the Gold Standard of Science--not what saves pharma companies ‘tens of millions of dollars,’” Makary said.
“Under this administration, we are prioritizing the Gold Standard of Science--not what saves pharma companies ‘tens of millions of dollars,’” Makary said.
I know that we've lived in a world for a while where social media seems to be the first line of information dissemination, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it. A social media-forward communications strategy for government agencies and the like feel like they further erode trust, not build up rapport with "ordinary" people. Because that, to me, is always the line for being social media-forward: it's an attempt to meet people where they are.
However, slow-rolling boosters means that people aren't getting the care they need. The anecdotal evidence of my own getting COVID recently is a testament to the fact that it's still around, that we aren't in a "post-pandemic" world, and that vaccines are still necessary to combat its spread. And using all the same buzzwords and turns of phrase that "The Left" likes to use (science, and attacking Big Pharma) is deeply upsetting.
In a written statement, an HHS spokesperson said the Biden administration waived clinical trial requirements for new Covid vaccines “using the COVID pandemic as an eternal justification for blanket approvals.”
Under Makary, the spokesperson said, trials from four years ago “no longer suffice.”
Again, I just want to reiterate that those clinical trial requirements were waived during the COVID pandemic—and we are still in that pandemic.
Experts also worry that a possible bird flu vaccine for people could be at risk. One of the former officials said the FDA previously planned to use an emergency use authorization pathway in case health officials needed to quickly greenlight a shot, but it’s now unclear whether the Trump administration would do the same.
This, to me, is one of the more alarming things about this administration. I remember that during the election season, many people had lots of criticisms of President Biden's pandemic response, ranging from it being a worse version of Trump's pandemic response in his first term. I remember hearing some buzz that the Biden administration declared the pandemic "over" when it so clearly wasn't.
But I can't imagine that a Democratic administration, Biden or Harris or anyone else, would take basically take away the path to rapid vaccine development and distribution. Based on this (admittedly, one) article, it seems like that is much more of a possibility under Trump 2.
Anyway, those are just some thoughts. COVID is one of those issues that I tend to pay more attention to for a whole host of reasons, and this headline, and the story that followed it, warranted a bit more of my attention.
