Yet Another COVID Vaccine? As Biden calls for new funding, health experts say ‘a slippery slope’

Following President Joe Biden's comments on Friday that he plans to seek funding for a new project Covid vaccination With cases rising in this country, doctors are sharing their opinions on whether a different version is needed.

“I signed this morning a proposal that we must submit to Congress with a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is necessary and works,” Biden told reporters while vacationing in Lake Tahoe.

“It's probably recommended for everyone to get it, whether they've had it before or not,” he also said.

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The President's comments came as the CDC reported on it COVID-related hospitalizations are up 21.6% over the past week and the number of deaths is up 21.4%.

However, the numbers are still well below the levels seen during the pandemic.

Biden recently told reporters, “I signed a proposal this morning that we need to take to Congress with a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that's necessary that works.” A doctor told Fox News Digital, “How can you talk about prescribing something that hasn't been developed yet?” (iStock)

dr Marc Siegel, Professor of Medicine at the NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical worker said it was “impossible to know what.” [Biden] refers to” in his comment.

“There is a new MRNA shot covering the XBB variant that also covers the fast-spreading EG.5 subvariant that descends from it, which will be released in mid-September,” Siegel told Fox News Digital.

“As far as I know, there are no plans to make it mandatory.”

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The CDC told Siegel it would target high-risk groups with the new vaccine, he said. Siegel added that the US could benefit from a vaccine that is “more universal or covers all variants” – or one that creates a nasal barrier.

“Several of these are under investigation and could do a much better job of reducing or stopping transmission, but to my knowledge none are ready for approval,” Siegel said.

Vaccines currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) include Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines (mRNA vaccines) and Novavax COVID-19 vaccine (a vaccine against protein subunits). (AP Photo/Steve Helber, file)

“Perhaps [Biden] means he'll be asking Congress for more funding to track these vaccines — but how can you talk about mandating something that hasn't been developed yet?” he also said.

Vaccines currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) include Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines (mRNA vaccines) and Novavax COVID-19 vaccine (a protein subunit vaccine) .

Government-funded vaccines are “potentially fatal,” says a Florida doctor

dr Brett Osborn, a board-certified neurosurgeon in West Palm Beach, Flawho also runs a preventive healthcare and anti-aging facility called Senolytix, compared COVID to the flu because both mutate frequently.

To help protect against influenza mutations, the CDC has historically helped develop updated vaccines to boost immunity.

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“The same logic applies to SARS-COV-2, so it's not unreasonable to include the latest strains in an updated vaccine, especially with COVID-related deaths currently outpacing flu-related deaths,” he told Fox News Digital. “Nevertheless, COVID-related deaths are declining annually.”

One of the factors behind the drop in deaths is vaccination, the doctor said.

So do we need a new vaccine?

“Not really,” Osborn replied. “The current vaccines offer protection against Omicron and to some extent also against its subvariants such as EG.5 or Eris.”

dr Brett Osborn, a board-certified neurosurgeon in West Palm Beach, Florida, also runs a preventative health and anti-aging facility called Senolytix. He is skeptical that a new vaccine is needed. “The current [COVID] “Vaccines offer protection against Omicron and to some extent also against its subvariants such as EG.5 or Eris,” he said. (Dr Brett Osborn)

Although an updated vaccine would more specifically target these subvariants, Osborn believes these should only be given to at-risk populations, including seniors and those with multiple medical comorbidities, such as a heart attack type II diabetes and obesity.

“The entire United States does not need to be refreshed every year. They should get their immunity the old-fashioned way: through infection.”

“The rest of the population — those who are basically low-risk — don't have much to worry about, as there is with the flu,” he said.

“Over time, RNA viruses typically become weaker and the threat decreases.”

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And there is currently no shortage of the COVID vaccine, Osborn noted.

In response to the newly identified Omicron subvariants, which are currently the dominant strains infecting patients, an updated version is scheduled for release in mid-September.

“Such mutations will continue to occur, as is the case with us the flu virus“, he said. “However, only the vulnerable population should be affected and potentially reinforced.”

In response to the newly identified Omicron subvariants, an updated version of the COVID vaccine is scheduled to hit the market in mid-September. (iStock)

“The entire United States doesn't need to be replenished every year,” Osborn continued. “It should get its immunity the old-fashioned way: through infection.”

The doctor is also suspicious of the effects of a government-funded vaccine, which he described as “potentially sinister.”

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“Vaccines for influenza — which has a very similar all-cause mortality rate to COVID-19 and its subvariants — are not funded by the government,” Osborn told Fox News Digital.

“They follow CDC recommendations based on epidemiological data, but are manufactured by independent pharmaceutical companies.”

“In my opinion, this is a sloping slope fueled by artificial hysteria with no scientific basis.”

“That's not the case with the COVID-19 vaccine,” he continued. “Big pharmaceutical companies are funded by the US government to make vaccines – yet we are no longer in a state of emergency or even heightened threat. So why is this being done?”

Osborn added, “To my mind, this is a sloping slope fueled by artificial hysteria with no scientific basis.”

The vaccine could be improved, a New Jersey doctor notes

dr Edward Liu, chief of infectious diseases at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center in New Jerseynoted that “current COVID vaccines work well to prevent serious illness but do not stop transmission of COVID.”

“Current COVID vaccines work well to prevent serious illness but do not stop transmission of COVID,” said a New Jersey infectious disease expert. (iStock)

“One of the goals of a ‘perfect' COVID vaccine would be to stop transmission by producing active antibodies in the nose and airways to stop COVID before it causes serious illness,” Liu told Fox News Digital. “The current COVID vaccines do not do that.”

The doctor also pointed out that new generations of vaccine technology could potentially be improved to reduce side effects even further “so that people don't hesitate to get vaccinated”.

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“MRNA vaccines have rarely been linked to myocarditis, but Johnson & Johnson had rare but serious blood disease side effects, leading to its withdrawal from the US market,” Liu said.

As a new vaccine is perfected, Liu said he expects it to replace the current ones.

“Future vaccine technologies could be launched now to prepare the next generation of COVID vaccines or protect the population from the next pandemic virus,” he added.

Common sense tips to stop the spread

COVID surges — which are normal and to be expected, just like seasonal flu, Dr. Obsorn – shouldn't be a cause for concern unless mortality data were to rise significantly.

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To prevent spread, the doctor recommended following the following immunological “common sense” principles:

• Wash your hands frequently or use hand sanitizer.
• Stay away from people if you feel sick until your symptoms subside.
• Alert older people or people from “high-risk” groups with whom you have been in contact in the days before symptoms started; In this way, they can exercise (and possibly be strengthened) increased surveillance.