President Joe Biden’s administration is being sued for refusing to hand over records concerning a top official’s apparent recommendation that Americans get a COVID-19 vaccine every two months.
Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Biden appointee, has said in multiple posts on social media that people should get a vaccine “if it’s been over 2 months since your last dose.”
The Functional Government Initiative (FGI), a watchdog organization, filed a Freedom of Information Act request in 2022 asking for evidence to back up the recommendation.
That included “any communications to Secretary Becerra from senior government officials within HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] or its component agencies or offices advising that he should recommend a COVID booster shot every two months for all Americans.”
That means the agency failed to comply with deadlines contained in the act, according to the lawsuit.
The watchdog is asking the court to order HHS to search for records responsive to the request and to produce them by a certain date.
HHS didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“Three years after the beginning of the pandemic, our government remains reluctant to answer basic questions. Whether it surrounds the origin of COVID or the effectiveness of the vaccine, we are told to stop asking questions and to ‘trust the science,'” Peter McGinnis, spokesman for FGI, told The Epoch Times via email.
Contrasting Statements
The original COVID-19 vaccines were authorized in 2020. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were administered in two-dose primary series. Boosters were authorized in 2021 owing to flagging effectiveness against newer variants.Updated boosters were authorized in the fall of 2022. They contain elements of the Wuhan virus strain and Omicron subvariants.
At the time, federal officials encouraged people who had received a primary series to get an updated booster as soon as two months after their last dose.
Some officials have portrayed the boosters as only necessary once per year.
“One shot, once a year—that’s all most people will need to stay protected from COVID year-long. Make a plan to get your shot,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in one statement.
There’s no clinical trial evidence of efficacy for the new boosters, much less evidence that they protect for one year.
Becerra, who doesn’t have a background in health, said the next day: “An updated COVID vaccine can help protect you from the worst outcomes of COVID. If it’s been over 2 months since your last dose, make a plan to get one now.”
FGI stated, “Judging from these tweets, especially without any scientific documentation for the public to review, Secretary Becerra apparently recommends six times more vaccine doses per year than the Vice President recommends.”
Becerra later wrote: “Time to get your updated COVID vaccine if 1) You haven’t gotten the updated vaccine yet & had the primary series or original booster 2+ months ago 2) It’s been 3+ months since you’ve had COVID If you have a big event in 2+ weeks, it’s a good time to go to http://vaccines.gov.”
FGI stated, “With repeated and differing messages within only a few days, these announcements are causing confusion, particularly given the blanket recommendation to all Americans provided by Secretary Becerra. The recommended timing for COVID boosters has changed many times and is now changing again. At one time, the President, health officials, and many others said that the original COVID vaccine would provide permanent protection. Now our nation’s top-ranking health official is recommending vaccine doses every two months.”
An HHS spokesperson previously told The Epoch Times, when asked about Becerra’s statements: “The clear message from across the Administration is: Don’t wait. Get your free COVID-19 vaccine. It’s safe and effective. People can go to vaccines.gov to find free and easily available vaccines in their community.”
