{"id":17027,"date":"2020-09-09T12:22:15","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T17:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=17027"},"modified":"2020-09-09T09:45:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T14:45:31","slug":"lamar-alexander-says-fda-approved-covid-19-vaccine-is-the-way-to-stop-more-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2020\/09\/09\/lamar-alexander-says-fda-approved-covid-19-vaccine-is-the-way-to-stop-more-deaths\/","title":{"rendered":"Lamar Alexander says FDA-Approved COVID-19 Vaccine is the Way to Stop More Deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"U.S.Washington, D.C. <\/strong>– Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said \u201can FDA-approved COVID-19 Coronavirus vaccine is the way to stop more deaths, while the unpleasant alternative is to let the epidemic run its course until everyone is either killed or recovered,\u201d during this morning\u2019s committee hearing on the role of vaccines in preventing infectious disease outbreaks and protecting public health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is new about dealing with epidemics is modern medicine, including the ability to diagnose the disease and then to create treatments to make it easier to recover,\u201d Alexander continued. \u201cBut the true miracle of modern medicine is vaccines, which can prevent humans from acquiring the disease at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/a>

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why today in all 50 states and the District of Columbia schoolchildren are required to take vaccinations for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, rubella, and chicken pox before entering school. The vaccination will protect the child from getting the disease, which in turn prevents the child from infecting someone else \u2013 a pattern that has caused these diseases eventually to disappear,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n

The purpose of today\u2019s Senate health committee hearing\u2014\u201cVaccines: Saving Lives, Ensuring Confidence, and Protecting Public Health\u201d\u2014is to explore the remarkable progression science is making toward a COVID-19 Coronavirus vaccine, to remind parents to have their children get their childhood vaccinations, and encourage as many Americans as possible to get the flu vaccine this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people incorrectly believe \u2018warp speed\u2019 means cutting corners,\u201d Alexander continued. \u201cBut it refers to the extraordinary investment in research, development, and manufacturing scale-up for a COVID-19 vaccine. Perhaps most significantly, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has taken the unprecedented step to help speed up manufacturing for hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines early in the process by buying these doses in advance so they can be ready to distribute as soon as the new vaccines are approved by the FDA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander noted that despite the speed with which scientists are developing a COVID-19 Coronavirus vaccine, Dr. Stephen Hahn, the Commissioner of the FDA, said the agency is not skimping on its review of safety and efficacy: \u201cThis is going to be a science, medicine, data decision. This is not going to be a political decision,\u201d Dr. Hahn has said. <\/p>\n

Alexander then addressed three questions that Americans have about vaccines: 1. Are they safe; 2. Are they effective; and 3. Is the doctor\u2019s office safe during the COVID-19 pandemic?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cVaccines are reviewed and approved by the FDA. FDA can either license a vaccine or authorize a vaccine for use during a public health emergency\u2014and the FDA\u2019s stringent approval process is the gold standard for the rest of the world,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cThe vaccines that are routinely given to children are specifically recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an outside group of experts that looks at all available scientific information about each vaccine. Medical associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians work with ACIP to develop these recommendations.\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cPolio was one of the most dreaded childhood diseases of the 20th century,\u201d Alexander continued. \u201cFollowing introduction of [polio] vaccines, the number of polio cases fell rapidly to less than 100 in the 1960s and fewer than 10 in the 1970s according to the CDC. Thanks to a successful vaccination program, the United States has been polio-free since 1979.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cThe pandemic has made some parents leery of the doctors\u2019 office,\u201d Alexander concluded. \u201cFor parents who are worried about taking their children to the doctor during the pandemic, AAP says pediatricians are working to ensure their offices are as safe as possible for children to visit. According to the AAP\u2019s Dr. Sean O\u2019Leary, \u2018Medical offices are among the safest places you can be right now given the really extensive measures they\u2019ve taken to prevent spread of COVID-19 both to themselves and their patients. Parents shouldn\u2019t be afraid to go to their doctor.\u2019\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Read Chairman Alexander\u2019s full prepared opening statement here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Washington, D.C. – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said \u201can FDA-approved COVID-19 Coronavirus vaccine is the way to stop more deaths, while the unpleasant alternative is to let the epidemic run its course until everyone is either killed or recovered,\u201d during this morning\u2019s committee hearing on the role of vaccines in preventing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[1297,12675,12712,12846,1110,10223,12734,12967,8459,1420,3338],"class_list":["post-17027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","tag-cdc","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-covid-19-vaccine","tag-fda","tag-lamar-alexander","tag-pandemic","tag-stephen-hahn","tag-u-s-senator","tag-vaccine","tag-washington-d-c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17028,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17027\/revisions\/17028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}