During an appearance on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend,’ Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel discussed the surge in estimated cases of Lyme disease in the United States and how Pfizer is developing a new vaccine for the illness.
Siegel stated that Pfizer’s Lyme disease vaccine should be available “in a few months.” He described it as “very promising” and noted it would be “useful,” emphasizing that the vaccine is “completely safe” based on older technology. “Last time we had a Lyme vaccine, nobody took it. This vaccine is safe [and] effective. I think we’re going to get a lot of use out of it,” he added.
Pfizer announced Monday that it will seek regulatory approval for a Lyme disease vaccine candidate despite the shot failing a late-stage trial. The company explained that the vaccine missed the trial’s statistical goal because not enough participants contracted Lyme disease to be confident in the results. However, the vaccine reduced the rate of infection by more than 70% in people who received it compared to placebo—a level of efficacy the company believes is strong enough for regulatory review.
Pfizer Chief Vaccines Officer Annaliesa Anderson described the trial results as “highly encouraging” and stated they create confidence in the vaccine’s potential to protect against a disease that can be debilitating.
The last Lyme vaccine, LYMErix, debuted in 1998 but was pulled after four years due to low sales driven by concerns about potentially adverse effects. It was said to reduce new infections in vaccinated adults by nearly 80 percent, according to an editorial review published by the Cambridge University Press.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently announced a major federal initiative targeting Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. “One of the real tragedies now is that Americans can’t go into the woods anymore safely—going to the woods to hike, fish, hunt, photograph, or simply walk is part of the seminal experience of being American, particularly an American child—and it’s a science fiction nightmare we now live in,” RFK Jr. said.
“We didn’t really have a tick problem in this country until the 1980s,” RFK Jr. commented. “We’re going after the disease at its source by reducing tick populations and disrupting their breeding cycles. We aim to slow the spread of Lyme disease.”
“May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, a time to recognize the growing impact of Lyme disease on American families and communities,” RFK Jr. added. Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene stated: “I don’t want any more safe and effective vaccines. I want them to stop engineering ticks and viruses as bio weapons.”
Lyme disease is transmitted by blacklegged ticks, which require attachment for more than 24 hours to spread infection; prompt tick removal can prevent transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is typically contracted during outdoor activities and treated with a 10- to 14-day course of oral antibiotics.