Contradicting Marshall’s op-ed, Jerry Moran says he’ll ‘defer to science’ on vaccines
Kansas’ two Republican Senators have staked out different ground on how best to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine.
One recommends listening to government scientists. The other says apply science to the needs of the moment.
In a Wall-Street Journal op-ed Monday, Sen. Roger Marshall argued that health officials should deliver a single dose of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines as widely as possible rather than ensuring that second doses are administered on the established timetable.
Marshall’s recommendation runs contrary to the protocol established by federal government, which calls for two shots of either Moderna or Pfizer. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires just one dose. Many elected officials use the phrase “follow the science” to explain their positions.
Marshall, an OB-GYN , said in his op-ed that this was the “most regularly abused” phrase he’s heard in Congress, and that scientific theory needs to be applied to the conditions on the ground.
“In medical school, my classmates and I were taught to apply the science practically to the messy world around us, not merely follow theories as if we practiced medicine in a vacuum,” Marshall wrote. With scientific understanding of the virus shifting all the time, he urged distributing the vaccine in a way that he believed would do the most good for the largest number.
Asked about the editorial, Tuesday, Sen. Jerry Moran’s answer was simple:
“I would defer to science and medicine,” he said after touring a Johnson County vaccine clinic Tuesday morning.
He referred to guidance from the National Institute of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration. He also referred questions to Dr. Samni Areola, Johnson County’s health officer.
“There’s a great desire to get more shots in more arms more quickly,” Moran said.
Despite that desire, he said, clinical trials were focused on a two-dose regimen and didn’t study what would happen if a broad swath of the population only got one dose.
But in Monday’s op-ed Marshall argued that “science is never settled” and that the current two-dose approach ignores practical benefits (like school and business reopening) that could come from giving a lower level of protection to a broader swath of Americans.
“This approach has the potential to address the relative limitations in supply and the hiccups we are seeing ramping up in mass vaccination sites right now,” Marshall wrote.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for a two-dose regimen last year after clinical trials found the vaccines were more than 90% effective at preventing disease with both doses. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was approved after trials found one dose to be 72% effective at preventing moderate to severe illness.
The FDA and President Joe Biden have warned that not enough studies have been conducted on the effectiveness or durability of a single shot regimen of Moderna or Pfizer.
Moran’s and Marshall’s differences over the vaccine are part of a larger emerging contrast between the two Republicans. Since joining the Senate in January, Marshall has been combative, seeking conflict with Democrats on a host of issues. Moran, a two-term incumbent running for reelection in 2022, tends to avoid controversy and has typically sought to work across the aisle.
Hours after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Marshall joined Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and a handful of other senators who continued to support challenges to President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral votes. Moran supported certification of the Electoral College results.
While Marshall has been sharply critical of the vaccine rollout in Kansas, citing racial disparities and a slow start, Moran stopped short of criticizing Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Tuesday.
“My job is to get more vaccine,” Moran said. “State and local officials are making the decisions about prioritization ... I wish that we were faster and I want to make sure and I was assured to day and believe it to be true that there is no vaccine that’s going wasted.”
