Get your shots ASAP!
Stephen
Prager for Common Dreams
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| Can't imagine why |
The Washington Post reported September 12 that the officials
plan to justify the move by citing reports from an unverified database to make
the claim that the shots caused the deaths of 25 children.
The reports come from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting
System (VAERS), a federal database that allows the public to submit reports of
negative reactions to vaccines. As the Post explains, VAERS
“contains unverified reports of side effects or bad experiences with vaccines
submitted by anyone, including patients, doctors, pharmacists, or even someone
who sees a report on social media.”
As one publicly maintained database of “Batshit Crazy VAERS Adverse Events” found, users have
reported deaths and injuries resulting from gunshot wounds, malaria, drug overdoses, and
countless other unrelated causes as possible cases of vaccine injury.
As Beth Mole wrote for ARS Technica, “The reports are completely
unverified upon submission, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
staff follow up on serious reports to try to substantiate claims and assess if
they were actually caused by a vaccine. They rarely are.”
Nevertheless, HHS officials plan to use these VAERS reports on pediatric deaths in a presentation to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) next week as the panel considers revising federal vaccine guidelines.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as other blue states, have issued state mandates requiring insurers to cover shots and allowing pharmacies to administer them. CLICK HERE to read Rhode Island's official order. However, given recent Trump regime actions, don't be surprised if Bobby Junior and the feds attempt some action to override these state protections. I've scheduled my COVID and flu shots for Friday in anticipation of more extreme anti-vax action from Trump and RFK Jr. - Will Collette
One person familiar with the matter told the Post that
HHS officials attempted to interview some of the families who claimed their
child died from the vaccine, but it is unclear how many were consulted and what
other information was used to verify their claims.
In June, Kennedy purged that panel of many top vaccine experts,
replacing them with prominent anti-vaccine activists, after previously
promising during his confirmation hearing to keep the panel intact.
The Food and Drug Administration under Kennedy has
already limited access to the Covid-19 vaccine. Last month, it
authorized the vaccines only for those 65 and over who are known to be at risk
of serious illness from Covid-19 infections.
While the vaccine is technically available to others, the
updated guidance has created significant barriers, such as the potential requirement of
a doctor’s prescription and out-of-pocket payment, making it much harder for
many to receive the shot.
The Post reports that ACIP is considering
restricting access to the vaccination further, by recommending it only for
those older than 75. It is weighing multiple options for those 74 and
younger—potentially requiring them to consult with their doctor first, or not
recommending it at all unless they have a preexisting condition.
Prior to the wide availability of Covid-19 vaccinations
beginning in 2021, the illness killed over
350,000 people in the US. And while the danger of death from Covid-19 does
increase with age, CDC data shows that from 2020 to 2023, nearly 47% of
the over 1.1 million deaths from the illness occurred in people under 75.
According to the World
Health Organization, the US reported 822 deaths from Covid over a 28-day
period in July and August this year, vastly more deaths than anywhere else in
the world. CDC data reported to ACIP in June shows that Covid deaths
were lower among all age groups—including children—who received the mRNA
vaccine.
Nicole Brewer, one of the vaccine advisers eliminated by
Kennedy, lamented that Kennedy and his new appointees are ignoring the dangers
of Covid-19 while amplifying the comparatively much lower risk posed by
vaccines.
“They are leveraging this platform to share untruths about
vaccines to scare people,” she told the Post. “The U.S. government is now in
the business of vaccine misinformation.”
ACIP is also reportedly mulling the rollback of guidelines
for other childhood vaccines for deadly diseases like measles, Hepatitis B, and
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
While ACIP’s guidelines are not legally binding, the Post writes
that its meeting next week “is critical because the recommendations determine
whether insurers must pay for the immunizations, pharmacies can administer
them, and doctors are willing to offer them.”
“If you haven’t gotten your updated Covid vaccine by now, book an appointment fast before next week’s ACIP meeting,” warned Dr. David Gorski, the editor of the blog Science-Based Medicine. “After that, you might not be able to get one.”
