OPINION:
Follow the science. That is what the Biden administration promised to do regarding COVID-19. However, the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration have all been dismissive of doctor concerns mandatory vaccinations are the exact wrong policy prescription.
Late last month, Dr. Patricia Lee, an ICU physician in the state of California, wrote to the CDC and FDA stating in her more than 20 years of practice, she has “never witnessed so many vaccine-related injuries until this year.”
She detailed an otherwise healthy patient under age 40 experiencing numbness in one leg after receiving their second dose of the vaccine. Eventually, the patient became quadriplegic, blind, and developed an irregular heart rate and hypotension. Ms. Lee also detailed an uptick in obstetric complications needing ICU care after their shots.
“In the last two months alone, I have cared for at least four such patients, two with post-partum hemorrhagic shock and two with septic shock secondary to chorioamnionitis following pre-term labor. All were vaccinated,” she wrote.
As Ms. Lee detailed to the CDC and FDA, “it appears statistically improbable that any one physician should witness this many Covid-19 vaccine injuries if the federal health authority claims regarding Covid-19 vaccine safety were accurate.” And detailed how other frontline workers shared her concerns but were too afraid to be labeled “anti-vaxxers” to speak up. Ms. Lee is fully vaccinated.
So far, Ms. Lee’s letter has fallen on deaf ears. No one at the CDC or FDA has responded to Ms. Lee or reached out to her for additional information regarding her concerns. Last week, Senator Ron Johnson became aware of the letter and wrote the CDC, FDA, and Francis Collins, the National Institutes of Health director, urging them to follow up.
“Dr. Lee’s letter provides powerful first-hand testimony that vaccine injuries require your agencies’ prompt and robust attention,” he wrote in his letter, obtained by the Washington Times. “With the freedom-robbing vaccine mandates forcing millions of Americans to make gut-wrenching, life-altering decisions, your agencies owe the public honesty and transparency.”
Mr. Johnson noted, in pressing for mandatory vaccinations, the Biden administration is ignoring its own safety surveillance systems, which reported 16,310 deaths (with 5,326 of those deaths occurring within two days following the vaccination), and 778,685 total adverse events.
For 25 years of the flu vaccine, less than 17,000 deaths have been reported on the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERs).
While for the vast majority of people, COVID-19 vaccinates are safe and effective, more work needs to be done to understand the causes of these adverse events. Some physicians are worried about fueling an anti-vaccine movement by sharing their stories. Yet, at the same time, it’s important not to dismiss the potential for rare but severe side effects until researchers can establish causality, a process that can take years.
Unfortunately, in President Joe Biden’s push for universal vaccination mandates, the U.S. has lacked transparency in addressing these issues and refuses to respond to those waving red flags. In August, the NIH did fund a study to assess the potential effects of the vaccination on menstruation after multiple women complained. The CDC is also conducting surveys on patients and health care providers to gather more information about myocarditis, or heart inflammation, after receiving the shot.
Shouldn’t both of these studies be concluded before all Americans are forced to get the vaccination?
Whether an individual should receive a COVID-19 vaccination is a decision that should be determined between them and their doctor, not mandated by the federal government. In addition, natural immunity should be considered – which the Biden administration is currently ignoring with their mandates. Suppose a person has already contracted the virus. Why should they be subjected to an experimental vaccination when several studies have concluded natural antibodies are more effective in warding off reinfection than vaccinations?
Mr. Johnson continues to press for answers to these questions. The Biden administration would be wise to address these concerns – instead of actively suppressing them – so more people will be willing to get the shot on their own accord rather than be coerced into it to save their job.
Sunlight, after all, is the best disinfectant.
The Washington Times contacted the CDC for comment. Still waiting on their response.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at the Washington Times.
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