Do COVID-19 vaccines protect our public health?

It is the job of the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to answer those questions.

However, in the book “The Real Anthony Fauci,” Sen. Robert Kennedy Jr. documents how Dr. Fauci and our regulatory agencies have been funded for years by the large pharmaceutical companies, creating a major financial conflict of interest that could potentially influence decision-making.

One study done in 2021 compared vaccination rates and new COVID-19 cases in eight different countries over a period of seven days. The researchers found that higher vaccination rates did not decrease the number of new COVID-19 cases. The same researchers examined nearly 3,000 counties in the United States, and found the same thing — vaccination rates did not impact the number of new COVID-19 cases.

In Israel, vaccination was mandated for its population. Data from four rounds of vaccination show clearly that vaccinated people became infected at about the same rate as the unvaccinated in any given age group.

Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that Emergency Use Authorization be granted for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for vaccinating children younger than 5. The CDC has supported that recommendation. But serious concerns have been raised about the Pfizer clinical trial data. Here is a summary of some of the concerns raised during a hearing regarding this vaccine:

∫ Out of the original 4,526 children aged 6 months to 4 years old in the Pfizer clinical trial, 3,000 of the children dropped out of the trial.

∫ Six children aged 2 to 4 in the vaccine group had severe COVID-19, but only one in the placebo (unvaccinated) group. The only child hospitalized during the trial (with fever and a seizure) had been vaccinated.

∫ During the three-week period before the second vaccination, 34 vaccinated children got COVID-19. Only 13 children in the placebo (unvaccinated) group caught COVID-19. That data was not used in the trial results. Data regarding children who caught COVID-19 between the second and third vaccine was also not used.

∫ The trial efficacy of 80.3% was based on only three children in the vaccinated group (out of 992) who developed COVID-19 symptoms, and seven children (out of 464) in the placebo group who developed COVID-19 symptoms. To report an 80.3% efficacy based on only 10 children out of more than 1,000 children in the trial is plain “cheating” with statistics.

∫ 12 of the children in the Pfizer trial caught COVID-19 twice during the two-month follow up period; all but one were vaccinated. Furthermore, several of those children had been vaccinated three times.

∫ Six weeks after the trial was completed, the placebo group was followed up for another six weeks, then vaccinated, making it impossible to study the long-term safety of the vaccine by comparing vaccinated versus unvaccinated children.

SIDE EFFECTS

In Europe, the EudraVigilance database is used to monitor the safety of medications, including vaccines. As of May 25, 2021, reports submitted into EudraVigilance of adverse reactions attributed to COVID-19 vaccinations (including the Moderna, Pfizer, Astrazeneca, and Janssen vaccines) were: 12,184 dead and 1,196,190 Injuries. The serious adverse events reported in EudraVigilence have included blood and lymphatic disorders, cardiac disorders, blindness, deafness, anaphylactic reactions, strokes, blood clots, hemorrhages, facial paralysis, complete paralysis, spontaneous abortions, and others.

In the United States, the Vaccine Adverse Reporting System (VAERS) is used for the reporting of vaccine side effects. It has been estimated that only a small fraction — 1% — of actual injuries due to vaccines have been entered into VAERS. As of May 30, 2022, VAERS has received 28,312 COVID-19 vaccine reported deaths, 158,974 total COVID-19 vaccine reported hospitalizations, and a total of 1,277,978 COVID-19 vaccine adverse event reports.

OUR RESPONSE

How should the public respond to a vaccine that has questionable efficacy at best, and is actually harmful at worst? Should an individual who has natural immunity because of a previous COVID-19 infection — proven to provide far greater protection than any vaccine — be forced to take the vaccine, especially in light of documented side effects?

Should we risk the health and safety of our infants and toddlers — a highly vulnerable group — based upon poorly run clinical trials that fail to show the effectiveness or safety of vaccinations? Vaccinations for which there are no long-term studies for potential side effects?

The Alpena Republican Party position on this is “no.”

We believe people and businesses should have a choice. We are responsible for our own actions, and for the choices we make as individuals. And if those who choose to be vaccinated are doing what they believe, they shouldn’t be at risk if the vaccines are effective. If they are ineffective, then the choice to not be vaccinated does not increase risk for others.

With mandates, a concern is raised: If the government can mandate that, they can mandate anything. Who is defending the employees, and small business owners, when the federal government is making decisions that are costly to small business and that override personal rights?

We still do not know the long-term effects of vaccines, in essence enrolling our nation in what amounts to a huge “clinical trial” — one in which informed consent was impossible. Is this right to do, especially in light of the increasing documentation of harmful side effects?

Our position is that we believe in individual rights, and the right to choose — or not — to be vaccinated.