Australian government will not suspend use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines
The Australian government says it will not suspend the use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, despite warnings from several high-profile scientists that the products could increase the risk of cancer.
Russell Broadbent, the Member for Monash, along with 52 doctors, lawyers, academics, and politicians, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, urging the immediate suspension of the vaccines.
The Prime Minister passed the letter to Health Minister Mark Butler, who then delegated it to his Chief of Staff, Nick Martin, to prepare a response.
In the letter, Martin stated, "For a decision maker to make such a large impactful decision that would unduly worry Australians, the evidence relied upon must be legally, scientifically, and clinically sound."
Martin concluded that the evidence presented to the PM's office did “not support such a large and important decision."
This stance comes in the wake of several independent studies reporting excessive levels of residual DNA in vaccines, which have the potential to integrate into the human genome and lead to mutations, known as 'insertional mutagenesis.'
Canadian virologist David Speicher found that residual DNA levels in three Australian vials, including one intended for children, exceeded the regulatory limit of 10 nanograms by up to 145 times.
The letter from Butler's office also stated, "The overwhelming evidence is that the mRNA vaccines have saved lives and have acceptable safety profiles," referencing the position of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA).
However, ICMRA emphasises that its member countries should uphold robust safety monitoring systems, which continuously collect and analyse reports of suspected harms – an area where the regulator has evidently fallen short.
Moreover, a key aspect of ICMRA's stance that appears to have been conveniently overlooked by Butler's office is their call for the pharmaceutical industry to provide access to clinical data for all new vaccines and to publish clinical trial reports without redacting confidential information, citing overriding public health interest.
Broadbent said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the dismissive response from Butler's office.
He said, "I've been writing to the Health Minister and Prime Minister for several years now, and there has been a total lack of willingness to engage on the issues I've raised."
Broadbent added that he was dissatisfied with receiving a response from the Health Minister's Chief of Staff, whom he felt lacked a scientific basis for his comments, suggesting it was a sign of disrespect towards him and his 52 co-signatories.
In October, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) publicly dismissed the independent findings of excessive residual DNA in the vaccines as "misinformation."
The TGA released its own data indicating that their testing of 28 batches of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines showed no instances where residual DNA levels exceeded the regulatory limit of 10 nanograms per dose.
However, the disclosure did little to alleviate concerns, as none of the tested vials were registered before 2023, and thus, did not represent the batches used to vaccinate the majority of Australians.
It is essential to explore whether earlier vaccine batches could be connected to instances of vaccine injuries. Danish data indicate a notable variability in adverse event reports among different batches.
Research conducted by Schmeling and colleagues has shown that 71% of the suspected adverse events within the Danish population were linked to merely 4% of the vaccine batches.
This week, the TGA acknowledged that it did not perform independent testing for residual DNA before 2023. Instead, it relied on the data provided by vaccine manufacturers at the time of provisional approval in 2021.
The TGA explained,
Manufacturing controls, such as breakdown through enzymatic DNA digestion and then purification, have been developed and optimized by manufacturers to remove DNA during the manufacturing process as far as possible.
Manufacturers are required to do this and to submit evidence to the TGA, which is evaluated prior to marketing authorization for biological medicines and mRNA products.
They also pointed out that no adverse events were observed in animal studies administered up to 200 times the human dose of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). However, they did not provide clinical safety data concerning the impact of low levels of residual DNA in the context of LNPs.
Despite this latest knockback, Broadbent remains committed to advocating for those affected by vaccine injuries.
He stated, "I will not stay silent, I will not stop asking questions, and I will not stop holding the authorities to account."
Moving forward, Broadbent said he wanted the Minister's office to release the TGA's safety testing and pharmacovigilance records in full, without redactions, and to retest the vials from Speicher's report.
In politics, evidence base and truth play second fiddle to party narrative. Only ways to induce change are in a court of law or in the court of public opinion. The former seems sabotaged by the establishment and the latter is slowly gaining momentum.
[Moving forward, Broadbent said....] - thank you Mr Broadbent. At least there are a few parliamentarians trying to keep the bastards honest.