October 29, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – An American pediatric doctor and infectious disease specialist who serves on a U.S. Federal government committee has raised concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccines for children, saying that since the virus’ effect on children is so “mild” the government had better be “very sure about safety of a vaccine.”
Last Thursday, Dr. Cody Meissner, a pediatric infectious disease vaccine expert at Tufts Children's Hospital and a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, raised his concerns about the safety of testing a COVID-19 vaccine on children.
“To me, we’ve got to be very sure that these vaccines do not elicit an adverse reaction that may be delayed,” said Dr. Meissner to his fellow committee members at the FDA Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting last Thursday (see comments here or at about 4:51:00 mark of video).
“Relatively speaking, it’s a very mild disease and I think we have to be very sure about safety of a vaccine in children,” added Meissner, stating to the panel that most adverse reactions to vaccines come within six weeks of being immunized.
In the meeting, Dr. Meissner also said that if he were part of the FDA, he would “certainly want to be very convinced about the safety of a vaccine before I approved its use in children,” adding that “the pattern of disease is very different in children, and lumping them in with adults would cause me some discomfort.”
Dr. Meissner is a signatory of the Great Barrington Declaration and has said that lockdowns have become too extreme.
Meissner’s concerns came amid news of American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer along with its COVID-19 vaccine partner BioNtech, announcing in mid-October they had the go-ahead from the FDA to enroll kids as young as 12 in their vaccine trials.
Last week, Cincinnati Children's Hospital began trial vaccinations of a Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine on a group of middle school-aged children, with an Ohio boy becoming one of the first 12-year-olds to receive a trial COVID-19 vaccine.
Alan Moy, M.D., founder and scientific director of the John Paul II Medical Research Institute and CEO of Cellular Engineering Technologies, told LifeSiteNews that he agrees with Dr. Meissner’s assessment.
“I am with Dr. Meissner,” Moy told LifeSiteNews.
“I think the vaccine should be thoroughly evaluated in adults first and those results have to transparent, published, and approved by the FDA.”
The Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine, known as BNT162b2, is mRNA based and is allegedly made without cell lines derived from an aborted baby. Other COVID-19 vaccines being touted by governments such as ones from AstraZeneca and the Chinese firm CanSino Biologics Inc. are Adenovirus-vector vaccines, meaning they use the HEK-293 cell line derived from fetal cells harvested from an aborted baby decades ago.
According to Pfizer/BioNtech, results from their phase I/II studies of BNT162b1, the precursor to BNT162b2, showed a ''robust'' immune response in those who got immunized.
The Pfizer/BioNtech, trial COVID-19 vaccine involves participants receiving two injections which are generally given around three weeks apart. Volunteers do not know if their injections are real, or a placebo.
In May the Trump Administration’s announced Operation Warp Speed which directed billions of dollars to vaccine manufacturers to quickly come up with a COVID-19 vaccine.
As a result of the program, the FDA has allowed potential COVID-19 vaccines to be in effect, fast-tracked, meaning the usual process of testing on animals to ensure safety and efficacy has been bypassed.
Dr. Moy criticized “Operation Warp Speed,” as being too rushed, calling into safety the program's ability to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine in a safe and timely manner.
In an August 26 article posted for LifeSiteNews, Moy wrote that “Operation Warp Speed” is placing “all of its financial resources towards vaccine approaches that lack a track record of success.”
He also questioned why animal trials are not being required, noting that in past preclinical studies, “some animals developed a more serious pneumonia with SARS vaccines when subsequently challenged with a live SARS virus than in non-vaccinated animals.”
Recently, Trump promised that nursing homes would be given free COVID vaccines once they are approved for distribution.
Some COVID-19 vaccine trials have already been halted due to safety concerns.
In September, trials of the AstraZeneca UK COVID vaccine derived from aborted baby cell lines were paused after participants became sick.
In October, a Brazilian volunteer died after receiving AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Also in October, Johnson & Johnson announced that it was pausing clinical trials of their COVID-19 vaccine which uses an aborted baby cell line after one participant began to experience an “unexplained illness.”
The World Health Organization lists a tracker that lists over 120 COVID-19 vaccine candidates that are currently in development, with many already having advanced to clinical trials.