The nation\u2019s top public health agency did not send an alert on COVID-19 vaccines and heart inflammation because officials were concerned they would cause panic, according to an email obtained by The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2021 drafted an alert<\/a> for heart inflammation, or myocarditis, and the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Officials prepared to release it to the public, taking steps including having the agency\u2019s director review the language, internal documents show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The alert would have been sent through the CDC\u2019s Health Alert System (HAN) network, which goes to state and local officials, as well as doctors, across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The alert was never sent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the May 25, 2021, email, exclusively obtained by The Epoch Times, a CDC official revealed why some officials were against sending the alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe pros and cons of an official HAN are what the main discussion are right now,\u201d Dr. Sara Oliver, the official, wrote in the missive. \u201cI think it\u2019s likely to be a HAN since that is CDC\u2019s primary method of communications to clinicians and public health departments, but people don\u2019t want to appear alarmist either.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>Dr. Oliver was corresponding with an employee of either Pfizer or Moderna. The employee\u2019s name and email were redacted in the copy obtained by The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Oliver did not respond to a request for comment. Asked about the email, the CDC did not address Dr. Oliver\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u201cCDC\u2019s apparent decision to not immediately issue a formal alert to clinicians warning them about the increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis in vaccinated individuals is not only inexcusable, it\u2019s malpractice,\u201d Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee\u2019s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, told The Epoch Times in an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCDC should never prioritize its own public perception over the public\u2019s health, and those who made the decision to do so must be held fully accountable,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It remains unclear which official or officials decided not to send the alert at a time when doctors across the country were seeing<\/a> patients with myocarditis report to emergency rooms with chest pain and other symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kim Witczak, a drug safety advocate who helped convince regulators to add a suicide warning to antidepressants, said the CDC\u2019s move to downplay heart inflammation fits into a longstanding pattern of transparency issues with agencies and drug companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t even believe that this was even a discussion where they\u2019re like, \u2018We don\u2019t want to alarm them.\u2019 We do need to alarm people. We need people to be aware that this is a real potential [problem] that could happen,\u201d Ms. Witzcak told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those kinds of choices have helped erode consumer confidence in public health, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Tom Frieden, a former CDC director who now serves as president and CEO of the global health project Resolve to Save Lives, also reviewed the messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is important to carefully weigh the risk of COVID-19 against the risk and benefit of any treatment, including the vaccine. The vaccine safety systems worked\u2014they found a very rare but real signal of myocarditis soon after distributing vaccines that were administered to adolescents,\u201c Dr. Frieden told The Epoch Times via email. \u201dWhen public health officials see a safety signal, they must investigate whether it is \u2018true\u2019 or \u2018random.\u2019 It is important to consider multiple data angles and gather evidence from partners on the ground, including clinicians. This needs to be done quickly but carefully and thoroughly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S. authorities identified myocarditis and a related condition, pericarditis, before the vaccines were cleared as events that could be caused by the vaccines<\/a>. People who received the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines began reporting myocarditis and pericarditis to health authorities and the vaccine manufacturers shortly after the vaccines were rolled out in December 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A signal in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which the CDC helps manage, triggered in February 2021, the same month Israel warned the CDC and U.S. drug regulators of a \u201clarge number\u201d of cases, primarily among young males.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC\u2019s director at the time, first addressed the issue publicly in April 2021. She falsely said <\/a>the agency had seen no reports and that no signal had triggered, while disclosing the CDC was in touch with U.S. military officials on cases among service members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In reality, hundreds of cases had been reported to the CDC, including some that resulted in death; the CDC either missed or ignored<\/a> the signal in VAERS; and the CDC helped hide<\/a> a signal that emerged from a Department of Veterans Affairs system, internal documents and other data reviewed by The Epoch Times show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CDC did communicate to certain state officials about myocarditis issues starting in April 2021 and told some doctors in a May 14, 2021, email<\/a> that the agency was monitoring reports of the inflammation following Pfizer and Moderna vaccination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shortly after that missive was sent, the CDC began considering next steps, according to the newly obtained documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Oliver on May 21, 2021, emailed representatives of Moderna and Pfizer to warn them that the CDC was planning to go public with information on the myocarditis cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWanted to make sure you were aware before anything was made public,\u201d Dr. Oliver wrote in one of the messages, which were obtained by The Epoch Times and are being reported in this story for the first time. \u201cYou may be aware, but there have been concerns for myocarditis seen in adolescents and young adults after receipt of the mRNA vaccines. Thankfully, the cases appear relatively mild, but there is concern that we need to make providers aware of this issue. CDC is discussing communication options, and we may have more information tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cardiologists say there\u2019s no such thing as a mild case of heart inflammation and research has since shown that a number of cases don\u2019t resolve for months<\/a>, if at all<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines both use modified messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moderna and Pfizer did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One representative from Pfizer sent information to Dr. Oliver and colleagues ahead of a planned meeting, the emails show. The information was redacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moderna officials met with the CDC on May 22, 2021. The discussion covered how the CDC was considering saying there was a \u201cpossible causal relationship,\u201d or that the vaccines might be causing the inflammation, according to the emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moderna asked how government officials thought the myocarditis was being caused, or the mechanism of action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy current understanding is that it isn\u2019t necessarily a defined mechanism, but that we\u2019ve seen very similar\/consistent findings where mRNA vaccines have been used all occurring within days of receipt of an mRNA vaccine (although it could be that systemic inflammation plays a role),\u201d Dr. Oliver wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A representative with one of the companies then checked in on May 25, 2021, asking if the CDC had decided how to communicate to the public about myocarditis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cApologies that there hasn\u2019t been more solid communication on this. Unfortunately, I still don\u2019t have a firm update to share. Things have been changing rapidly here,\u201d Dr. Oliver wrote. In the next email, she wrote that some officials did not want to cause panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am not trying to be vague on purpose- I really don\u2019t know,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I had to guess, I would think it\u2019s likely to be a HAN, but can\u2019t say for sure yet. I anticipate there will be firm decisions within the next 24 hours so I’ll let you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/embed.documentcloud.org\/documents\/24375834-cdc-modernapfizer-emails\/?embed=1&responsive=1&title=1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A two-page draft of the alert obtained by The Epoch Times was completely redacted. The Epoch Times is working on acquiring an unredacted copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The draft was circulated internally, including to Dr. Walensky, emails show. The messages indicated<\/a> the CDC chose not to send the alert after consulting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CDC said<\/a> on its website on May 20, 2021, that a review of post-vaccination myocarditis found \u201crelatively few reports\u201d and that rates of myocarditis \u201chave not differed from expected baseline rates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F01%2F25%2Fid5573716-alarmist-600x347.jpg&w=1200&q=75\")
Moderna, Pfizer Given Heads Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Scaled-Down Response<\/h2>\n\n\n\n