Questions arise over CDC guidance on COVID-19 vaccines
WASHINGTON (SBG) — Like a lot of Americans, Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) already had coronavirus and, last December, he wanted to know if he should still get a vaccine. Most everyone who’s had COVID-19 is considered immune.
But how long immunity lasts is unknown—whether it’s after infection or vaccination.
An award-winning scientist himself, Massie quickly found that vaccine studies showed no benefit to people who’ve had coronavirus. Vaccination didn’t change their odds of getting reinfected.
The controversy began when he noticed something strange: the CDC was claiming the exact opposite.
CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices had just issued a high profile report authored by 15 scientists. It wrongly claimed Pfizer’s study proved the vaccine is highly effective or showed “Consistent high efficacy” for people who’d already had coronavirus—“SARS-CoV 2.”
“That sentence is wrong,” Rep. Massie told Sinclair. "There is no efficacy demonstrated in the Pfizer trial among participants with evidence of previous SARS, co V two infections and actually there's no proof in the Moderna trial either.”
Massie says CDC’s information, claiming studies show the vaccines help people previously infected with coronavirus, could be costing lives. That’s because he says people who at low risk of infection may be getting precious doses of vaccine when those at high risk aren’t able to get them.
The mystery deepened when Massie contacted CDC for an explanation. He says top CDC officials and scientists stalled, obfuscated, apologized, and finally agreed to change the misinformation.
But he says CDC replaced the information with language that’s equally misleading.
CDC officials did not respond to our request for interviews and information. In calls with Massie several CDC officials acknowledged that “given that there’s limited doses right now, we’re suggesting that [people previously infected] wait.”
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