Episode 2208: Violence Continues On Border; Twitter Hates Conservatives They Refuse To Sell To Elon.
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Iranian Ship Hit in Attack in Mediterranean, Company Says
DUBAI—An Iranian container ship was damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean, the state-run shipping company said on Friday, adding it would take legal action to identify the perpetrators of what it called terrorism and naval piracy. The ship, Shahr e Kord, was slightly damaged in Wednesday’s incident by an explosive object which caused a […]
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Google Says Microsoft’s Stance on News Is Effort to Distract From Hack
The two giants trade shots over tech’s impact on the news business as they face increased regulatory pressure and scrutiny around the world.
No Official Perpetrator Yet for Major Microsoft Hack: White House
The White House is still gathering information on the Microsoft hack that affected hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide. They said they can’t pin the blame on anyone yet, but they will be able to soon.
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Former State Dept. investigator believes COVID-19 virus escaped from Wuhan lab, possibly a bioweapon
“The Wuhan Institute of Virology is not the National Institute of Health,” said David Asher.
White and non-black people are told NOT to share Oprah memes because it is ‘digital blackface’
The Slow Factory Foundation recently raised awareness for digital blackface following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.
China in Focus (March 12): Chinese Film Market Drives Hollywood Censorship
China steps up as the world’s biggest feature film market. It’s giving Hollywood even more incentive to comply with Beijing’s censorship. A New Yorker recounts being put under lockdown in Shanghai. Living in isolation for two months once drove him to a dangerous point. A top U.S. military commander fears China is speeding up plans […]
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NYC woman killed by a stray bullet in wild gang shootout
A 37-year-old Queens woman suffered a fatal gunshot wound to her head after being caught in the crossfire of two feuding gangs, law enforcement sources told The Post. Gudelia Vallinas lost her life in the Woodside Houses Friday evening, at the intersection of Broadway and 48th Street. Police got a 911 call from a resident…
Japan Rejects Chinese Vaccine for Olympics
As Japan prepares to host the Olympics, the country says it won’t provide Chinese-made vaccines to participants of the games. The International Olympic Committee already accepted an offer to buy vaccines from China the day before.
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Every adult in Britain could get their first Covid jab ‘by early June’ after surge in vaccine supply
In yet another boost to the UK’s rapidly advancing vaccine roll-out, the Government is reportedly set to take stock of a ‘bumper supply’ of vaccines in the coming days.
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Facts Matter (March 12): US Marshal Sting Operation: 31 Missing Children Located, Rescued in Texas
In Dallas, after a month-long rescue operation, 31 missing children were located, recovered, or rescued. In Manhattan, a school has released new language guidelines, which encourage the students to stop using words like mom, dad, and parents in order to make the campus a more “welcoming and inclusive” space. Facts Matter is an Epoch Times […]
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‘Gonna be sore:’ Louisiana troopers boasted of beating black man
Louisiana State Police troopers joked in a group text about beating a Black man after a high-speed chase last year, saying the “whoopin” would give the man “nightmares for a long time,” according to new court filings. “He gonna be sore tomorrow for sure,” Trooper Jacob Brown, who was charged in the case and resigned…
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Rochester mayor lied to public about Daniel Prude case, report finds
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren kept critical details of Daniel Prude’s in-custody suffocation death secret for months, and lied to the public about the case, a new investigation has found. A report commissioned by city lawmakers and released Friday found Warren knew on the day of Prude’s deadly March 23, 2020, arrest that officers had covered…
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Cliff House Restaurant Auctions its Inventory, Memorabilia After Closing
SAN FRANCISCO—The Cliff House, a historic San Francisco landmark restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean, has auctioned its contents after closing for good last year. For 157 years it served Californian cuisine to locals and tourists. At the end of 2020, it closed permanently after the restaurant’s lease with the government was up, and its contents went through a three-day online auction. Restaurant and kitchen inventory were auctioned starting March 11, to be followed by memorabilia and gift shop merchandise on the second day and 200-plus vintage autographed movie star photos on the third day. The movie star photos are from the 1930s and 1940s, according to Laura Reid, marketing director at the auction company, Rabin Worldwide Inc. “So Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Betty Davis, Judy Garland, people like that. And most of them say ‘To the Cliff House’ or ‘Best regard to the Cliff House,’ so they’re very unique, signed, …
Pakistan Blocks Social Media App TikTok Over Indecency Complaint
ISLAMABAD—Pakistan on Thursday blocked the popular social media app TikTok after a court order over a complaint that it ran indecent content, a spokesman for the country’s telecoms regulator said. “The court has asked PTA to block access to TikTok,” Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) spokesman Khurram Mehran told Reuters, adding that the authority would comply with the order. A high court in the northwestern city of Peshawar said it ordered the ban after a private complainant said the social media app was spreading indecent content, said Jehanzeb Mehsud, a lawyer who represented the PTA. The service providers have been directed to immediately block access to TikTok, the regulator said in a statement. The app stopped working within an hour of the direction. A TikTok representative in Pakistan said strong safeguards were in place to keep inappropriate content off the platform. “In Pakistan, we have grown our local-language moderation team, and …
4 People in Michigan Won January $1.05 Billion Mega Millions Prize
DETROIT—A four-member suburban Detroit lottery club won a $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot and will receive $557 million after taxes, officials said Friday. The winners claimed their prize weeks after the Jan. 22 drawing and chose the immediate lump sum option. After taxes, the $776 million payment was reduced to about $557 million, the Michigan […]
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In Nevada, Unemployed Workers Wait for Aid That Will Still Not Be Enough
Stimulus checks may be on their way, but those struggling to get by worry that the money will soon be gone. “Every morning I wake up thinking about where my help is going to come from,” one woman said.
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One year later: AP minidoc marks COVID-19 anniversary
The Associated Press has released a minidocumentary marking the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic.,br />Read More
Former African slave hub transformed with giant art piece
Giant hands appear at two locations in West Africa’s Benin. Using a spray gun and biodegradable paint, French artist Saype created one hand that appears to be slipping into the ocean while another hand is pulling it back. The moving artwork is located on a beach that was one of Africa’s main slave trade hubs….
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DHS to Hold Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic for Border Patrol Agents in Texas: Gov. Abbott
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will hold a mass vaccination clinic next week in the Rio Grande Valley to vaccinate Border Patrol agents in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott and National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) Brandon Judd said in a joint statement on Friday. Abbott and Judd said that agents had been left vulnerable and exposed to COVID-19, the disease the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus causes. “We are glad to hear that the Biden Administration is finally stepping up and holding a mass vaccination clinic next week for Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley who had been left vulnerable and exposed to COVID,” they wrote in the statement. They added that they had to publicly request the federal government provide vaccines for Border Patrol agents. “It is unfortunate that, after months of inaction, we had to publicly call on the federal government to protect these brave men and …
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At Least 100 More Expected to Be Charged in Capitol Breach Investigation: DOJ
The Department of Justice said in a court filing Friday that it expects to charge at least 100 more people in connection to the Capitol breach on Jan. 6.
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Texas AG Sues Austin Mayor for Defying Governor’s Lift of Mask Mandates
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Thursday that his office is suing officials in the City of Austin and Travis County for failing to comply with a governor order that lifts a mask mandate across the state. “I told Travis County & The City of Austin to comply with state mask law. They blew me off. So, once again, I’m dragging them to court,” Paxton said in a statement on Twitter while responding to an article about the lawsuit. “[Austin Mayor Steve] Adler will never do the right thing on his own. His obstruction won’t stop me from keeping TX free & open!” Paxton’s announcement comes a day after he sent a letter warning Adler and Travis County judge Andy Brown of legal consequences if they continue refusing to comply with Gov. Greg Abbott’s order. Austin is located within Travis County. Abbott lifted a statewide mask mandate that was enforced in …
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March 12, 2021 | Nightly News Rebroadcast | Video: 51 Minutes 53 Seconds
George Floyd’s family reaches a massive settlement with the city of Minneapolis, a memo reveals the National Guard chief advised against extending the troops’ deployment at the Capitol, and the family of the Jan. 6 Capitol protester who was shot and killed has hired an attorney.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded March 12, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 37 Seconds
“We watched my grandmother die through the window of her nursing home,” said Dixon. “She paid nursing homes to take patients back that tested positive for covid. Our guests are: Maggie VandenBerghe, Jenny Beth Martin, Boris Epshteyn, Tom Del Beccaro, Tudor Dixon.
House Judiciary GOP Leaders Demand Amazon Answers to Allegations of Censorship Against Conservative Viewpoints
Two Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are asking Amazon to answer to allegations of Censorship against conservative viewpoints.
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In Lady Bird Johnson’s Secret Diaries, a Despairing President and a Crucial Spouse
A new book reveals how the former first lady not only provided a spouse’s emotional ballast but also served as an unrivaled counselor who helped persuade Lyndon B. Johnson to stay in office.
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European Countries Suspend Use of AstraZeneca Shots Over Worries About Blood Clots
Millions of people have received the vaccine without safety problems, and there is no evidence of any causal link between the vaccine and blood clots.,br />Read More
Denmark, Norway, Iceland Suspend AstraZeneca COVID Shots After Blood Clot Reports
COPENHAGEN—Health authorities in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland on Thursday suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine shots following reports of the formation of blood clots in some people who had been vaccinated. Austria earlier stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. […]
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Updates on CCP Virus: Bulgaria Halts AstraZeneca Vaccine Rollout, Citing Safety Concerns
Bulgaria has temporarily suspended inoculations with the AstraZeneca CCP virus vaccine and demanded safety guarantees from the European Union. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told a cabinet meeting that the immunization with this vaccine will be suspended until the European Medicines Agency issues a written statement that it is safe. Bulgaria becomes the tenth European country to suspend vaccination using the AstraZeneca-Oxford jab following reports of blood clots in some people following the jab. Hong Kong Reports 60 New Infections, Majority Linked to Gym Cluster Hong Kong on Friday reported 60 new infections of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, the highest number of infections in the city since late January, prompting fears of a fifth wave of the virus. Of the new infections, 47 were linked to an outbreak at a gym in the Sai Ying Pun neighborhood that is popular among expatriates. Health authorities have …
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Live Q&A: Virus Origin Story Gets Narrative Shift; $5000 Fines Proposed for Online “Conspiracies”
The World Health Organization recently conducted an investigation into the origin of the COVID-19 virus, yet held its final report from the public amid backlash on its ties to China. Now a new narrative is being pushed that could alter perspectives as additional information comes to light. And in other news, a bill in Colorado […]
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YouTube Has Removed Over 800,000 Videos Containing Misleading COVID-19 Information: Spokesperson
Google’s YouTube has removed over 800,000 videos that contained false or misleading information regarding COVID-19, a spokesperson told The Epoch Times on Thursday. The removals date back to February 2020. The videos “included claims about COVID-19 vaccinations that contradict local health authorities or the World Health Organization,” a spokeswoman said via email. Approximately 30,000 videos have been removed since October 2020 because they “included claims about COVID-19 vaccinations that contradict local and global health authorities,” she added. Examples of content that will get videos removed include claims that COVID-19 vaccines will kill people or cause infertility and claims that microchips will be implanted in people who receive a vaccine. There are exceptions for content with context deemed sufficient, such as educational or artistic context. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, is believed to have started spreading in late 2019. YouTube has increasingly cracked down on users …
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Biden slammed for taking credit for COVID-19 vaccine, not thanking Trump
Pundits took aim at Biden for trying “to take credit for everything that Donald Trump did on COVID-19.”
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Mich. lawmaker: Time to use subpoena to learn Whitmer secrets about COVID nursing home deaths
The Michigan state legislature is investigating Gov. Whitmer’s reluctance to provide an accurate number of COVID-19 nursing home deaths.
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These ‘Inactive’ Ingredients in COVID Vaccines Could Trigger Allergic Reactions
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims that vaccines “use only the ingredients they need to be as safe and effective as possible.” The star of the show in any vaccine is the “active” ingredient, which is the one designed to create an antibody response.
But the other, supposedly “inactive” ingredients — known as excipients — also play significant, and in many cases risky, co-starring roles.
Studies of licensed vaccines have identified many problems with these secondary ingredients — adjuvants like aluminum, preservatives like thimerosal and stabilizers like gelatin — not to mention highlighting the presence in vaccines of residual DNA from cell lines used in the manufacturing process as well as disclosed and undisclosed contaminants.
With the advent of three experimental COVID injections approved for emergency use in the U.S., manufacturers have introduced new primary ingredients to the U.S. vaccine stage — messenger RNA (mRNA) in the Pfizer and Moderna injections and an adenovirus vector in the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) injection.
Not only that, but vaccine makers have bundled these new primary ingredients with “inactive” excipients in experimenta — polyethylene glycol (PEG) in the case of the mRNA vaccines and polysorbate 80 in the J&J shot.
PEGs and polysorbates are structurally similar and are also sometimes combined in a PEG-polysorbate 80 mixture that is “substantially the same as that of … pure PEG.” Pre-COVID, both compounds had already been flagged for their ability to cross-react and produce immediate hypersensitivity reactions, a type of “exaggerated or inappropriate” immune response that can include anaphylaxis.
Given that at least 1,414 recipients of the Pfizer and Moderna injections have reported anaphylactic reactions (as of Feb. 26), and that two J&J clinical trial participants also suffered severe allergic reactions, some allergy experts are recommending that closer attention be directed to the risks of both excipients.
Hypersensitivity to structurally similar excipients
Children’s Health Defense has written extensively about the risks of PEG, the coating for the lipid nanoparticle RNA delivery system in the Pfizer and Moderna injections. Two recent studies echo some of the concerns we raised.
Writing in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in February, physician-researchers Mariana Castells (Brigham and Women’s Hospital) and Elizabeth Phillips (Vanderbilt University) note that “no other vaccine that has PEG as an excipient has [ever] been in widespread use” until COVID. The two authors then zero in on the evidence linking PEG to anaphylaxis, suggesting that it may represent a “hidden danger.”
In fact, leading Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official Peter Marks acknowledged in December that PEG could be the “culprit”responsible for anaphylaxis observed following COVID vaccination.
Although Castells and Phillips state that the anaphylaxis risks of adenoviral-vectored vaccines formulated with polysorbate 80 — vaccines like J&J’s — are “currently unknown,” Phillips and other Vanderbilt colleagues published a paper in mid-2019 (in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice) that reported a startling discovery, namely that “Immediate hypersensitivity to polyethylene glycols and polysorbates” is “more common than we have recognized.”
In that paper, Phillips and her colleagues also warned their fellow allergists that the similarities between polysorbates and PEGs may produce cross-reactive hypersensitivity that is likely “under recognized in clinical practice.”
Unlike the PEGs making their debut as vaccine excipients, polysorbate surfactants (polysorbate 80 or polysorbate 20) are already present in numerous licensed vaccines — including vaccines with diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis components, hepatitis A and B vaccines, vaccines against influenza and rotavirus, meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines, shingles injections and Gardasil 9.
Disturbingly, nearly all of these vaccines list anaphylaxis and anaphylactoid reactions as documented adverse events in their package inserts, although the inserts offer no explanation or even speculation about the specific triggering agent(s).
The use of polysorbate 80 in vaccines also raises other potential concerns that have not attracted sufficient attention, including the compound’s ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and potential evidence of carcinogenic activity in animal studies.
The mysteries of sensitization
Allergic sensitization is a complicated affair that even allergists do not fully comprehend, and there are ongoing questions about the mechanism of sensitization to PEGs (and, by implication, to polysorbates).
In their 2019 paper, Phillips and co-authors describe two case studies involving recurrent exposures to medical products relying on PEG excipients (colonoscopy preparations and corticosteroids), also describing occupational exposure from glycol-containing hydraulic fluids. In both instances, these exposures resulted in cross-reactivity to polysorbates.
In his final exposure to PEG, the first patient lost consciousness, “knocking a hole in the drywall with his head,” and after experiencing plummeting blood pressure of 60/20 spent a night in the emergency room. Subsequent skin testing showed positivity to polysorbate-80-containing products ranging from a corticosteroid (triamcinolone acetonide) and eye drops to a pneumococcal vaccine.
The scenario was similar for the second patient, who became dangerously hypotensive following PEG exposure, ended up in the emergency room and had a positive allergy skin test to the same polysorbate-containing corticosteroid.
Both case studies hint at one of the central problems with PEGs and polysorbates: They are everywhere, potentially offering numerous opportunities for sensitization. For example, PEGs are used in drugs, cosmetics, personal care items such as toothpaste and shampoo, bowel preparations for colonoscopy and as a food additive.
As a result of industry’s pervasive reliance on PEGs, approximately 72% of contemporary samples of human blood analyzed in 2016 revealed detectable and sometimes high levels of anti-PEG antibodies — with 8% displaying extremely elevated levels strongly associated with anaphylaxis.
No comparable study seems to be available for polysorbates, but a 2005 study drew attention to polysorbate 80 as “a ubiquitously used solubilizing agent that can cause severe nonimmunologic anaphylactoid reactions” and described its “current relevance as a ‘hidden’ inductor” of such reactions.
In addition to their presence in vaccines, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows polysorbates’ direct use in foods (“as adjuvants of flavoring agents or as multipurpose additives”) and also permits an “indirect” food additive role.
Examples of these food uses include as an emulsifier in ice cream and other frozen desserts, as a “solubilizing and dispersing agent” in pickles and as a “defoaming agent” for cottage cheese. The cosmetics and personal care industries make liberal use of polysorbates in skin products and makeup.
Phillips’ 2019 paper includes a medication excipient review. In the review, the authors identify 1,155 FDA-approved medications containing PEG 3350 (one type of PEG) as an active or inactive ingredient, most commonly in “film coated tablets, topical gels, and parenteral [intravenous or injected] steroids.”
In addition, about six times as many FDA-approved medications (N=6,821) contain polysorbate 80 (as either an active or inactive ingredient), mostly in the same types of products as well as in vaccines.
Recommendations ignored
CDC officials maintain that anaphylaxis following COVID vaccination is a “rare event,” but Castells and Phillips, in their 2021 NEJM paper, report that “the incidence of anaphylaxis associated with the Pfizer SARS-Cov-2 mRNA vaccine appears to be approximately 10 times as high as the incidence reported with all previous vaccines.”
They also note that “preexisting sensitization to a component of the vaccine” (such as a PEG or polysorbate excipient) could account for the types of reactions being observed.
Importantly, they not only recommend that patients who have experienced anaphylaxis after a Pfizer or Moderna injection avoid any further exposure to PEG-formulated mRNA vaccines, but also that such individuals avoid “all PEG and injectable polysorbate 80 products.”
Disturbingly, the CDC is ignoring this prudent recommendation. Au contraire — making no mention of the issue of potential PEG-polysorbate cross-reactivity, the CDC, according to a March 1 CNBC report, says “that people who have an allergic reaction to the first dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine could get the J&J vaccine instead.”
On its webpage providing “Information about COVID-19 vaccines for people with allergies,” the CDC tells people who have had a severe or immediate allergic reaction to “any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine” not to get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and warns individuals who have had a severe or immediate allergic reaction to any ingredient in J&J’s COVID vaccine not to get that injection.
Allergy expert Scott Commins at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill endorses the J&J shot as “safe for the overwhelming majority of people with food or environmental allergies.” While conceding that polysorbates are associated with “very rare allergic reactions,” Commins states that because they are so common, “people with sensitivity to polysorbate may already know.”
However, the remarks of an individual who commented on a January STAT news report about vaccine-related allergic reactions illustrate the difficulty that members of the public may have in sorting through these complexities:
“I have stage 4 carcinoid cancer, medically induced diabetes, asthma … I want to take vaccine but have had mild to anaphylactic reaction to meds. Some like Contrast dye with iodine suddenly developed severe reaction after decades of no issues. Had terrible reaction to flu vac yrs ago … I don’t know which meds contain polysorbate or polyethylene glycol to know if I’m allergic to ingredients in vaccine.”
Writing in late January, a month before the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization of the J&J COVID vaccine, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) stated that there is “no consensus” on how to evaluate a patient’s history of severe reactions to PEGs or polysorbates in advance of vaccination, but noted that “some would argue that [skin] testing to the vaccine is required.”
Although not foolproof (false negatives are possible), skin testing for PEG and polysorbate by an allergist can be informative for people who are uncertain of their allergy status. Some healthcare facilities are now offering such testing.
The AAAAI adds, “If skin testing is positive the individual is not a candidate for the currently available mRNA vaccines,” also stating that skin testing for polysorbate reactivity could become important should the J&J vaccine enter into general use.
Alarmingly, the media are fostering the perception that J&J’s vaccine is “allergy free,” even going so far as to state that “clinics may not need to watch patients for severe reactions for 15 minute after getting the shot.”
Even more sobering, Castells and Phillipps remind us that the uber-healthy individuals typically studied in clinical trials “may not reflect a predisposition to adverse events that may exist in other populations.”
Only time will tell whether the individuals taking J&J’s COVID injection because they believe it to be “allergy free” have been steered in a safe direction.
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Medical Examiner Not Jumping to Conclusions After Utah Mom Dies Following COVID-19 Vaccination
A Utah medical examiner on March 12 said there is not yet any evidence to suggest a connection between a death following a COVID-19 vaccination. Kassidi Kurill, a 39-year-old mother of one from Ogden, received the vaccine due to her work as a surgical tech for several plastic surgeons. She received her second dose of the Moderna […]
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COVID-19: Pharmaceutical companies and rich states put lives at risk as vaccine inequality soars
- Amnesty launches global campaign calling for universal access to COVID-19 vaccines
- Rich countries have bought up over half the world’s vaccine supply, but represent just 16 per cent of the world’s population
- Pharmaceutical companies refuse to share knowledge and technology
The actions of pharmaceutical companies and rich countries mean that billions of people at risk of COVID-19 are unlikely to receive a single dose of the life-saving vaccines this year, Amnesty International said as it launched a new global campaign calling for universal access to vaccines.
The campaign – A Fair Shot: Universal Access to COVID-19 Vaccines – calls for pharmaceutical companies to share their knowledge and technology to maximize the number of doses of vaccines available around the globe. It also calls on states to stop engaging in ‘vaccine nationalism’ and work together to ensure that those most at-risk of COVID-19 in all countries can access life-saving COVID-19 vaccines immediately.
“Who gets access to a COVID-19 vaccine, when, and at what price, are some of the most significant and contested questions facing our societies today. But the answers are being shaped by the interests of powerful states and companies,” said Stephen Cockburn, Head of Economic and Social Justice at Amnesty International
“So far they’ve created a dangerous situation with global inequalities in vaccine access spiraling out of control. A few rich countries are racing ahead, while the rest of the world struggles to get off the starting line. Everyone deserves a fair shot at a vaccine — when it comes to our right to health, there’s no place for discrimination.”
Rich countries have bought up over half of the world’s vaccine supply, even though they represent just 16 per cent of the world’s population. The same countries have administered over 60% of the world’s doses so far, while over 100 countries are yet to vaccinate a single person.
“Nobody should be denied access to health care, including vaccines, because of where they live, who they are, or what they earn. With enough pressure on the right people, we can ensure COVID-19 vaccination systems guarantee human rights,” said Stephen Cockburn.
Sharing knowledge and technology
Billions of taxpayers’ money has been spent to help companies like AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech to develop and produce vaccines, yet these companies – and others – refuse to share their research, knowledge and technology. This means that other pharmaceutical companies cannot draw upon these advances in science to step up their own vaccine production, which would in turn increase supply, so they are accessible to countries with smaller budgets.
For example, in May 2020, the W so companies could pool data and knowledge, and then license production and technology transfer to other potential producers, with the aim of ensuring people everywhere could access vaccines quicker. Yet so far, not a single pharmaceutical company has joined C-TAP.
Governments must fulfill their human rights obligations and support a proposal to waive certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement, a global treaty governing intellectual property rights, which often restricts where, when and how medicines are produced. This waiver would lift the enforcement of patents and intellectual property protections that currently create obstacles for additional manufacturers to produce more COVID-19 vaccines. However, while it is supported by the vast majority of low- and middle-income countries, it is opposed by the wealthy ones.
As some states refuse to hold vaccine producers to account on their human rights responsibility to extend COVID-19 vaccine access to the maximum number of people, deep divides and inequalities between countries and communities have only become further exposed. And it’s those most at risk who are suffering as some countries and pharmaceutical companies continue to prioritize bilateral deals over ensuring that all people in every country have a fair shot at COVID-19 vaccines.
“As we mark the one-year anniversary of the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot stand by and watch this tragedy unfold when we have solutions on the table,” said Tamaryn Nelson, Amnesty International’s Health Advisor. “Amid governments’ race to vaccinate their own populations entirely first and the pharmaceutical industry’s tight grip on its patents, we’re forgetting that people’s lives are at stake. No one is safe until we’re all safe.”
It’s time for pharmaceutical companies and states to fulfil their human rights responsibilities and obligations. Amnesty International is campaigning for companies, including AstraZeneca, Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna, to share their knowledge and technology so that everyone in the world will have a fair shot at a vaccine. And states must step up by putting pressure on companies to do their part and work collectively to ensure those most at risk around the globe are vaccinated as soon as possible.
Notes to editors
See here for more information about C-TAP, a World Health Organization-run pool for voluntary licenses for COVID-19 products, which would enable other manufacturers to produce them, and its Solidarity call to realize equitable global access to COVID-19 health technologies through pooling of knowledge, intellectual property and data.
See here for more information about the TRIPS waiver proposal at the WTO.
All figures are based on analysis of data collected by Duke University and Our World In Data.
Mexican Cartels Overcome Pandemic Hurdles to Remain Greatest Criminal Drug Threat to U.S.
Mexican cartels adjusted to restrictions imposed by the global pandemic last year to smuggle huge amounts of narcotics into the U.S. and remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the country, expanding the market as methamphetamine deaths skyrocket. The government classifies them as Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO) and in 2020 they flooded the nation with illicit drugs though a staggering 28,000 pounds of methamphetamine and millions of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl were seized by law enforcement agents. Bigger loads reached communities around the nation as deaths and seizures involving meth rise sharply and Mexican TCO’s increase the drug’s availability, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA).
The annual publication outlines the threats posed to the U.S. by domestic and international drug trafficking and the abuse of illicit drugs, which is at an all-time high. The document also addresses money laundering of drug proceeds and the role of domestic groups, such as violent street gangs, that traffic drugs. “While the COVID-19 pandemic plagues this nation, so, too, do transnational criminal organizations and violent street gangs, adjusting to pandemic restrictions to flood our communities with dangerous drugs,” said DEA acting Administrator D. Christopher Evans in a statement announcing the report’s release. Evans was the agency’s chief of operations before taking over and last year was appointed by then Attorney General William Barr to a presidential commission charged with exploring issues affecting law enforcement. The DEA chief added that this year’s NDTA “shows the harsh reality of the drug threats facing communities across the United States.”
The U.S. saw a record number of drug overdose deaths last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which put the figure at more than 81,000. The agency says that synthetic opioids, primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl, appear to be the primary driver of the increases in overdose deaths. The DEA discloses that Mexican TCOs have established clandestine laboratories in Mexico for the synthesis of fentanyl, and Mexican authorities have encountered a rise in illegal fentanyl pill press and tableting operations. Mexican TCOs are also responsible for the production and trafficking across the Southwest Border (SWB) of the overwhelming majority of heroin available in the United States. Additionally, Mexican TCOs control most of the U.S. drug market and have established varied transportation routes, possess advanced communications capabilities, and hold strong affiliations with criminal groups and gangs in the U.S., the NDTA reveals.
The DEA names nine Mexican TCOs as having the greatest drug trafficking impact on the United States. Among them are the infamous Sinaloa and Juárez cartels, Los Zetas, La Familia Michoacána, Los Rojos and Guerreros Unidos. The TCOs maintain drug distribution cells in cities across the U.S. that report to leaders in Mexico and dominate the nation’s drug market. “The criminal activities of these organizations operating in the United States extend well beyond drug trafficking and have a profoundly negative impact on the safety and security of U.S. citizens,” the NDTA report states. “Their involvement in alien smuggling, firearms trafficking, and public corruption, coupled with the high levels of violence that result from these criminal endeavors, poses serious homeland security threats and public safety concerns.” Though they were temporarily challenged by disruptions associated with COVID-19, the Mexican criminal enterprises found new methods and used existing techniques to continue operating during the pandemic.
In a Homeland Threat Assessment issued just a few months ago, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) divulges that Mexican cartels pose the greatest threat to the U.S. because of their ability to control territory and co-opt parts of government, particularly at a state and local level. “They represent an acute and devastating threat to public health and safety in the Homeland and a significant threat to U.S. national security interests,” the DHS writes in the document.
The post Mexican Cartels Overcome Pandemic Hurdles to Remain Greatest Criminal Drug Threat to U.S. appeared first on Judicial Watch.
Medical examiner says Kassidi Kurill’s death likely wasn’t caused by Moderna vaccine
Utah’s chief medical examiner urged the public not to jump to conclusions about the death of a 39-year-old woman four days after she received the second dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine — insisting there is no evidence the jab was connected to her passing. After receiving her second jab on Feb. 1, Kassidi Kurill became…
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Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded March 12, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 53 Seconds
“It’s not good,” Yon said. “It’s very serious. This is no joke. This is a destabilizing migration for the United States.” Our guests are: Maggie VandenBerghe, Jenny Beth Martin, Michael Yon, Ben Bergquam, Drew Hernandez, Jane Timken.
EXC: Bill Gates Foundation Funded Genomics Firm ‘Mining’ DNA Data Through COVID Tests.
BGI Genomics—the Chinese Communist Party-linked genomics firm flagged by U.S. officials as “mining” the DNA of Americans—has collaborated extensively with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The National Pulse can…
The Case for Covid Optimism
Why Dr. Ashish Jha thinks life could return to normal very soon.
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