SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged mistakes in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but insists the recall effort against him has more to do with politics than the public health crisis. Newsom made his most direct comments yet about the push to unseat him during an interview Friday with KQED, saying his opponents…

A group of prominent scientists and doctors want the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to answer “urgent” safety questions about the three COVID-19 vaccines authorised for use in the EU, or withdraw the vaccines’ authorisation.

In an open letter published this week, the group questioned “whether cardinal issues regarding the safety of the vaccines were adequately addressed prior to their approval” by the EMA.

The EMA, which is the EU equivalent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,  approved three vaccines for emergency use in the EU: the Pfizer-BioNtech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.

In their letter, 12 scientists and doctors noted a “wide range of side effects” is reported following vaccination of previously healthy younger individuals with the gene-based COVID-19 vaccines.

They wrote:

“Moreover, there have been numerous media reports from around the world of care homes being struck by COVID-19 within days of vaccination of residents. While we recognise that these occurrences might, every one of them, have been unfortunate coincidences, we are concerned that there has been and there continues to be inadequate scrutiny of the possible causes of illness or death under these circumstances, and especially so in the absence of post-mortems examinations.”

In their original letter, sent Feb. 28 via email to the EMA, the group asked the EMA to provide responses to seven safety-related issues within ”seven days and address all our concerns substantively. Should you choose not to comply with this reasonable request, we will make this letter public.”

The authors, led by Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, professor emeritus of medical microbiology and immunology, and former chair, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, have not yet received a response from the EMA.

In a written statement Wednesday, the group said:

“Therefore, as a starting point, we believe it is important to enumerate and evaluate all deaths which have occurred within 28 days of vaccination, and to compare the clinical pictures with those who have not been vaccinated.

“More broadly, with respect to the development of COVID-19 vaccines, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has stated in their Resolution 2361, on 27th January 2021, that member states must ensure all COVID-19 vaccines are supported by high quality trials that are sound and conducted in an ethical manner. EMA officials, and other regulatory bodies in EU countries, are bound by these criteria. They should be made aware that they may be violating Resolution 2361 by applying medical products still in phase 3 studies. 

“Under Resolution 2361, member states must also inform citizens that vaccination is NOT mandatory and ensure that no one is politically, socially, or otherwise pressured to become vaccinated. States are further required to ensure that no one is discriminated against for not receiving the vaccine.”

Bhakdi also issued this video statement, in which he says, “The time for governments to act, the time for everyone to act, is now:”

[. . .]