WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A federal watchdog has filed a complaint accusing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of having potentially prioritized policy and political considerations over data and science in recommending COVID-19 vaccines for children under the age of five.
Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) filed the eight-page complaint on Aug. 9 with Christi A. Grimm, inspector general for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS).
“The evidence doesn't really seem to support their recommendation that young children get the COVID 19 vaccines and some medical professionals claim that the recommendation was based on extremely weak, inconclusive data,” said Michael Chamberlain, executive director of PPT. “In one case, they say that the range of vaccine efficacy for the Pfizer vaccine was so wide that they really couldn't even draw a conclusion from it.”
At issue in the complaint is whether there have been scientific integrity policy violations at either the CDC, the FDA, or both.
Scientific integrity policy violations are established to preserve the trust of public health officials.
“The most precious commodity they have is trust,” Chamberlain told Legal Newsline. “If people don't trust what they say, that could have tragic consequences. If people don't trust that public health officials are basing their recommendations on science, then they are going to be much less likely to follow them.”
High-level CDC officials have been quoted in the media suggesting that the Pfizer vaccine is little better than a placebo, according to the PPT's press release.
“While the Biden administration talks a good game about scientific integrity, time after time, we're seeing science play second fiddle to their policy agenda,” Chamberlain said. “This particular instance is not the first one in the recent past in which the actions and public pronouncements of the CDC seem to be more consistent with policy or political goals than with the underlying data and the science that ostensibly are driving their decisions.”
Other ranking officials who received the complaint are FDA Ombudsman Director Laurie Lenkel, CDC Scientific Integrity Officer Joanne Cono, and HHS Chief Science Officer for COVID-19 Response David Kessler.
“Individuals who happen to commit wrongdoing who are exposed by an Inspector General’s investigation can face a wide range of sanctions from reprimands to termination depending on the level of the offense and the person's actions,” Chamberlain added. “But the inspector general doesn't determine the penalties. They would be determined by the agency if they were going to discipline someone as a result of an IG investigation.”