Experts Want Labels For Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines Updated To Acknowledge Limitations
A coalition of experts is calling for U.S. officials to update the labels for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to acknowledge limitations to clinical trials, including stating clearly that the phase III trials that led to clearance did not provide evidence of efficacy against death.
“Incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading labeling of any medical product can negatively impact the health and safety of Americans, with global ramifications considering the international importance of FDA decisions,” Peter Doshi, an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy whose expertise includes clinical trials, and eight other experts wrote in the petition.
The group, known as the Coalition Advocating for Adequately Labeled Medicines, sent the petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which authorized the vaccines in late 2020 and approved them in 2021.
The experts note that the clinical trials that led to the authorization “were not designed to determine and failed to provide substantial evidence of vaccine efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 transmission or death. As evidence, they cited the FDA’s review memorandums, which said in part that “data are limited to assess the effect of the vaccine against transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from individuals who are infected despite vaccination.”
Even today, the FDA says on its website that “the scientific community does not yet know” if the vaccines will reduce such transmission.
“While language in labeling that states what a product has not been proven to do is uncommon, it is necessary when caregivers and patients may inaccurately assume something that is untrue,” the coalition stated, citing how Dr. Anthony Fauci, a former top U.S. health official, President Joe Biden, and others have falsely suggested the vaccines prevent transmission and would lead to herd immunity.
People should also be informed that the efficacy of Pfizer’s vaccine wanes after just two months, the experts said. They pointed to Pfizer’s interim results from the trial, which were available in April 2021 but not disclosed to the public until July 2021.
They also want the adverse event sections expanded to include sudden cardiac death, pulmonary embolism, and decreased sperm concentration, among other event types.
Studies from the FDA and others have found an association between one or both of the vaccines and the conditions.
“FDA’s mission is to advance public health in part by helping the public get accurate, science-based information. However, we are concerned that current FDA-approved labeling for the mRNA COVID vaccines is seriously out of date, and, thus, has potential to misinform providers and patients,” Kim Witczak, founder of Woody Matters and one of the signatories, told The Epoch Times via email.
The FDA, Pfizer, and Moderna did not respond to requests for comment.
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/ex...ge-limitations
