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Dec. 5, 2021 - Epoch Times
19:09
Brazil Suspends 12,000,000 doses of Vaccine Because it was Made in Unauthorized Plant | Facts Matter
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Good evening.
As vaccine mandates are being put into effect across the entire country, with kids even now being kicked out of school for not getting the shot, well something very interesting happened just a few days ago.
Duke University, which is over in North Carolina, they conducted a large test of almost everyone on campus and they found hundreds of positive COVID cases among their students, 98% of whom were fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, over in Brazil, authorities there have just suspended 12 million doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine after they discovered that it was being manufactured in an unauthorized plant.
And lastly, over in New Zealand, after an Islamic extremist stabbed several people at a shopping mall, the local supermarkets there have decided to take action and they have stopped the sale of both knives as well as scissors.
Let's go through it all together.
This is your daily Facts Matter Update, and I'm your host, Roman, from the Epoch Times.
And now let's begin today's discussion by talking about vaccine mandates.
And to start with, over at Virginia Tech, they announced last week that they have disenrolled 134 of their students because they did not meet the new vaccine requirements.
Specifically, according to the associate vice president of the university, these 134 students are no longer enrolled because they did not submit either proof that they were vaccinated or they didn't get an approved medical or religious exemption.
Here's specifically what he told a local Fox News affiliate.
The university does not know whether any of these students were not planning to return for reasons unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement.
He further added that these students, these 134 students, they are welcome to come back and re-enroll if they return with proof of vaccination.
And it's also worth noting that according to the university's website, an overwhelming 95% of the students over at Virginia Tech, they have been vaccinated.
However, the big question is whether that fact will actually stop the possible surge of virus on campus.
And frankly, that is not certain, especially given cases like this here over at Duke University, where they experienced a surge of COVID among the overwhelmingly vaccinated student and staff population.
Now, Duke University, just like Virginia Tech, they have a vaccine requirement for all students returning to campus.
However, when they conducted a surveillance test last week, they returned hundreds of positive test results for COVID, specifically among those who were already vaccinated.
These tests were administered on close to 23,000 people and it found 364 positive cases, or about 1.59%.
And among those, there were 304 undergraduate students, 45 graduate students, and 15 employees who tested positive for the virus.
And then, in a letter that the university sent to the campus community, they noted that among these cases, among these 364 positive cases, only 8 of them were unvaccinated, meaning that the other 356 people were vaccinated, but they still tested positive for the virus.
Here's what part of this letter said.
And notice they said that all individuals are masked.
Because as a result of this test, the campus has enacted stricter masking policies, regardless of your vaccination status.
Here's a statement from the school administration on that point.
We cannot stop COVID-19, but what we can do is adapt to our local and national realities and seek to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on campus.
And so, in order to mitigate the spread of COVID on campus, they have adopted new restrictive measures, including among several other things, requiring that a mask be worn in all indoor and outdoor locations, unless you're either alone or are eating.
There will also be new limitations on student activities, and individuals who violate these new limitations, which by the way, these limitations are yet to be specified, regardless, if you violate them, you will face disciplinary consequences.
That's what they said.
And by the way, this letter, in terms of these new restrictions, it goes on to say this, quote, We want to be clear.
The problem is not our people.
The problem is COVID-19.
This has had time to be prudent to take care of ourselves and each other so we can continue our important mission, which is now more important than ever.
Now, with vaccine mandates like this, alongside mask mandates going into effect around the country, people are beginning to fight back.
For instance, over in Oregon, a coalition of police officers and firefighters, they filed a joint lawsuit against the governor of Oregon over the vaccine mandate that she issued to all executive state employees.
In their lawsuit, the police officers and the firefighters, they argued that her executive order violates a number of laws.
And specifically, they argued that the enforcement of the executive order would result in wrongful termination, and so they asking the court to declare it unlawful and block its enforcement.
Here's part of what their lawsuit said.
The individual plaintiffs are executive branch employees who want to exercise control over their own medical treatment and are being forced to choose between their rights, privileges, and liberties as citizens on the one hand, and their employment, careers, and financial futures on the other.
Likewise, over in Michigan, four female Christian students, who are also soccer players, they are suing their school, which is the Western Michigan University, for rejecting their claims of religious exemption to the school's vaccine mandate on all student athletes.
in their lawsuit, they allege that the university's policy punishes the female students for exercising their constitutionally protected rights to, quote,"...make their own medical decisions consistent with their faith and in consultation with their doctors." Meanwhile, down in Florida, there's actually a coalition of lawyers who are working together to represent thousands of airline workers who are likewise seeking a religious exemption from mandatory COVID vaccination.
This particular group of lawyers, it's called the Liberty Council.
They're an international group that advocates for religious freedom, and they said that at least 3,000 employees representing 15 different airlines have come forward and asked them for legal help.
Now, we here at the Epoch Times, we actually had a chance to interview Liberty Council's founder, and here's what he said.
We're working with people in a lot of different airlines.
They come directly to us, to contact us.
The number is quite large.
We basically walk them through the process.
These people were working during the pandemic.
Now, they're being told to get the shots or they're being terminated.
Now, specifically, in regards to airlines, exactly one month ago, one month ago today, United Airlines became the first major U.S. airline to require mandatory vaccination for all of its 67,000 employees.
And in regards to their religious exemptions, we here at the Epoch Times, we reached out to United Airlines for comment, and here's what they got back to us with.
United Airlines has a very narrow, reasonable accommodation process for those who qualify for medical or religious exemptions.
We do not have additional information to share at this time beyond what was sent to employees earlier this month in a corporate memo.
However, according to the founder of Liberty Council, he said that from his personal experience of actually working with employees at these airlines, United Airlines is challenging employees to prove their religious convictions in order to qualify for a religious exemption.
He said that in order to be eligible, an employee has to show that they're a follower of a recognized religion with a history of opposition to vaccines, and they also need a letter from a member of the clergy stating that they have a sincere religious belief.
Here's in fact how he described it.
They're trying to intimidate them, and in some cases, employees believe they have no other alternative.
And besides this group down in Florida, well, there are lawsuits coming up across different corporations, different states, different counties, pretty much throughout the entire country.
And we'll just have to wait and see how they all ultimately play out because it goes without saying that the precedent that will be set by these lawsuits will have reverberations well into the future of our country.
However, some people have ditched the legal route and they have taken a more...
Let's say creative approach in order to get around vaccine mandates.
Specifically, I'm talking about the proliferation of fake vaccine cards.
And just like the virus, a lot of these fake vaccine cards are coming from China.
In fact, just this year, over 3,000 fake vaccine cards, which came from China, were seized by federal agents down in Tennessee.
Here's a statement from the Custom and Border Protection Agency.
This fiscal year to date, Memphis has made 121 seizures totaling 3,017 of these vaccination cards.
They are always from China.
The cards have blanks for the recipient's name and birthdate, the vaccine maker, lot number, and date and place the shot was given, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC logo, in the upper right corner.
And while they have officially seized close to 3,000 of these fake vaccine cards, it can be reasonably estimated that many, many more made their way through.
However, it's not only knockoff vaccine cards which are coming from China.
Because over in Brazil, they have just suspended 12 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine because they discovered that it was being made in an unauthorized plant.
What happened was that...
Sorry.
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And now let's move on over to Brazil.
Two days ago, the Brazilian government suspended over 12 million doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine because, according to their official statement, it was produced in an unauthorized plant.
The Brazilian authorities said that this ban was a precautionary measure to prevent possible imminent risk.
That's what they said.
Here's specifically what the federal health regulator in Brazil, here's what they said as a part of their statement.
The manufacturing unit was not inspected and was not approved by Anvisa.
Anvisa, by the way, is the name of Brazil's health regulator.
In the authorization of the emergency use of the mentioned vaccine.
Now, specifically what they're referring to there in that statement is that the Butantan Institute, which is a biomedical center in Brazil, they partnered with Sinovac to locally finish the vaccines in some plant.
However, this plant was not authorized for that purpose by the Brazilian government, and therefore, the Sinovac vaccine was hit with a 90-day suspension.
During this 90 days, the Brazilian health authorities, they said that they will inspect this new unauthorized plant and determine whether it can be used or not.
And only after that, after this 90-day suspension wherein they examine this plant, can Brazilians begin to take the trusty Chinese-made vaccine again.
If you'd like to read more about this story, I'll throw a link to it into the description box below this video for you to check out, and all I ask in return is that you take a quick moment to smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm.
And now let's move on over and talk about New Zealand.
So, unlike America, gun ownership in New Zealand is not so common.
Only something like 7% of New Zealanders own some kind of a firearm.
However, a lack of guns does not necessarily deter those who wish to do others harm.
And so, two days ago, there was an ISIS-inspired attack wherein a man stabbed several people at a supermarket over in West Auckland, which is a city in New Zealand.
What happened was that a 32-year-old man named Ahmed Mohamed Samsudin, who is a Muslim from Sri Lanka, he picked up a knife at a display at a supermarket and he just started stabbing people indiscriminately until he was shot dead by the police.
Now it's worth noting that 10 years before this attack, Mr.
Mohamed arrived over in New Zealand on a student visa seeking refugee status.
He eventually obtained that refugee status, but upon investigation, the government, the New Zealand government, they found his claim to be fraudulent And according to reports, they had been unsuccessfully trying to deport him for the past several years.
Furthermore, he was under surveillance by the New Zealand security forces after he made posts over on Facebook which were sympathetic to Islamic extremist violence as well as terrorist attacks.
Now, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, she officially labeled this as a terrorist attack, and she said this as a part of her statement.
A violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders in the New Lin countdown.
The New Lin countdown is the name of the supermarket.
Now, seven people were wounded in this attack, and as of today, four of them remain in the hospital, with three of them being in the ICU. Now, you might already know that the obvious solution to this terrorist attack is to make knives as hard as possible to acquire.
Because if people don't have access to knives, then these types of situations can finally be prevented.
And so, a supermarket chain over in New Zealand called Countdown, which is where this attack took place, They did exactly that.
The company said that they have decided to temporarily pull all knives as well as all scissors from their store shelves while they consider whether they should continue selling these items at all.
Here's specifically what the general manager of safety at the supermarket chain said in a statement.
Last night, we made the decision to temporarily remove all knives and scissors from our shelves while we consider whether we should continue to sell them.
This is in no way a reflection on our customers, but an act of support for our team.
We want all of our team to feel safe when they come to work, especially considering the events of yesterday.
Now again, Countdown is the supermarket chain where this attack took place.
However, they are not the only store chain which is taking this approach.
Another supermarket giant over in New Zealand, a company called Foodstuffs, which actually owns several different supermarket brands in the country, they have decided to remove sharp knives from their store shelves as well.
Here's what they said as a part of a statement.
Everyone deserves to be able to go to work and visit essential services like the supermarket safely.
While we consider the event and take some time to review the safety of our customers and staff, foodstuff stores have removed sharp knives from sale.
Now, some people are suggesting that while this ban on knives is great, the bigger issue is the government's failure to deport this individual who not only obtained refugee status fraudulently, but was also a person known to have Islamic terrorist sympathies.
And specifically, two days ago, right after the attack, New Zealand's Prime Minister said that her government had been trying to deport him for years.
Here's part of what she said about Mr.
Muhammad.
Shortly after arriving in New Zealand, he made a claim for refugee status.
Immigration New Zealand declined this claim in 2012, but he appealed to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal and was successful.
He was granted refugee status in December of 2013.
However, she continued by saying that shortly afterwards he gained the attention of the country's security apparatus.
In 2016, the terrorists came to the attention of the police and the NZSIS, which is the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.
In the course of these investigations, Immigration New Zealand were made aware of information that led them to believe the individual's refugee status was fraudulently obtained.
The process was started to cancel his refugee status and with it, his right to stay in New Zealand.
She then said that this process eventually led to him losing his refugee status.
However, because he was in jail for a separate crime, they were not able to deport him.
Here's what she said.
In February of 2019, Immigration New Zealand cancelled his refugee status.
He was served with deportation liability notices.
In April, he appealed against his deportation to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal.
He was still in prison at this time and facing criminal charges.
For a number of reasons, the deportation appeal could not proceed until after the conclusion of the criminal trial in May of 2021.
She then said that the officials, they determined that they were not able to detain Mr.
Muhammad while he was waiting for his appeal, and that was why he was subsequently released.
However, she did say that he was under around-the-clock police surveillance, which is potentially why the police were able to stop his stabbing spree so quickly he was only able to stab a few people before they gunned him down.
If you'd like to read more about this story over in New Zealand, I'll throw a link to it in the description box below this video for you to check out.
Now lastly, as we've already mentioned in several previous episodes, on the very same day that Joe Biden was sworn into office, YouTube made the unilateral decision to demonetize our program.
We can now no longer run any ads before, during or after our episodes, and the Super Chat feature has mysteriously disappeared.
It's almost like they are trying to snuff out our independent journalism by cutting off our sources of funding.
Regardless, we here at the Epic Times, we did not take this lying down, and instead we created something very cool.
It's called EpicTV.
It's our brand new no-censorship video platform where you can find all of the awesome Epic Times video content like The Larry Elder Show, American Thought Leaders, China in Focus, Crossroads with Joshua Phillip, Life in Times, Counterpunch with Trevor Loudon, As well as our show Facts Matter, and on there we'll publish exclusive episodes that, frankly, due to the censorship here on YouTube, I just would not even think about posting on this platform.
And besides our program, by the way, there's an awesome new series coming out.
It's called The Dark Origins of Communism, and it is just awesome.
It goes so deep into the theoretical underpinnings behind this ideology, as well as how it has infiltrated almost every aspect of society here in America, as well as throughout the entire world.
If you want to check out Epic TV, I'll throw a link to it.
It'll be right there at the very top of the description box.
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I hope you check it out.
I hope you subscribe.
And I hope that you join us on this journey of exploring this beautiful, beautiful world through honest journalism that's based in truth and tradition.
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