Dec. 29, 2021 - Epoch Times
17:55
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| Good evening. | |
| Just yesterday, Ms. | |
| Jen Psaki, who is of course the White House Press Secretary, she announced that she has tested positive for COVID. That is despite the fact that she is fully vaccinated. | |
| And this, by the way, leads us to discuss two very large trends that are currently revealing themselves in society. | |
| The first is, according to this study right here, which came out of the UK, it found that vaccinated people can easily transmit the COVID Delta variant within their households. | |
| And second of all, according to new data from the CDC, it shows that there is a significant increase in the number of breakthrough infections, hospitalizations, as well as deaths among the fully vaccinated. | |
| And then lastly, just two days ago, the FDA officially authorized the use of the Pfizer vaccine in kids aged 5 to 11 years old. | |
| However, according to an investigation by the National File, the scientists who made this recommendation, they have many potential conflicts of interest, such as the fact that some of these committee members who made the recommendation, they have either worked for Pfizer or have very large Pfizer connections. | |
| 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 breakthrough infections. | |
| Now, over the weekend, as I mentioned in the introduction, Ms. | |
| Jen Psaki, who is the White House press secretary, she announced that she has tested positive for COVID, despite the fact that she is fully vaccinated against the virus. | |
| Now, the reason that she is still in Washington and not with Joe Biden over in Europe is because she reported having some kind of a family emergency. | |
| And then just yesterday, she revealed what that family emergency actually was. | |
| Here's what she said in the statement. | |
| On Wednesday, October the 27th, in coordination with senior leadership at the White House and the medical team, I made the decision not to travel on the foreign trip with the president due to a family emergency, which was members of my household testing positive for COVID-19. | |
| She then continued the statement by then giving us her own viral status update. | |
| Here's what she said. | |
| Since then, I have quarantined and tested negative via PCR for COVID on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. | |
| However, today, I tested positive for COVID. | |
| She then added that she was grateful for being vaccinated, saying that, in her belief, the reason that she only is experiencing a mild infection is because of having gotten the shots. | |
| She plans to return to the White House after 10 days of quarantine, given a negative test result. | |
| Now, that story in and of itself is fairly minor. | |
| However, it does bespeak of two larger trends that are currently revealing themselves in the broader society. | |
| The first is that according to this recent study out of the UK, vaccinated people can easily transmit the COVID Delta variant within their household. | |
| Specifically, this was a year-long study conducted by the Imperial College of London, and then subsequently published in the Lancet Medical Journal, and it found that the Delta variant is still highly transmissible even within a vaccinated population. | |
| Here's specifically what one of the co-authors of this study wrote in a statement regarding their overall findings. | |
| By carrying out repeated and frequent sampling from contacts of COVID-19 cases, we found that vaccinated people can contract and pass on infection within households, including to vaccinated household members. | |
| That might have been what actually happened to Ms. | |
| Jen Psaki. | |
| And then this researcher noted that her findings might shed light on why the Delta variant is, quote, continuing to cause high COVID-19 case numbers even in countries with high vaccination rates. | |
| Now, in terms of the particular of this study, it was conducted by surveying 621 participants, and it found that out of the 205 household contacts of people who had the Delta infection, about 38% of these household contacts were with people who were not vaccinated but tested positive, compared with 25% who tested positive even though they were vaccinated. | |
| Meaning, in plain English, that essentially those who were vaccinated were at less risk, but still clearly they were able to pass on the infection as well as get infected from the household members. | |
| Now, another one of the lead researchers in the study, he said that because the Delta variant can spread so easily among the vaccinated people, it makes getting booster shots that much more necessary. | |
| Here's what this other lead researcher said. | |
| We found that susceptibility to infection increased already within a few months after the second vaccine dose. | |
| So those offered a booster shot should get it And so now, that was the first thing worth mentioning in regards to Jen Psaki's situation. | |
| The second thing is a trend that we're seeing play out across the entire country right now. | |
| And that trend, according to the CDC, is the rise of both breakthrough infections as well as deaths among people who are fully vaccinated. | |
| Specifically, according to new data that was just released by the CDC, whether it's breakthrough infections, hospitalizations, or deaths linked to COVID, they have been on the rise over the last several months among people who have already gotten the COVID vaccine. | |
| And the actual percentage of these increases is fairly large. | |
| Let's go through them together. | |
| According to the CDC's data, back in late June, for every 100,000 fully vaccinated people, there were 12.3 breakthrough infections. | |
| However, as of mid-August, which is the latest data, there are now 121 breakthrough infections for every 100,000 vaccinated people. | |
| And then, if we look at hospitalizations, back in June, for every 100,000 fully vaccinated people, there were 8.9 hospitalizations. | |
| However, as of mid-August, that number increased all the way up to 75. | |
| 75 people for every 100,000. | |
| And then lastly, in terms of the number of deaths, this number also increased dramatically. | |
| Back in late June, the death rate among the fully vaccinated was 0.1 for every 100,000 people. | |
| However, as of mid-August, that number has jumped all the way up to 1.1. | |
| That is an 1,100% increase over just the course of several months. | |
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| And now Roman in the studio, back to you. | |
| Now, technically, this new data from the CDC is not exactly news because for a while now we've known, due to many different studies having been released, that the efficacy of the COVID vaccines are waning over time, particularly when you look at breakthrough infections as your metric. | |
| That is, of course, one of the main drivers that's pushing booster shots to be adopted across the country and around the entire world. | |
| However, this new data from the CDC, which by the way was gathered from the surveillance systems of different states and different hospitals throughout the country, it does provide another verifiable data point which shows a noticeable drop in vaccine protection. | |
| Now, in terms of specifically why this drop is occurring, well, according to Mr. | |
| Paul Alexander, who was a COVID advisor for the Trump administration, he said that it is very likely due to the spread of the different variants. | |
| Here's specifically what he wrote to us at the Epoch Times in an email. | |
| The marked pronounced change in vaccine effectiveness is likely due to emergence of the Delta variant as the dominant variant and the waning of vaccine immunity over time. | |
| The immunity from the vaccine drops markedly over the few months post-vaccine. | |
| The Delta is more infectious, yet far less lethal, but the real issue is that there is a mismatch as the vaccine does not hit the Delta, so there is immune escape. | |
| It has effectively failed against the Delta, and the accumulated evidence shows this, whether it's from the UK, Israel, etc. | |
| So once infections rise, there is usually a hospitalization curve, and then a death curve that follows. | |
| Now it's worth noting that this data is not manufacturer-specific, meaning that it is not broken down by Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson& Johnson. | |
| However, according to both studies as well as clinical data that's been accumulating over the last several months, it shows that all of the different vaccines have been declining in effectiveness over time. | |
| And we are beginning to see a larger percentage of vaccinated people show up even in state statistics. | |
| For instance, officials over in the state of Maryland, they are seeing a sharp increase in the number of deaths attributed to breakthrough cases. | |
| In fact, one official that we hear at the Epoch Times were able to get a hold of, Mr. | |
| Andy Owen, he works with the Maryland Department of Health, and he told us that out of the 190 people who died from COVID... Between September 16th and October 18th, 60 of them, meaning 32%, were fully vaccinated. | |
| Here's part of what he said in an email. | |
| Many of these deaths are linked to comorbidities that make patients more vulnerable. | |
| This further underscores our mission to maintain immunity by urging all eligible Marylanders to get their booster shots. | |
| Keep in mind that as the number of our residents who are vaccinated continues to increase, we expect to see an increase in the proportion of COVID-related deaths occurring in vaccinated individuals. | |
| Now, I would like to circle back for a moment and once again discuss that CDC data that we mentioned earlier, because there is something here worth mentioning that we did not mention previously. | |
| And that is the fact that according to the CDC data, it showed that in the month of August, according to the official numbers, a person who was not vaccinated had a 6.1 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID than And an 11.3% greater risk of dying from COVID. Meaning that, although the vaccine efficacy seems to be decreasing over time, according to the official data at least, those who are vaccinated are still better protected than those who are not. | |
| However, that doesn't necessarily paint the full picture, because when you break the data down by different age groups, when you take the people who are unvaccinated and break them down by age, it demonstrates how younger and healthy people are at very, very low risk for COVID. In fact, according to this data, which is again from the CDC itself, you can find it over on their website, if you are an unvaccinated 18 to 29 year old, then you have a probability of dying from COVID that is lower than almost all of the fully vaccinated age groups. | |
| And so, this data actually showed that the risk of death for young, healthy, unvaccinated people was actually very low. | |
| But regardless of this fact, two days ago, the FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for young kids between the ages of 5 to 11 years old. | |
| Now, to give you some background on that particular authorization, what happened was that last Tuesday, so about a week ago, the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, Which is their specific committee that discusses things like vaccines, they held a virtual meeting where they discussed whether or not to authorize the Pfizer vaccine to kids aged 5 to 11 years old. | |
| And it's worth noting that although this advisory panel is set to consist of independent scientists, according to an investigation that was led by the National File, they found many, you can call them, possible conflicts of interest. | |
| Such as the fact that some of these committee members, they've either worked for Pfizer or have very large Pfizer connections. | |
| And in terms of what these connections actually look like, well, some of the members on this FDA committee, they include a former vice president of Pfizer vaccines. | |
| They include a recent Pfizer consultant. | |
| They include a recent Pfizer research grant recipient. | |
| They include a man who mentored a current top Pfizer vaccine executive. | |
| They include another man who runs a center that gives out Pfizer vaccines themselves. | |
| And they include a member who is the chair of a Pfizer data group. | |
| Now, the fact that these independent scientists have so many connections to Pfizer doesn't in and of themselves disqualify them from giving their opinion. | |
| However, I believe that we as the public, we have the right to know who is making these decisions over in the government and whether they have any financial or, let's say, professional stakes in this matter. | |
| Actually, if you'd like to go through the list of scientists as well as their connections to Pfizer, the link will be in the description box below this video so you can actually go through them one by one. | |
| Regardless, during this committee meeting, there was a question that was raised regarding whether the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the possible risks for young people. | |
| Here's specifically what that question asked. | |
| Now, that is obviously a very natural question that I believe many parents across this country are wondering. | |
| And as a response, Dr. | |
| Eric Rubin, who ultimately voted in favor of vaccinating children, he said this. | |
| But we're never going to learn about how safe the vaccine is unless we start giving it. | |
| Let me just repeat that statement for you. | |
| We're never going to learn about how safe the vaccine is until we start giving it. | |
| That is quite a reassuring statement. | |
| Regardless, after deliberation, this panel did in fact vote to recommend the FDA as a whole to authorize these vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 years of age. | |
| And again, that was last Tuesday. | |
| Then on Friday, the FDA came out and they officially authorized the shot based on that panel's recommendation. | |
| In fact, here's what Ms. | |
| Janet Woodcock, who is the FDA's acting commissioner, here's what she said in the statement. | |
| As a mother and a physician, I know that parents, caregivers, school staff, and children have been awaiting for today's authorization. | |
| Vaccinating younger children against COVID-19 will bring us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy. | |
| Now, there is another step in the process before, very likely, vaccine mandates get rolled out for kids across the entire country. | |
| And that final step will likely come tomorrow, on Tuesday, when an advisory panel for the CDC will gather together and meet. | |
| That's because, just for your reference, the CDC actually has the final say as to whether the vaccine can be used and in what circumstances. | |
| And so now that the FDA has approved it, the CDC must make their decision. | |
| And until the CDC makes their final decision, pediatricians, pharmacies, as well as other distribution points, they cannot begin rolling out the vaccine to young kids. | |
| And we will likely know what the CDC decides by the end of this week. | |
| If you'd like to read more about anything we've discussed, including the possible connections that those independent scientists had to Pfizer, including those research studies that came out of the UK, or about the CDC's new data, all that will be in the description box below this video, free to check out. | |
| And again, all I ask in return is that you take a quick moment to smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm, which forces the algorithm to share this video out to potentially thousands of more people who frankly might not have any other way to learn about news like this because it is being overlooked and frankly ignored by the corporate media outlets. | |
| However, when you smash that like button, they have that opportunity. | |
| Now lastly, since you've completed this episode of Facts Matter, I would highly, highly recommend that you go on over to Epic TV and check out an awesome episode of American Thought Leaders, where Jan sat down with a suspended medical ethics professor over at a university in California, and they discussed vaccine coercion, the risks, as well as natural immunity. | |
| Check out a trailer for that awesome episode. | |
| I've taught to medical students for years, principles of informed consent. | |
| I knew that I would wake up in the morning and not have a clear conscience. | |
| In this two-part interview, I sit down with Dr. | |
| Aaron Cariotti, a professor of psychiatry at UC Irvine School of Medicine and director of the medical ethics program at UCI Health. | |
| Back in August, he filed a lawsuit challenging his university's vaccine mandates on behalf of himself and others with natural immunity. | |
| He was suspended, and the school put him on investigatory leave. | |
| We discussed the rise of what Cariotti describes as medical coercion, perverse incentives in the vaccine rollout, and why he thinks the overwhelming majority of vaccine mandates exclude natural immunity. | |
| We don't know the long-term risks. | |
| Anyone who tells you they know is either just uninformed or they're not telling the truth. | |
| This is American Thought Leaders, and I'm Jan Jekielek. | |
| If you want to check out that full episode, as well as all the other phenomenal content over on Epic TV, I'll throw a link to it. | |
| It'll be right there at the very top of the description box. | |
| I hope you click on it. | |
| 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 is based in truth and tradition. | |
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| And then, until next time, I'm your host, Roman from the Epic Times. |
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