No Evidence COVID-19 Vaccines Stopped Transmission When Authorized, Federal Government Confirms

A sign is displayed in front of Health Canada headquarters in Ottawa on Jan. 3, 2014. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

The federal health minister’s representative in the House of Commons has confirmed that COVID-19 vaccines were approved without evidence they prevent transmission.

“At the time of initial authorization of the first COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech, in December 2020, there was no reported evidence on the efficacy of the authorized COVID-19 vaccine to prevent asymptomatic infection, to reduce viral shedding, or to prevent transmission,” Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi said in the House on March 22.

Mr. Naqvi, who serves as parliamentary secretary to Health Minister Mark Holland, was providing a response to formal questions Conservative MP Colin Carrie had filed in an order paper.

Mr. Naqvi elaborated that in February and March 2021, a few months after vaccines were first authorized, preliminary data from the ongoing clinical trials “showed a lower prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in asymptomatic participants in the short term.”

Controversy around the issue of vaccines not being tested to stop transmission erupted in October 2022 when Dutch Member of the European Parliament Rob Roos said that a Pfizer executive had testified in a hearing that studies on transmission had not been performed at the time the vaccine was introduced. The executive said such trials had not been required to bring products to market.

Mr. Carrie sought to confirm the matter with the Canadian government and find out what evidence it had. He also asked why, in the event of the absence of evidence about prevention of transmission, there was “public messaging suggesting that herd immunity was achievable through mass vaccination.”

Mr. Roos had raised a similar concern, pointing to Dutch leaders who said that one gets vaccinated not only to protect oneself but to protect others, or that not getting vaccinated was an anti-social act.

Throughout the pandemic, government officials said that the only way to get through the crisis was for everyone to be vaccinated.

“We need all of us to get vaccinated, as quickly as possible, so we can get back to normal,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in May 2021 during the initial vaccine rollout.

Mr. Trudeau also said at that time that every vaccine approved by Health Canada is “safe and effective” when responding to whether there was a contradiction between National Advisory Council on Immunization (NACI) guidance and Health Canada. NACI had just recommended against the AstraZeneca vaccine for those under 55 over “rare cases of serious blood clots,” while Health Canada said it could be given to anyone over 18.

That product and the one from Johnson & Johnson using the same vector-based technology were eventually all but pulled from use, with mRNA injections being promoted instead. They are no longer authorized for use in Canada, with both companies cancelling their authorizations in 2023.

All the COVID-19 vaccines were approved in record time through an irregular process that allowed manufacturers to skip testing steps to bring their products to market. Health Canada allowed for rolling submissions of clinical trial data to come in as the vaccines were not only already in use, but also being mandated.

Meanwhile, Pfizer-BioNTech’s major clinical trials were conducted with batches manufactured under what is called “Process 1.” To upscale production, a different process was used, “Process 2,” which didn’t undergo similar testing, Health Canada has previously confirmed.

“Efficacy, safety and immunogenicity was demonstrated using clinical batches of vaccine (Process 1),” wrote the European Medicines Agency in a 2021 assessment report. “The commercial batches are produced using a different process (Process 2), and the comparability of these processes relies on demonstration of comparable biological, chemical and physical characteristics of the active substance and finished product.”

Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 9, 2022. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Vaccine Mandates

In the months following the vaccine rollout, Mr. Trudeau called a snap election with the imposition of vaccine mandates being part of his platform. Liberal MP Joël Lightbound broke ranks with his party over its messaging on pandemic mandates, saying the vaccination issue was being used as a wedge a few months after his party obtained another minority government.

“From a positive and unifying approach, a decision was made to wedge, to divide, and to stigmatize,” Mr. Lightbound said during a solo press conference in February 2022 in which he criticized his party’s COVID-19 policies.

“I fear that this politicization of the pandemic risks undermining the public’s trust in our public health institutions.”

After winning the September election, the Liberal government imposed vaccine mandates in October 2021 on the public service, on federally regulated sectors, and for travel by plane, train, and some marine vessels.

Mr. Trudeau said in announcing the mandates on Oct. 6, 2021, that “no one is safe until everyone is safe,” implying that someone who is vaccinated cannot spread the virus to others.

In his response to Mr. Carrie, Mr. Naqvi said that by December 2021 and in the context of the circulating Delta variant, “evidence was emerging that vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 decreases with time after the primary series and there may be some decrease in protection against severe illness, especially in older individuals.”

Around that time, the Omicron variant was actually becoming dominant and widely spread through the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. Data from provincial governments like Ontario and Quebec showed the rate of infection was higher among the vaccinated.

“Decreasing protection against infection could contribute to increased transmission, since infected individuals may be a source of infection for others,” said Mr. Naqvi. It was therefore determined to recommend a booster dose, he added.

Conservative MP Colin Carrie rises in the House of Commons in Ottawa on May 6, 2016. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Natural Immunity

In the context of vaccine mandates and passports, meant to drive vaccine uptake, federal and provincial governments dismissed naturally acquired immunity from a previous infection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Mr. Carrie also posed this question to the government: “Why was naturally-acquired immunity not considered an appropriate form of immunity against SARS-CoV-2?”

Mr. Naqvi responded that natural immunity “can protect against infection in the short term, but less is known about the long term.” He added that a prior infection might not provide immunity against a new circulating strain of the virus. He also claimed, citing unspecified studies, that reinfection is more likely to happen in those who are unvaccinated.

Mr. Naqvi also said that COVID-19 vaccines provide “enhanced” protection against symptomatic disease.

“Protection against infection wanes over time for those who are vaccinated as well,” he said. “However, protection is more sustained against severe COVID-19 illness.”

The MP also claimed that there are no known safety risks with receiving a vaccine after a recent SARS-CoV-2 infection.

A study published this month in the journal Vaccine shows, however, that those with a prior infection are 2.6 times more likely to suffer an adverse reaction after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

Mr. Naqvi also promoted the concept of “hybrid immunity”—a vaccine dose and an infection—as offering “greater protection” against infection and severe disease.

‘Marketing’

Scientists reached by The Epoch Times to examine Mr. Naqvi’s answers raised concerns about claims being made.

Dr. Bernard Massie, a virologist and former National Research Council acting director general of the Human Health Therapeutic Research Center, says that the concept of hybrid immunity is nothing more than “marketing.”

“The notion of hybrid immunity has never been validated by serious scientific studies,” he told The Epoch Times.

Jars containing empty COVID-19 vaccine vials are shown as a pharmacist works behind the counter at a pharmacy in Toronto on April 6, 2022. The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette

Dr. Philip Oldfield, who has over three decades of experience specializing in the bioanalysis of protein/nucleic acid therapeutics and regulatory affairs, challenged Mr. Naqvi’s assertion about natural immunity.

“Naturally acquired immunity is very robust, both in the short- and long-term,” he said, calling Mr. Naqvi’s statement “nothing more than conjecture” and “not based upon the science.” He cited a 2020 study published in Nature that showed patients who recovered from SARS-CoV in 2003 still had protection 17 years after the outbreak. He says this naturally acquired immunity would not only provide protection from the original SARS-CoV but also from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Dr. Oldfield called the assertion that reinfection is more prevalent in the unvaccinated “totally fictitious.”

He noted that if mRNA vaccines were effective, there would be no need for repeated boosters. He added that such a process can lead to immune tolerance where the antibody response against the generated spike protein by the mRNA vaccine effectively shuts down.

“Potentially, it means that someone who has had one or more booster shots would get reinfected with what is considered to be a mild variant and yet become seriously ill,” Dr. Oldfield says.

‘Problematic for Me’

Mr. Carrie has filed multiple information requests with the government on the issue of COVID-19 vaccination. He told The Epoch Times in an interview he has been submitting these requests for information because he and his constituents have concerns about the matter.

Mr. Carrie represents the Ontario riding of Oshawa and served as parliamentary secretary to the health minister from 2008 to 2013 under the Stephen Harper government.

Regarding his questions related to COVID-19 and immunity he put forward in the order paper, he said he was interested in finding out what evidence the government had.

“It just seems that there wasn’t a lot of it and they were telling the public something different,” he said. “And that is problematic for me.”

Mr. Carrie, who worked as a chiropractor before entering politics, remarked that for three years during the pandemic it “seems like we forgot all about” natural immunity.

“We’ve known since 2,000 years, once you get an infection, the immunity you have can be lifetime.”