The BFD | Open Letter from the Children’s COVID Vaccines Advisory Group (CCVAG) To the JCVI: Pause Vaccines for Children Pending Urgent Review

Thursday, 10^th February 2022, updated 13^th February 2022

To: Professor Wei, JCVI

Professor Sir Chris Whitty, CMO

Rt Hon Sajid Javid, Secretary of State, DHSC

CC Rt Hon Boris Johnson, Prime Minister

Dear Professor Wei, Professor Whitty and Mr Javid,

We wrote to you and also the MHRA last month regarding urgent investigation of the acknowledged increase in all-cause mortality in males aged 15-19, since the Pfizer covid vaccine rollout commenced in this age group in May 2021. ONS have acknowledged in the High Court in London, that the figure of 402 excess deaths is significantly higher than the previous 5 year average of 337 deaths. It has proved impossible to get the actual data. Indeed, they stated it is probably an underestimate because of delays for coroners’ cases. This equates to at least two additional teenage boys dying each week of the roll-out, possibly more. It is thus very disappointing not to have received any response.

We are writing further to ask you to pause the vaccines for children while you undertake and publish an urgent review of the risk/benefit analysis. In August 2021 you concluded that there was no medical justification for vaccinating healthy 12-15-year-olds, with the authorisation based on an aim to reduce school closures. But this new safety signal and the impact of this uncertainty must affect your assessment of the risk to benefits.

Since that date, much has changed. The latest omicron variant has been shown to have a much lower risk of serious illness, hospitalisations and deaths than the previous alpha and delta variants circulating at the time of the decision. This is true for children as well as adults, so given the extremely low risk for children in previous waves, any potential for benefit must surely have dwindled to virtually zero. Also, in your analysis you failed to take due regard to naturally-acquired immunity, now demonstrated and widely accepted to be superior to vaccine acquired immunity. Children have had high rates of infection throughout recent weeks with at least 80% now estimated to be immune. In addition, the efficacy of Pfizer against omicron compared to previous variants is reduced to the point where infection rates are now higher in the vaccinated than the unvaccinated removing any potential indirect benefit to immune-compromised family members and perversely creating an increased risk to contacts of the vaccinated.

On the risks side of the balance sheet, we have further information regarding myocarditis, with an occurrence rate of 1/2680 young men in Hong Kong, where unlike the UK, this was sought systematically from the start of their rollout. Indeed they paused their second dose, just as the UK moved from one to two doses. Data from the US also confirm high rates of 1/9443 in males aged 16-17 after their second dose. We still have no follow-up data on the increasing number of children reported from the US with significant abnormalities on their cardiac MRI scans. We also have worrying information on all-cause mortality by vaccination status, which even from the original adult Pfizer trial showed a higher mortality for the vaccinated group. Side effects are higher when vaccinating those already immune. Other side effects such as increased blood clots will all be playing a part in this balance of risk. Non-fatal adverse events, particularly neurological, have the potential to blight the lives of affected children.

The latest information from the CDC is very worrying, that of 4149 injured children, 100 (2.41%) had a serious adverse event, 15/4149 (0.36%) had increased troponin (12 confirmed to be myocarditis), 12/4149 (0.29%) had seizures, 2/4149 (0.048%) died (being evaluated). This in itself is a reason to review. To clarify, this is 4149 non-serious adverse events and 100 serious adverse events reported in a total of ~8 million doses to this age group which is 1 in 80,000 but we know that VAERS is a gross underestimate.

Furthermore, there is increasing evidence of impairment of immune function particularly following multiple doses of vaccine. Israel is now seeing serious illness and death after the fourth vaccine dose. There is also new bio-distribution data showing that mRNA and spike protein, far from being eliminated within a few days, are still persisting for 60 days or more. We have no knowledge of the long-term implications of vaccinating children against what is now acknowledged to be a very mild illness for them, indeed with 50% having no symptoms whatsoever.

With the arrival of omicron, SARS-CoV-2 has moved from pandemic to endemic. If the current situation had existed six months ago, there would have been no case made for commencing routine rollout for healthy children. Now, it is proposed that even those testing positive for omicron do not need to isolate. If omicron is no risk to others, why vaccinate? The prospect now of widening the coverage to 5-11s would be all the more ludicrous. We should, like Norway & Sweden, make clear that vaccination for this age group is simply not necessary.

The time has now come to pause and acknowledge that there is no emergency for children and that for them the balance of benefit and risk now clearly favours natural immunity. On that basis the routine programme could and should be halted. Failure to act will lay you open to liability for ongoing harms.

We would like to meet with you urgently, in order to support you in taking stock of all of the pertinent new and emerging data.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Rosamond Jones, MBBS, MD, FRCPCH, retired consultant paediatrician, convener CCVAG (Children’s Covid Vaccines Advisory Group)
Professor Keith Willison, PhD, Professor of Chemical Biology, Imperial, London
Professor David Livermore, BSc, PhD, Professor of Medical Microbiology, University of East Anglia
Professor Anthony J Brookes, Professor of Genomics and Health Data Science, University of Leicester
Professor Richard Ennos, MA, PhD. Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Edinburgh
Professor Angus Dalgleish, MD, FRCP, FRACP, FRCPath, FMed Sci, Professor of Oncology, St Georges Hospital, London
Professor John Fairclough FRCS FFSEM retired Honorary Consultant Surgeon
Professor Norman Fenton, CEng, CMath, PhD, FBCS, MIET, Professor of Risk Information Management, Queen Mary University of London
Professor Anthony Fryer, PhD FRCPath, Professor of Clinical Biochemistry
Lord Moonie, ? MBChB, MRCPsych, MFCM, MSc, House of Lords, former parliamentary under-secretary of state 2001-2003, former consultant in Public Health Medicine
Dr Theresa Lawrie, MBBCh, PhD, Director, Evidence-Based Medicine Consultancy Ltd, Bath
Dr John Flack, BPharm, PhD. Retired Director of Safety Evaluation, Beecham Pharmaceuticals
1980-1989 and Senior Vice-president for Drug Discovery 1990-92 SmithKline Beecham
Dr Roland Salmon, MB BS, MRCGP, FFPH, Former Director, Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre Wales
Dr Alan Mordue, MBChB, FFPH. Retired Consultant in Public Health Medicine & Epidemiology
Dr Gerry Quinn, PhD. Postdoctoral researcher in microbiology and immunology
Katherine MacGilchrist, BSc (Hons), MSc, CEO/Systematic Review Director, Epidemica Ltd.
Mr James Royle, MBChB, FRCS, MMedEd, Colorectal surgeon
Dr Livia Tossici-Bolt, PhD, Clinical Scientist
Dr Elizabeth Evans MA(Cantab), MBBS, DRCOG, Retired Doctor
Dr Rohaan Seth, Bsc (hons), MBChB (hons), MRCGP, Retired General Practitioner
Dr Emma Brierly, MRCGP, General Practitioner
Dr Geoffrey Maidment, MD, FRCP, retired consultant physician
Mr Malcolm Loudon, MBChB, MD, FRCSEd, FRCS(Gen Surg), MIHM,VR, Consultant Surgeon
Dr Alan Black, MBBS, MSc, DipPharmMed, retired pharmaceutical physician
Dr David Cartland, MBChB, BMedSci, General practitioner
Dr Peter Chan, BM, MRCS, MRCGP, NLP, General Practitioner, Functional medicine practitioner
Dr Greta Mushet, MBChB, MRCPsych, retired Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy
Dr Samuel McBride, MBBCh, BAO, BSc, MSc, MRCP (UK) FRCEM, FRCP (Edinburgh), NHS Emergency Medicine & geriatrics
Mr Ian F Comaish, MA, BM BCh, FRCOphth, FRANZCO, Consultant ophthalmologist
Dr Branko Latinkic, BSc, PhD, Reader in Biosciences
Dr Helen Westwood MBChB MRCGP DCH DRCOG, General Practitioner
Michael Cockayne, MSc, PGDip, SCPHNOH, BA, RN, Occupational Health Practitioner
Mr Anthony Hinton, MBChB, FRCS, Consultant ENT surgeon, London
Dr Tanya Klymenko, PhD, FHEA, FIBMS, Senior lecturer in Biomedical Sciences
Michael Cockayne, MSc, PGDip, SCPHNOH, BA, RN, Occupational Health Practitioner
Dr Carmen Wheatley, DPhil, Orthomolecular Oncology
Dr Charles Lane OBE, Molecular Biologist
Mr Angus Robertson BSc (Med. Sci.) MB ChB FRCS(Ed) FFSEM(UK) Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Dr Michael D Bell, MBChB MRCGP Retired General Practitioner
Dr Jayne LM Donegan, MBBS, DRCOG, DCH, DFFP, MRCGP, General Practitioner
Dr David Critchley, BSc, PhD in Pharmacology, 32 years’ experience in Pharmaceutical R&D
Dr Keith Johnson, BA, D.Phil (Oxon), IP Consultant for Diagnostic Testing
Julie Annakin, RN, Immunisation Specialist Nurse
Rev Dr William J U Philip MB ChB, MRCP, BD, Senior Minister The Tron Church, Glasgow, formerly physician specialising in cardiology
Dr Jonathan Rogers MBChB (Bristol) MRCGP DRCOG Retired NHS General Practitioner
Dr Pauline Jones, MB BS, Retired General Practitioner
Dr Emma Brierly, MBBS, MRCGP, General Practitioner
Dr Elizabeth Burton, MB ChB, Retired General Practitioner
Dr Franziska Meuschel, MD, ND, PhD, LFHom, BSEM, Nutritional, Environmental and Integrated Medicine
Dr Michael Bazlinton, MBCHB MRCGP DCH
Dr Holly Young, BSc, MBChB, MRCP, Consultant Palliative Care Medicine
Dr Julian Tomkinson, MBChB, MRCGP, General Practitioner, GP Trainer, PCME
Dr David Bramble, MBChB, MRCPsych, MD, Consultant Psychiatrist
Dr Christina Peers, MBBS, DRCOG, DFSRH, FFSRH, Menopause Specialist
Dr Chris Newton, PhD, Biochemist working in immuno-metabolism
Dr Christopher Exley, PhD, FRSB, Bioinoganic Chemist
Dr Sarah Myhill, MBBS, Retired General Practitioner
Jessica Righart, Senior Critical Care Scientist
Dr Michael D Bell, MBChB, MRCGP, retired General Practitioner
Dr Angharad Powell, MBChB, General Practitioner
Dr Stephen Ting, MB CHB, MRCP, PhD, Consultant Physician
Mr Ahmad K Malik, FRCS (Tr & Orth), Dip Med Sport, Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon
Dr Catherine Hatton, MBChB, General Practitioner
Dr Kulvinder S. Manik MBChB, MRCGP, MA(Cantab), LLM, Gray’s Inn
Dr Stefanie Williams, MD, Dermatologist
Kim Bull, Foundation Degree in Paramedic Science, Paramedic
Margaret Moss, MA (Cantab), CBiol, MRSB, Director, The Nutrition and Allergy Clinic, Cheshire
Dr Haleema Sheikh, MRCGP, General Practitioner
James Cook, NHS Registered Nurse, Bachelor of Nursing (Hons), Master of Public Health (MPH)
Dr Jonathan Engler, MBChB, LlB (Hons), DipPharmMed
Dr Clare Craig, BMBCh, FRCPath, Pathologist
Dr David Bell, MBBS, PhD, FRCP(UK), Public Health Physician
Dr Ruth Wilde, MB BCh, MRCEM, AFMCP, Integrative & Functional Medicine Doctor
John Collis, RN, Specialist Nurse Practitioner
Dr Damien Downing, MBBS, MRSB, private physician
Mr Lasantha Wijesinghe, FRCS, Consultant Vascular Surgeon
Dr Claire Mottram, BSc Hons, MBChB, Doctor in General Practice
Dr Ali Haggett, Mental health community work, 3rd sector, former lecturer in the history of medicine
Dr Jenny Goodman, MA, MBChB, Ecological Medicine
Suzanne Tomkinson BSc MSc CSci FIBMS Senior Biomedical Scientist (Clinical Biochemistry)
Dr Felicity Lillingstone, IMD DHS PhD ANP, Doctor, Urgent Care, Research Fellow
Dr Marco Chiesa, MD, FRCPsych, Consultant Psychiatrist & Visiting Professor, UCL
Anna Phillips, RSCN, BSc Hons, Clinical Lead Trainer Clinical Systems (Paediatric Intensive Care)
Dr Jason Lester, MRCP, FRCR, Consultant Clinical Oncologist
Dr Sue de Lacy MBBS MRCGP AFMCP UK Integrative Medicine Doctor
Dr David Morris, MBChB, MRCP (UK), General Practitioner
Dr Andrew Isaac, MB BCh, Physician, retired
Dr Renee Hoenderkamp, General Practitioner
Dr Noel Thomas, MA, MBChB, DObsRCOG, DTM&H, MFHom, Retired Doctor
Dr Fiona Martindale, MBChB, MRCGP, General Practitioner in out of hours
Dr Zac Cox, BDS, LCPH, Dental Practitioner
Mr Colin Natali, BSc(hons) MBBS, FRCS (Orth), Consultant Spinal Surgeon