U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson questions end of vaccine adverse event reporting | U.S. Senate official photo
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson questions end of vaccine adverse event reporting | U.S. Senate official photo
Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson used the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to ask why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has halted the reporting of new adverse events associated with COVID-19 vaccines under the program called V-Safe.
"What could possibly explain shutting down this vaccine safety reporting system? Is the CDC seeing something they don’t want the rest of us to see?" he asked. "The CDC’s brazen lack of transparency is alarming. What are they hiding?"
This development coincides with the Biden Administration's recent request for extra funding to support the creation of a new, effective COVID-19 vaccine. However, the CDC has already been working on an upgraded version of the COVID-19 vaccines aimed at addressing the "XBB" variant, with plans for its availability by October. These new vaccines are being introduced as some previous COVID-19 cautionary measures, including mask mandates and physical distancing, are being reinstated due to a surge in cases, according to Fox News.
"I signed off this morning on a proposal we have to present to the Congress – a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works," said President Biden in a video on C-Span, posted on X. "Tentatively, it is recommended, it would likely be recommended, everybody gets it. No matter whether they got it before or not."
"As opposed to the last ones that didn’t?" Johnson said in his tweet regarding the administration's request for new vaccines. "Before you mandate it, will we get to see the trial data this time?"
The CDC halted the collection of adverse event reports through the V-Safe website on June 30 without prior notice of the program's discontinuation, the Ethics & Public Policy Center said. However, the administration still emphasizes the importance of individuals continuing their COVID-19 vaccine and boosters when needed, the center said. Data obtained from the V-safe platform displayed approximately 6.5 million instances of adverse events or health effects among its 10.1 million users, the center said.
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