Once again, ICAN challenged the “leading” health agency on the planet to provide records that support a statement on its website—this time for its conclusory claim that “COVID-19 vaccines do not alter DNA.” Disturbingly, CDC failed to provide any evidence whatsoever.
In
Segment 1 of this series, we challenged CDC regarding a statement it made about COVID-19 vaccine ingredients (specifically, “Nearly all the ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines are also ingredients in many foods – fats, sugars, and salts”)and it provided zero evidence to substantiate its claim. This time, we focus on another astonishing claim made on CDC’s (ironically-titled) webpage “
Bust Myths and Learn the Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines,” which confidently states “Fact: COVID-19 vaccines do not change or interact with your DNA in any way.”
Well, that’s a relief to hear, especially since
several studies indicate that the mRNA vaccines
do have the capability to mutate or alter genes.
Given CDC’s penchant for making unsupported claims—and recognizing the importance of this specific claim—ICAN’s attorneys quickly sent multiple FOIA requests to CDC. The requests
asked, in numerous ways, for its proof that “COVID-19 vaccines do not change or interact with a vaccine recipient’s DNA in any way” and ICAN anxiously awaited the mountain of evidence it must surely have to support such a sweeping statement.
But while CDC
responded that “subject matter experts have informed us that it is
not biologically possible for the vaccines to change or interact with an individual’s DNA,”
it couldn’t find a single record to support that statement.
Curious just who these “experts” were who informed CDC’s response, ICAN’s attorneys sent another FOIA
request to learn that information. Despite the fact that the American public has every right to view the actions of government employees, CDC refused to divulge their names. First, CDC sent
documents that were completely redacted. ICAN appealed and was then forced to
sue when CDC did not respond. Finally, after a year of legal battles, ICAN has obtained the
unredacted forms filled out by the “experts” in response to our original FOIA request.
One of the “experts” was none other than
Dr. John Su of the CDC Immunization Safety Office (ISO), who wrote: “The requested information is
outside of ISO’s purview. Documents requested involve demonstration of molecular and/or atomic forces that are
beyond the scope of ISO to document. Referral to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would be a viable option.” Thus, the statement made by CDC on its public-facing website was over the head of Dr. Su and “outside [his] scope.” An additional researcher, who appears to be a
public health analyst with a master’s in public health, felt confident enough about the field of genetics and “molecular and/or atomic forces” to write without any sources or citation: “This request is not biologically possible.”
It’s hard to believe that something so critical to mRNA vaccine safety would be “outside the purview” of CDC’s Immunization Safety Office. And given the
1,700 scientists who work for CDC, it certainly is perplexing that a public health analyst was the best available expert to answer a question about genetics! Notably, the fact that no one could provide justification for this statement did not stop CDC from presenting it as a “fact” to the public. What else has CDC assured Americans—and would those claims stand up to ICAN’s simple request for documents justifying the claims?
Stay tuned for another segment of “No Records Found” as we continue to dismantle CDC’s house of cards.