The citizen-led inquiry into Canada’s Covid response is blasting the federal government over flaws in its handling of the pandemic and vaccine authorizations.
The interim report from the National Citizen’s Inquiry interim report comes days after Health Canada’s Sept. 12 announcement authorizing use of the updated Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for all Canadians over the age of six months.
A major recommendation by the NCI includes a call to halt use of Covid-19 vaccines authorized under a pandemic-era Interim Order.
During a press conference on Monday, the NCI’s four commissioners presented their findings and recommendations. The interim report, available in both English and French, along with an open letter directed at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, were published to the group’s website.
The NCI was established as a public and transparent inquiry into Canada’s pandemic response, initially headed by former Reform Party leader Preston Manning. There has yet to be any official pandemic inquiry called at the federal level in Canada.
The report references expert witness testimonies from Shawn Buckley and Deanna McLeod, which contributed to the its conclusions.
The NCI’s report exposes critical concerns regarding the Covid vaccine authorization process in Canada and highlights a discrepancy between Health Canada’s public messaging on vaccine approval and the actual criteria utilized for authorization.
Contrary to what health officials told Canadians, the regulator has not made a determination that the products are safe, the report says. The absence of a safety and effectiveness determination is plain on the face of the statutory instruments of approval, and not subject to reasonable dispute,” NCI administrator Ches Crosbie wrote in a letter to Trudeau.
“Worse, Health Canada’s website continues to make the positive misrepresentation to Canadians that the products are ‘proven safe and effective and of high quality,’ although Health Canada made no such determination of proof.”
Under the Interim Authorization process employed by Health Canada, there was no mandatory requirement to prove safety, efficacy, or the superiority of vaccines over potential risks.
The report also highlights that, despite the innovative nature of mRNA vaccines, pharmaceutical companies were not compelled to objectively demonstrate their safety and efficacy during the authorization process.
While companies had the option to seek approval through the regular test, which demanded objective evidence concerning safety, efficacy, and cost-benefit analysis, they opted for the Interim Order test, and regulators did not insist on objective proof, warned the NCI.
“As a matter of common sense, the objective falsity of the “proven safe” claim, brings into question the basis for informed consent to the administration of the injections, creating potentially enormous liabilities,” Crosbie wrote.
Among the key recommendations made by the NCI are for the government to implement revision to the Food and Drug Regulations authorizations on Covid-19 so that they can be tested under regular Safety and Efficacy requirements.
Additionally, it calls on the government to halt the use of Covid-19 vaccines authorized under the Interim Order.
