Tucson, AZ – On Sept 7, the Pima County Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal to mandate that all healthcare workers in Pima County licensed by the State of Arizona, and their direct support staff, be vaccinated against COVID-19. The original deadline for beginning the vaccination process was Sept 1. Employers of the workers would be required to file compliance documents with the Department of Health. The consequences for noncompliance have not yet been spelled out.
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) submitted written testimony objecting to “the proposal to violate the fundamental human rights of all citizens associated with healthcare by forcing them to take an injection without voluntary informed consent.”
AAPS notes that all the COVID-19 injections are experimental, and that studies are not scheduled for completion before the end of 2022. The only FDA-approved product, which is generally unavailable here, is Comirnaty made by BioNTech in Mainz, Germany. The manufacturer is required to conduct post-marketing studies of adverse effects including myocarditis, with a 5-year follow-up.
The Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccines are only available under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), AAPS notes, and are supposed to be fully voluntary.
Many workers have had COVID-19 and are thus already immune, and the majority are at low risk of a poor outcome if they are infected. They may therefore judge that the risks of the vaccine outweigh any benefit, AAPS states. Also, the vaccine may not prevent transmission.
“Patients in Pima County are already reporting difficulty in accessing medical care of any kind,” AAPS reports. “If personnel are diminished because of declining to accept the COVID product or because of vaccine-related disability or death, tremendous preventable death and suffering will occur.”
FULL LETTER:
To: Pima County Board of Supervisors
Re: COVID vaccine mandates for healthcare workers
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) strenuously objects to the proposal to violate the fundamental human rights of all citizens associated with healthcare by forcing them to take an injection without voluntary informed consent.
AAPS makes the following observations:
- All of the COVID-19 injections are experimental. Clinical trials are ongoing and not scheduled for completion before the end of 2022. The only product approved by the FDA is labeled Comirnaty, made by BioNTech in Mainz, Germany. Comirnaty is not generally available at present, and the Pfizer product is available only under an extended Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
- The Comirnaty approval comes with a requirement to do post-marketing studies, especially for the FDA-acknowledged risk of myocarditis, which can lead to permanent heart damage. These require 5-year follow-up (until 2027).
- Many healthcare workers, especially those who have heroically worked through the pandemic, already have natural immunity. Thus, they would be forced to take a product that exposes them to risk without benefit. (See Joint Declaration of Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya and Dr. Martin Kulldoff).
- Current vaccines are designed to attenuate symptoms, not to impede transmission, and there is no evidence that they keep the vaccinated person from infecting others. Hence, workers are exposed to risks without evidence that public health is thereby protected.
- Women who are pregnant or might become pregnant were, as is customary and with good reason, excluded from clinical trials.
- The FDA-approved Comirnaty package insert reads: “13.1 Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility. COMIRNATY has not been evaluated for the potential to cause carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, or impairment of male fertility.”
- Long-term adverse effects of these and other types cannot be ruled out.
- An unprecedented number of serious events have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)—as of Aug 20, these include: 13,627 deaths, 5,093 myocarditis/pericarditis, 17,794 permanent disabilities, and 1,671 miscarriages.
- About 40 million Americans have already had COVID-19, and the vast majority recovered. Most healthcare workers are at such a low risk of a bad outcome should they be infected that they judge the risk of the vaccine to exceed the potential benefit.
- Patients in Pima County are already reporting difficulty in accessing medical care of any kind. If personnel are diminished because of declining to accept the COVID product or because of vaccine-related disability or death, tremendous preventable death and suffering will occur.
We strongly urge you to reject this proposal as injurious to the public health and a violation of the civil liberties of medical practitioners.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane M. Orient, M.D.
Executive Director, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons