Just three months after the Biden administration announced that U.S. taxpayers would fund a $5 billion initiative called Project NextGen to develop “next generation” COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) awarded $1.4 billion in contracts under the program on Aug. 22, 2023. The total includes “$1 billion for COVID vaccine clinical trials, $326 million to create a new COVID monoclonal antibody drug, and $100 million to develop novel COVID vaccines and therapeutic technologies.”1 2 3
The HHS awards come on the heels of Pfizer implementing cost-cutting measures after sales for its Comirnaty messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID biologic and Paxlovid, a protease inhibitor drug, saw sharp declines this year. After Pfizer’s COVID products underperformed in 2023, the company predicted a rise in infection rates this fall that will inform its future sale strategy in the COVID market as it transitions from a government-dominated sales market to a commercial one.
However, reported cases of new SARS-CoV-2 infections in the U.S. have been rising sooner than expected, with public health officials tracking three new SARS-CoV-2 variants, including EG.5, FL.1.5.1 and BA.2.86. Coinciding with Project NextGen, the latest surge in COVID cases has led some universities and companies to reinstate the mask mandates in yet another repeat effort to “slow the spread” of the new SARS-CoV-2 variants. 3
Mask Wearing Reduced the Risk of Coronavirus Infection and Death by Only Five Percent
Throughout the pandemic, health officials in countries have been divided over whether face coverings effectively prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Research conducted by Cochrane of London, England has provided substantial evidence to resolve this uncertainty. The Cochrane analysis of 78 global studies involving over one million people published on Jan. 30, 2023 found that masks only reduced the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and death by a mere five percent, and authors asserted that the benefits of mask-wearing and mask mandates did not outweigh the risks, such as impeding children’s academic and cognitive development in their early years.4
Considered the “gold standard” in assessing evidence-based medicine and public health policies, Cochrane reviews follow a rigorous methodology, are generally less vulnerable to bias, and only consider high-quality evidence in their systematic reviews that investigate the effects of interventions for disease prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.5
In response to Cochrane’s new findings, Francois Balloux, PhD, director of the UCL Genetics Institute and professor of computational biology at University College London, wrote:
Irrespective of the limitations of the study, its results indicate that the true impact of medical/surgical masks and N95/P2 respirators on the transmission of respiratory viruses is at best small. 6
Other key findings by Cochrane included: there were no clear differences between the use of medical/surgical masks compared with N95/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection; and community mask-wearing makes little to no difference in lab-confirmed infections, compared to not masking. However, the authors concluded that immunocompromised or vulnerable individuals may benefit from mask-wearing, since interventions that are not effective at a population level may still provide personal benefit to at-risk individuals.
Vaccine Failure Persists as CDC Suggests New Variants May Evade Natural and Vaccine Acquired Immunity
Health authorities warn that the highly mutated BA.2.86 lineage of coronavirus may be more capable than its predecessors to cause infection in people who have been vaccinated for COVID or have been previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that, due to the high number of mutations detected in this new SARS-CoV-2 strain, it may be more efficient at evading immunity from vaccines and previous infections.7
The federal health agency abruptly stopped tracking breakthrough infections, or instances of vaccine failure in 2021, choosing to only include data of breakthrough infections that result in hospitalizations and deaths.8 Newer COVID booster shots, which COVID vaccine manufacturers and health officials claim will prevent serious complications from infection with an Omicron subvariant known as XBB.1.5, are expected to be available by the end of this month.9 10
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Click here to view References:1 Baker A. U.S. to Spend Billions on New COVID Vaccines Despite Failure to Prevent Infection. The Vaccine Reaction Apr. 23, 2023.
2 Press Release. Project NextGen Awards Over $1.4 Billion to Develop the Future of COVID-19 Vaccines and Therapeutics. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Aug. 22, 2023.
3 Satija B et al. Pfizer considers cost cuts as demand for COVID products falls. Reuters Aug. 1, 2023.
4 Jefferson T, Dooley L et al. Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2023; 1.
5 Useem J, Brennan A, LaValley M, Vickery M, Ameli O, Reinen N, Gill CJ. Systematic Differences between Cochrane and Non-Cochrane Meta-Analyses on the Same Topic: A Matched Pair Analysis. PLoS One Dec. 15, 2015; 10(12): e0144980.
6 Francois Balloux, [@BallouxFrancois]. Jan. 30, 2023. X.
7 Jain P. US CDC says new COVID lineage could cause infections in vaccinated individuals. Reuters Aug. 23, 2023.
8 Stein R. CDC Move to Limit Investigations Into COVID Breakthrough Infections Sparks Concerns. NPR June 2, 2021.
9 Reubein R et al. CDC under fire for decision to limit tracking of Covid-19 cases in vaccinated people. Politico July 30, 2021.
10 Benadjaoud Y. Government spending $1.4 billion to study new and improved COVID vaccines, despite low uptake. ABC News Aug. 24, 2023.
6 Responses
Taxation without representation. Our communities and personal safety would be better served if they spent that money on deporting illegal migrants. The other day we went to the mall and I personally observed a stream of migrants coming out of the mens restroom, some straight out of the toilet areas, and nobody washed their hands.
Pfizer has more than enough money to fund their own research and half the population of America knows this.
Someone please stop this insanity! When will WE the PEOPLE have any say in how our tax dollars get spent?! The vaccines are not safe, nor, I suspect, would any further “therapeutics” be safe using mRNA/DNA twisting technologies.
Whatever happened to Common Sense? Educate yourselves people!
As far as the masks protecting anyone from catching covid or any other alleged air-borne virus. From what I understand, masks work better when worn in a sterile environment. Such as in an medical operating room. And as we can plainly see. most people wearing masks are usually located outside of operating rooms in non-sterile environments.
I’ve also heard and read from several researchers and doctors that cells deprived of oxygen contributes to diseases including cancers. I suspect that’s why certain people in the know are so gung-ho about people wearing masks. Most of conventional medicine is a scam, and that includes all of the lies about covid, every vaccine, almost every pharmaceutical drug and most conventional medical treatments. If those in charge cared about people having good health. They wouldn’t allow the various biological weapons (disguised as medicines), among other things, to exist that contributes to pre-mature deaths and diseases. More than likely, the money that is or will be spent on coronavirus research and vaccines will result in deadlier forms of coronaviruses, and other diseases afflicting humanity. If left alone. People who reject toxic medicines and vaccines will usually live in better health. Many of the so-called incurable diseases can be reversed through nutrition (antioxidants), and detoxifying parasites and toxins from the body.
Vaccine failure persists because vaccines are not designed to work in the first place. Vaccines exist for the purpose of depopulation. That means getting rid of people by means of death. Masks only work in the operating room by catching and absorbing droplets when someone sneezes or coughs. Outside of that, masks only force you to rebreathe your own respiratory waste, and the waste builds up in the mask as you continue to wear it. What other human waste products do we put back in our bodies on purpose? Remember, the government is filled with politicians and their highly paid “experts”. Remember a while back that the government “expert” Fauci admitted that he was wrong during the first Covid Wuhan Red China Virus plan-demic. What makes anyone think that they will , all of a sudden, be right about the next plan-demic they force on us? Whatever the government says, believe the opposite and you’ll be right at least 99% of the time.