Canada Adds Bell’s Palsy Warning to Pfizer COVID Shot
Health Canada, the Canadian government’s department responsible for national health policy, earlier this month updated the product information label for Pfizer/BioNTech’s experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) biologic (also known as BNT162b2 or “Comirnaty” vaccine) to reflect reported cases of Bell’s palsy—an immune mediated neurological disorder characterized by temporary muscle weakness or paralysis on one side of […]
Boy in Singapore Compensated for Heart Attack Linked to Pfizer’s COVID Biologic
Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Aug. 16, 2021 that it had awarded S$225,000 (just over $165,000) to the family of a 16-year-old boy in Singapore who suffered a heart attack six days after receiving the first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 biologic (also known as BNT162b2 or “Comirnaty” vaccine) on […]
Pfizer Plan for COVID Booster Shot Raises Safety Concerns
Opinion | On July 8, 2021, Pfizer, Inc. announced it was developing a booster dose for its experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) BNT162b2 biologic for COVID-19. It said that it had observed waning immunity among people who received the standard two-dose regimen of the product. The company said it planned to begin clinical studies of the […]
13-Year-Old Boy in Michigan Dies Three Days After Getting COVID-19 Shot
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating the death of 13-year-old Jacob Clynick in Saginaw, Michigan on June 17, 2021, three days after receiving the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Service (MDHHS), “The investigation as to whether there is a correlation […]
Pfizer, Moderna COVID Shots Likely Linked to Inflammatory Heart Conditions Says CDC Advisory Committee
On June 23, 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) determined that there is a “likely association” between reported cases of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart) following vaccination with experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) biologics for COVID-19 […]
Former FDA Chief Stephen Hahn Joins Venture Capital Firm Behind Moderna COVID Vaccine
Stephen Hahn, MD, who served as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Dec. 17, 2019 through Jan. 20, 2021, has been hired by Flagship Pioneering Co.—the venture capital firm that launched biotechnology Moderna, Inc., maker of the experimental mRNA-1273 COVID-19 biologic currently being distributed in the United States under an emergency […]