CDC Data Reveal Covid Vaccine Safety Signals

By Jondi Gumz

Responding to a September Freedom of Information Act request, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released data showing more than 500 “safety signals” for Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines, including Bell’s palsy, blood clotting and death.

The Epoch Times obtained the monitoring results, based on an analysis of adverse event reports submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which is run by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as an “early warning system” for vaccine issues.

The CDC analysis compared adverse events reported from Dec. 14, 2020 to July 29, 2022, after a Pfizer or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine compared to reports filed after non-Covid vaccines.

The analysis technically involves proportional reporting ratios.

“Safety signals” mean a condition may be linked to a vaccine and further analysis is warranted.

The Epoch Times filed the FOIA request after the CDC refused to make the analysis public.

VAERS is where healthcare professionals are supposed to file reports on post-vaccination issues. Reports do not prove causality; studies show the number of reports often is an undercount of postvaccination adverse events.

On Jan. 13, the CDC reported a safety signal for ischemic stroke in people 65 and older after getting Pfizer’s bivalent Covid-19 vaccine, and looked at other studies, including one by Pfizer, but did not find an increased risk. So, no change in vaccination practice is recommended, CDC said.

Optum Test Sites Closing

On Feb. 28, Gov. Newsom plans to lift the state of Covid-19 emergency in California.

Hospitalizations and intensive care bed use are down statewide and locally, and the state is closing Optum Covid testing sites. The Veterans Building site in Watsonville closed Jan.19, and sites at the Santa Cruz County Governmental Center, 701 Ocean St., Santa Cruz, is closing Feb. 3, and Felton Public Library, 6121 Gushee St., Felton, is closing Feb. 5. California’s test positivity rate is down from 10.6% to 6.1%.

In January, a newer and much milder Omicron variant became the most pervasive, according to weekly Nowcast projections by the CDC:

XBB.1.5: Up from 18.3% of cases to 49%

BQ.1.1: Down from 35.7% to 26.9%

BQ.1: Down from 27.4% to 13.3%

BA.5: Down from 6.9% to 2% No Protection

The XBB.1.5 variant is the most infectious yet, mutated so that neither vaccination or a prior infection provides protection.

Medical experts say for most people,