WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) sent a letter to the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dr. Francis Collins, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Dr. Janet Woodcock, the Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA Dr. Peter Marks, and the Deputy Director of the Immunization Safety Office at the CDC Dr. Tom Shimabukuro regarding a letter from Dr. Patricia Lee to Drs. Peter Marks and Tom Shimabukuro detailing her first-hand account of treating patients with adverse events from the COVID-19 vaccine. The senator also raised the issue of the unresponsiveness of these federal agencies to his oversight letters.

“You sanctimoniously claim ‘to follow the science,’ yet fail to recognize natural immunity in your vaccine mandate rhetoric; continue to claim we are experiencing a ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’ – even as evidence of breakthrough infections, hospitalizations, and deaths mount; and consistently deny vaccine injuries and ignore the vaccine injured,” the senator wrote.

The full text of Sen. Johnson’s letter can be found here and below. The full text of Dr. Lee’s letter found here.

Coverage of Sen. Johnson’s letter to the NIH, CDC, and FDA can be viewed here.

 

October 14, 2021

 

The Honorable Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D.

Director

National Institutes of Health

 

Rochelle Walensky, M.D., MPH

Director

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

Janet Woodcock, M.D.

Acting Commissioner

Food and Drug Administration

 

Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D.

Director

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research

Food and Drug Administration

 

Tom Shimabukuro, M.D., MPH, MBA

Deputy Director

Immunization Safety Office

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  

Dear Drs. Collins, Walensky, Woodcock, Marks, and Shimabukuro:

 

              I recently became aware of a September 28, 2021 letter from Dr. Patricia Lee addressed to Drs. Peter Marks and Tom Shimabukuro regarding Dr. Lee’s first-hand account of COVID-19 vaccine injuries among her patients (enclosed).  To my knowledge, Dr. Lee has not received a response that addresses the specific harms she raised.  Unfortunately, I am not surprised by your apparent lack of response in light of the number of letters I have written to you that have not been fully addressed.   

              I would have hoped you would treat a fellow physician who has taken the time and risked her reputation writing to you about such grave matters with greater respect than you have afforded me.  But it appears that is not the case.

              Dr. Lee’s letter provides powerful first-hand testimony that vaccine injuries require your agencies’ prompt and robust attention.  With the freedom-robbing vaccine mandates forcing millions of Americans to make gut-wrenching, life-altering decisions, your agencies owe the public honesty and transparency.  

              You have failed to take your own safety surveillance systems seriously, even though the latest figures for COVID-19 vaccines from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System includes 16,310 deaths (with 5,326 of those deaths occurring on Day 0, 1 or 2 following vaccination) and 778,685 total adverse events.  

              You sanctimoniously claim “to follow the science,” yet fail to recognize natural immunity in your vaccine mandate rhetoric; continue to claim we are experiencing a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” – even as evidence of breakthrough infections, hospitalizations, and deaths mount; and consistently deny vaccine injuries and ignore the vaccine injured.  

              I can assure you I will not ignore Dr. Lee’s concerns nor the other testimonials I have received regarding vaccine adverse events. Your agencies owe Dr. Lee the courtesy of a response regarding her suffering patients. 

 

              Sincerely,

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