HHS Proposes Formal Debarment Of EcoHealth Alliance

Written by John Leake

To my pleasant surprise, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) actually accepted the House Select Subcommittee’s recommendation to formally debar EcoHealth Alliance, Inc

As stated in the official press release:

“HHS will immediately commence official debarment proceedings and implement a government-wide suspension of U.S. taxpayer funds to EcoHealth — including a hold on all active grants.”

It seems to me that this marks a major shift in U.S. federal agency policy with respect to EcoHealth Alliance.

The decision also opens up a fraught can of worms for the HHS and the NIH (a division of HHS).

Brad Wenstrup and his Congressional Committee have acknowledged and articulated the evidence that EcoHealth and its collaborators in the US and China are responsible for creating the Covid virus.

HHS’s acknowledgement that this evidence is sufficient to warrant debarring EcoHealth Alliance implies that the U.S. government is now formally recognizing the true, manmade cause of the COVID-19 Pandemic instead of trying to sweep it under the rug.

https://principia-scientific.com/hhs-proposes-formal-debarment-of-ecohealth-alliance/

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Australia: More Than 3,600 Children ‘Targeted’ With COVID-19 Fines in NSW

Legal advocacy groups are calling for reform of the New South Wales (NSW) fines system after 3,628 children received COVID-19 fines during the pandemic in the Australian state.

A 2024 report looking into children and COVID-19 fines in NSW found that the “penalty notice regime” implemented in NSW was “unsuitable” for achieving public health outcomes for children.

However, NSW Police have defended their response amid the rapidly evolving public health orders at the time, which required compliance and enforcement to limit movement regardless of people’s age.

The report, authored by academics at the University of NSW, University of Wollongong, and University of Technology Sydney, noted more than half of the fines issued to children were fixed at $1,000 (US$665).

The Redfern Legal Centre, Public Interest Advocacy Centre, and Aboriginal Legal Service commissioned the research, which considered statistical data and interview responses from lawyers and youth workers.

Meanwhile, some of the fines were as high as $5,000, despite the authors noting the maximum fine a child can get when found guilty of an offence in the NSW Children’s Court is $1,100.

“Children were liable to the same penalty notice fine as adults for almost all PHO offences, with the exception of two general age-based offences that concerned the failure to wear a face covering,” the report said.

The report noted the public health orders were changed and repealed frantically during the pandemic, with 266 public health orders put out between March 15, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2022.

In addition, a new public health order was brought in or modified every one and a half days during the Delta wave of COVID-19.

“The frequent changes made it especially hard for children to understand the rules, and contributed to errors in police decisions that a person had breached a PHO,” the report said.

One interviewee who spoke to the report authors said there were kids working off COVID fines who “probably shouldn’t have been issued with one in the first place.”

Analysis by the authors found that children in socioeconomically disadvantaged suburbs were “over policed” during the pandemic.

Authors said more than half of the top 30 suburbs where children received the largest number of penalty notices between March 2020 and June 2022 were in the bottom 25 percent of the social economic index.

Discussing the findings, Redfern Legal Centre chief executive officer Camilla Pandolfini said children cannot pay heavy fines and the deterrent effect is low.

“Fines are oppressive, discriminatory, and ineffective when used against children. We call for changes to policy, practice, and procedure to ensure that fines do not compound existing disadvantage and criminalise children,” she said.

Police Note Serious Nature of COVID-19 Led to Rapid Orders

A spokesperson for NSW Police explained public health order compliance was required for the safety of the community. Police could respond to breaches of the orders no matter what the age.

“The virulent nature and serious illness from the Delta variant of COVID-19 resulted in rapidly evolving Public Health Orders, including Local Government Areas of Concern being nominated by NSW Health,” the spokesperson told The Epoch Times.

“A compliance and enforcement response was required to limit movement and ensure compliance with Public Health Orders in these areas to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and protect the community.

“Outside of these identified areas of concern, police still had the ability to respond to breaches of relevant Public Health Orders by issuing infringement notices—regardless of the age of the person involved.”

Meanwhile, report author Julia Quilter called for police to “stop issuing fines to kids” and engage in diversionary and creative problem-solving policing.

“Policing kids by issuing heavy fines during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted, in extreme form, the problems with our fines system more generally. Kids have no or little capacity to pay fines and saddling them with crippling debts only sets them up for future failure,” she said.

“This is especially troubling given that fines are disproportionately issued by police to vulnerable kids already experiencing socio-economic and other forms of disadvantage.”

The CEO of Aboriginal Legal Service Karly Warner called for a reform of the “archaic” and “unjust” fines system.

“Aboriginal communities set the gold standard for caring for one another during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet our children paid a higher price because of the government’s punitive approach to enforcing public health orders,” she stated.

Public Interest Advocacy Centre CEO Jonathon Hunyor added, “Creating massive debts for children and families simply amplifies disadvantage and builds distrust in the system.”
Police Faced Challenges During the COVID-19 Response: Inquiry

Meanwhile, the Police Federation of Australia (PFA), which represents 65,000 police officers, including more than 17,000 in NSW, have raised a number of issues in response to the federal government’s COVID-19 Response Inquiry.

In its submission (pdf), PFA noted access to appropriate personal protective equipment for a police “became an issue of concern” during COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns.
“Whilst it is accepted that in normal circumstances it would be the responsibility of the employer, in our case, the respective police forces, to provide such equipment, no provision appears to have been made for a national response to such a crisis,” the association noted.

In addition, the submission noted the pandemic impacted police resources and community attitudes towards police in a range of high profile incidents.

Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) noted extra law enforcement duties during COVID-19 took its toll on frontline police (pdf).

“The burden of the extra workload over the COVID-19 period was felt by the AFP, in particular the frontline officers, who were required to enforce mandated COVID-19 restrictions,” the AFP said.

“On an individual level, policing during the pandemic increased the risk of members contracting the COVID-19 virus through interactions with the public, as well as spreading the virus to family and friends.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/more-than-3600-children-targeted-with-covid-19-fines-in-australian-state-5653944

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE-TIED)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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Pfizer’s Paxlovid Reduces Risk of Post-Acute Death and Sequelae Among Hospitalised COVID-19 patients

This is a pretty good result. Anecdotally, I have heard good reports of Paxlovid

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)’s Faculty of Medicine (CU Medicine) conducted a retrospective investigation using real-world data to examine the association of Paxlovid (also known as nirmatrelvir-ritonavir) with post-acute sequelae in hospitalised COVID-19 patients, as well as mortality.

The results showed that the risk of post-acute inpatient death (i.e. death occurring 21 days after a positive test result) in COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized and prescribed oral Paxlovid within five days after symptom onset was significantly reduced by 38% compared to those who were hospitalised and didn’t use the drug during the acute phase.

Similar effects were observed on the post-acute sequelae of cardiovascular and respiratory complications. Study results have been published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Importantly, while some compelling data is generated, this study was not a randomized controlled study and several limitations in the study suggest results should be interpreted with caution.

According to the CUHK team, a review of the literature suggested that the prevalence of post-COVID-19 conditions among individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 may range from 10% to 30%. Despite authorized use of Paxlovid for treating COVID-19 in late 2021, few investigations have evaluated the association of the drug with post-acute sequelae and mortality, especially in hospitalized patients.

The Study

The current study used the real-world COVID-19 surveillance data obtained from Hong Kong Hospital Authority and Department of Health. The research team analyzed more than 50,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients records aged 18 and over in Hong Kong between March 2022, and October 2023. Of this large group, approximately 15,000 were prescribed Paxlovid within five days of symptom onset, while those who did not take the oral drug during the acute phase were grouped as the control.

Findings

The outcomes point to the conclusion that the risk of post-acute death of hospitalized COVID-19 patients who were prescribed oral Paxlovid was 6.9%, considerably lower than the 13.5% risk of those hospitalised who did not use the drug.

This represents a 38% rate after adjusting for their demographics, clinical background, and vaccination status. Similar effects were observed on the post-acute sequelae of cardiovascular and respiratory complications.

Professor Marc Chong Ka-chun, a corresponding author of the research paper and Assistant Professor at The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care of CU Medicine, said, “Public health agencies should adequately prepare effective antivirals to manage both acute and post-acute conditions of COVID-19, particularly considering the ongoing emergence of new variants of concern of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”

Professor Yeoh Eng-kiong, also a corresponding author of the research paper and Director at the Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research at CU Medicine’s The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, stated, “To our knowledge, our study is the first to highlight the extended benefits of Paxlovid in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. This study showcases the long-term benefits of the antiviral serving as a valuable complement to COVID-19 vaccines in mitigating the global clinical burden of COVID-19 in the years ahead.”

The research team member included Ms Wang Hu-wen, a doctoral student from The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care at CU Medicine. Ms Wang was one of the awardees of the Research Grants Council’s Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme 2021/22 and is the first author of the published paper.

Limitations

Numerous limitations are cited by the authors, which means that these results should be understood with caution. TrialSite summarizes key limitations which raise concern about generalization to broader populations:

The grouping of cohorts (nirmatrelvir–ritonavir group vscontrol group) relied on prescription records, which might not guarantee actual usage and could potentially lead to misgrouping.

The Hong Kong-based investigators focused on a predefined set of 13 sequelae previously identified to have an elevated risk among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Hong Kong. The study focused on sequelae that are typically recorded in a standardized manner using ICD codes within the electronic health system.

Here the authors focused specifically on nirmatrelvir–ritonavir rather than assessing multiple targeted antivirals for COVID-19, particularly another widely used antiviral drug, molnupiravir.

In the study, the post-acute period as starting at 21 days after the positive PCR date, following a previous local study. The authors acknowledge that other studies might use different durations, such as 28 days for post-acute or 3 months for post-COVID-19 condition, which might affect direct comparability of results.

The participants included in this study were primarily infected with omicron sublineages BA.2 and BA.5. Although the dominant sublineages in Hong Kong became XBB after April 20, 2023, case-based surveillance of COVID-19 was discontinued from Jan 30, 2023, onwards. As a result, the proportion of patients infected with XBB was relatively small compared with BA.2 and BA.5. The authors suggest caution is advised when generalizing the current findings to other variants and sublineages.

With insufficient number of events, especially in subgroup analyses, this could introduce sparse data bias.

With data availability limitations, some unmeasured confounders, such as clinical characteristics recorded during hospitalization (e.g., dyspnoea and fever), were not included in the analysis.

https://www.trialsitenews.com/a/cuhk-investigation-pfizers-paxlovid-reduces-risk-of-post-acute-death-and-sequelae-among-hospitalised-covid-19-patients-1e4c86c7

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE-TIED)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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Bombshell messages reveal Anthony Fauci's top advisor bragging about making emails 'disappear'

A top advisor to Anthony Fauci bragged about 'how to make emails disappear' and deleting 'smoking guns' to avoid scrutiny, lawmakers investigating the origins of COVID-19 revealed Thursday.

The shocking comments were from government health official Dr. David Morens, a senior advisor to Fauci from 1998 until 2022.

Some of Morens' emails have been obtained by congressional subpoena and were read out by House Oversight Chairman James Comer in a hearing Thursday, part of lawmakers' probe into the theory that covid came from a leak in a Chinese lab.

Morens, who works at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), wrote about deleting his communications to avoid turning them over to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

He was writing to Peter Daszak, whose organization EcoHealth Alliance had its federal funding suspended this week for its role in contracting controversial coronavirus research to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

'I learned from our FOIA lady here how to make emails disappear after I am FOIA'd but before the search starts,' Morens wrote to Daszak. 'So I think we are all safe. Plus I deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to Gmail.'

'We are all smart enough to know to never have smoking guns,' Morens wrote in a later message. 'And if we did we wouldn't put them in emails. And if we found them we would delete them.'

Fauci and his advisors at NIAID came into the spotlight after it emerged the agency funded EcoHealth Alliance to conduct research including experiments that altered coronaviruses to make them more dangerous.

EcoHealth subcontracted the work to the Chinese lab in Wuhan and, according to the Department of Health and Human Services which pulled their funding on Wednesday, failed to adequately oversee it – potentially leading to an accident causing a global pandemic in 2020.

Congressman Brad Wenstrup, chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, is now concerned that Morens and Daszak may have tried to cover their tracks following the scandal by deleting federal records.

His committee released emails last year showing Morens discussed using his personal rather than government email and deleting communications to avoid scrutiny.

The top official for NIAID, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), wrote in an email to Daszak in 2021 that he communicates on Gmail 'because my NIH email is FOIA'd constantly.'

'Just send to any of my addresses and I will delete anything I don't want to see in the New York Times,' Morens wrote, according to lawmakers.

Wenstrup has now issued two subpoenas to Morens: one for all his gmail correspondence about the origins of COVID-19, and another forcing him to testify to the committee on May 22.

DailyMail.com understands that Morens turned over about 30,000 emails to the committee on April 30.

Congressman Brad Wenstrup has now issued two subpoenas to Morens: one for all his gmail correspondence about the origins of COVID-19, and another forcing him to testify to the committee on May 22

Two shocking emails were revealed in a Thursday committee hearing where former NIH acting director Lawrence Tabak was testifying.

After reading out Morens' messages about deleting communications, Comer asked Tabak: 'Is that consistent with NIH document retention policies?'

'It is not,' he replied.

Nonprofit health research group US Right to Know has been fighting NIH in court to release officials' emails about the origins of COVID-19.

'During the last 31 years of public interest work, I have never seen a federal agency stonewall public records requests as much as NIH,' Right to Know executive director Gary Ruskin told DailyMail.com.

He said NIH is a key culprit in the US government of trying to 'hide or bury key information about COVID origins'.

'NIH's conduct has been abysmal and reprehensible. And now the Select Subcommittee is just starting to get to the bottom of how this stonewalling really happened,' he added.

'[Morens] was forced to turn over thousands of emails to the Select Subcommittee. He will soon testify about his deleting of emails and his use of a Gmail account to do official business.

'Once that testimony is complete, Congress and the public will have a better sense of what consequences are appropriate for his offenses against our democracy.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13431107/Anthony-Faucis-advisor-David-Morens-bragged-making-emails-disappear.html

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Increased Reports of Rare Autoimmune Disease, COVID-19 and Its Vaccine Contributed: Study

Cases of a rare autoimmune disease surged between 2020 and 2022 in Yorkshire, England, peaking in 2021. COVID-19 infection and its vaccines possibly contributed to the rise, a recent study in The Lancet’s eBioMedicine found.

The disease—melanoma differentiation-associated protein-5 (anti-MDA5) positive dermatomyositis, or anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis—is an inflammatory disease characterized by muscle weakness, skin rashes, and rapidly progressive lung disease.

Anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis is very rare.

In 2019, Yorkshire, which has a population of 3.6 million, reported two people testing positive for the disease. In 2020, there were eight. Cases peaked in 2021 with 35 new cases. The number then dropped to 16 new cases in 2022.

The new autoimmune cases may have arisen from the COVID-19 virus and vaccine RNA interactions, the study’s senior author, Dr. Dennis McGonagle, clinical professor of medicine at the University of Leeds, told The Epoch Times.

Besides the Lancet study, several case studies have documented new anti-MDA5 cases following COVID-19 infection or vaccination.

Dermatomyositis tends to affect the skin, muscles, and lungs. Anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis involves rapidly progressive lung disease, which lends the condition a poor prognosis.

MDA5 is a protein present outside of muscles and tissues, especially prominent in the lungs. Therefore, when the body forms anti-MDA5 antibodies to attack MDA5, it can deteriorate related organs and tissues.

MDA5 can detect and bind to foreign RNA, including COVID-19 RNA. Upon detection, it signals other immune cells to fight the foreign invader or vaccination.

“We think that ... [this happens] because MDA5 is the receptor or docking site for viral RNA, and that this in some way triggers the antibody against it,” Dr. McGonagle said.

In a COVID-19 infection, MDA5’s binding to RNA can result in too much MDA5 activity as a response, Dr. Pradipta Ghosh, director of the Institute for Network Medicine at the University of California–San Diego and another corresponding author of the study, told The Epoch Times.

COVID-19 patients were shown to have high MDA5 gene activity in their lung fluids, further suggesting that the virus might have triggered new MDA5 cases.

Apart from anti-MDA5, 15 other autoantibodies can contribute to similar dermatomyositis diseases. The role of MDA5 in COVID-19 infection and vaccination may explain why, during the pandemic, only anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis cases increased while other autoantibodies involved in dermatomyositis did not.

Between 2020 and 2022, all 60 new anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis patients in Yorkshire were evaluated. All developed symptoms.

Over 40 percent developed interstitial lung disease and had a worse prognosis. Half died by the time the study was published.

The authors noted that anti-MDA5 cases during the pandemic presented slightly differently than pre-pandemic cases.

Compared to pre-pandemic, anti-MDA5 cases reported during the pandemic had a lower rate of lung disease and a lower death rate, said Dr. Ghosh. The disease also affected white people as opposed to Asians, who were the more predominant demographic previously.

Pandemic-era patients tend to report skin-related conditions such as rashes, decreased blood flow to fingers, muscle aches, and so on.

Coincidental Rise

The peak of anti-MDA5 cases between April and July 2021 coincided closely with Yorkshire’s uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and occurred during a time of “higher community SARS-CoV-2 positivity during 2021,” the authors reported. Vaccinations started in Yorkshire in January 2021 and dropped off in October.

Around 90 percent of the Yorkshire population was vaccinated, and 49 of the 60 cases had documented COVID-19 vaccination.

Contrastingly, only 15 out of 60 had had a confirmed COVID-19 infection.

While many people tested positive for COVID-19 at the time, the authors noted that anti-MDA5 cases did not rise immediately after a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Other Reports

In addition to the reports in Yorkshire, other studies have shown a link between anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis and COVID-19 and its vaccine.

An Italian case study published in Frontiers in Immunology reported the case of an older, unvaccinated woman who developed anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis a month after her COVID-19 infection. She had joint pain and developed rashes and lesions on her chest, face, and hands.

The authors argued that MDA5, which is involved in the activation of various cytokines, may precipitate inflammatory reactions when exposed to SARS-CoV-2.

Another paper published in SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine reported an anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis case that occurred a week after COVID-19 vaccination. The researchers hypothesized that antibodies to spike proteins on the SARS-CoV-2 virus may cross-react with human proteins like MDA5.

However, Dr. Ghosh said that while spike protein has been implicated in other autoimmune diseases, anti-MDA5 disease is caused by antibodies against MDA5, not spike.

“I believe that we have a lot of work to do before we can begin to understand why or how our body responds to this virus, its particles, its RNA/protein—even the RNA encoding its key components we use as vaccine in the plethora of ways that it does,” she explaine

https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/more-reports-of-rare-autoimmune-disease-in-2021-covid-19-and-its-vaccine-contributed-study-5650916

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE-TIED)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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Wow! Google are getting very sharp in censoring my blog posts

They normally wait a week or more before deleting my posts but they have now deleted what I posted yesterday. The post was one I downloaded from Trialsite -- a VERY academic site. It was one that explored very fully the issues involved in prosecuting doctors over their prescribing Ivermectin.

Ivermectin must be a red-hot topic at the moment. I can guess why. The source for the deleted post is as under:

https://www.trialsitenews.com/a/another-doctor-fined-for-prescribing-ivermectinphysicians-always-had-a-right-to-prescribewithin-boundaries-0dac4dff

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AstraZeneca Covid vaccine victim: Athletic marathon-running father, 50, left disabled, unable to work and struggling to breathe after suffering ultra-rare complication from the jab

He must have had some underlying condition. I had two shots of Astra-Zeneca and they might as well have injected me with saline for all the reaction I had

A taxi driver has been left unable to drive or even walk more than 20 metres after getting the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine.

Self-employed Adrian Walker, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, had the jab in February 2021 to 'protect others', including vulnerable children he helped take to school.

But just two weeks later the previously healthy marathon runner was fighting for his life, admitted to hospital with multiple blood clots in his lungs and bowel.

The ordeal left him struggling with short-term memory, breathlessness and fatigue.

Mr Walker was diagnosed with vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) in late March 2021, with medics confirming it was a result of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Three years on from getting the jab, he told MailOnline how VITT had laid him low despite his good health.

'I was an extremely healthy and fit 47-year-old, a non-smoker who rarely drank, a sub four-hour marathon runner and a former semi-professional football referee,' he said.

Mr Walker claimed his life 'has flipped on its head' and he is no longer able to drive or run.

Like many others who signed up for the historic Covid jab rollout, Mr Walker, a grandfather, said he was motived to do so for altruistic reasons.

He explained that during the pandemic he often ferried vulnerable children back and forth to school, some of whom were disabled and at a high risk of the virus if they were to be infected.

'I was never worried about catching Covid myself as I was fit and healthy. It was more to protect others,' he said.

Soon after getting jabbed, Mr Walker began to feel unwell. However, he brushed it off, assuming they were the flu-like symptoms he had been warned of as a potential vaccine side effect.

Even when he started to feel worse, he wasn't that concerned, theorising that because it was February he might have caught a cold, or a feeling of lightheaded-ness was due to not having had his dinner.

But 10 days after getting the vaccine, he recalled 'feeling really rough' and even called in sick to work, something Mr Walker had rarely done.

He even decided to get a Covid test, but it came back negative.

However, the seriousness of his condition became apparent when he started experiencing chest pains and was told to go to hospital. He packed an overnight bag and was given steroids and blood tests.

Mr Walker's blood tests came back with worrying results. His platelet levels were just seven, vastly below the normal range for person of between 150,000 to 350,000 per microliter of blood.

Platelets typically help the blood to clot. Other blood tests conducted on Mr Walker were also extremely worrying.

His D-dimer levels, a test doctors use to check for blood clots, was 56,000 — drastically above the 500 score considered normal.

Mr Walker was then taken via an ambulance to another hospital. He would remain there for over a month.

Scans revealed he had multiple clots in his lungs and in the portal vein from his bowel.

So dire was his condition that a week after Mr Walker's was admitted to hospital his wife CJ, 47, was called in and told to prepare for his death.

Mr Walker said that, at the time, he had no idea how serious his condition was.

'I knew I was really ill, but with how fit and healthy I normally am, I wasn't concerned as such,' he said.

'To be honest to a degree I probably never really knew what was going on. Although I was always conscious I probably wasn't coherent all the time.

'My wife would tell me that I would ring her up and tell her something and call her again five minutes later and I could not recall having a conversation with them five minutes previously.'

VITT is thought to be linked to at least 81 deaths in the UK, according to figures collated by UK drug watchdog, the MHRA.

The complication – now listed as a potential side-effect of the jab – causes blood clots along with a low platelet count.

It is exceedingly rare, given the millions of doses dished out during the roll-out. The risk is thought to be in the region of one in 50,000, with the risk dying from it lower.

But at the time Mr Walker's was jabbed no one had yet linked the AstraZeneca vaccine to VITT, also called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

The connection would only be made after a series of cases in Europe in March, around the time Mr Walker was hospitalised.

UK regulators would only start restricting the use of the jab in April that year.

Mr Walker recalls mentioning feeling unwell after the AstraZeneca jab to the medics treating him, but at the time he didn't think much of it.

'I remember saying to the consultant that I hadn't been well since I had the vaccine. I wasn't saying it was that, but I thought it was strange,' Mr Walker said.

Mr Walker said VITT had affected both his everyday life and his ability to work since 2021.

'I struggle to walk 20 metres, I am constantly short of breath, I suffer with really bad short term memory loss and I am not allowed to drive because of the fatigue,' he said.

He added another impact had been on his personal life and ability to spend time with his loved ones.

'I've not been able to work, I can't be the father, the husband or the grandfather I wanted to be,' he said.

'I can't play football with my grandson, he loves to go to junior park run, I can't go running with him.

'It just feels like life has just literally flipped on its head and you know. I depended on my wife, I could not live independently.

'I dream of just being able to walk to a pup, go in the pub, have a pint, stand at the bar and walk home just something that everybody takes for granted.'

While medics were suspicious his illness was caused by the vaccine, it wasn't until researchers linked the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare cases of blood clotting with a low platelet count.

Four weeks after he was admitted to hospital he got the diagnosis in writing, in late March 2021.

'I left hospital on April 4, so I'd been in there for 34 days, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I got wheeled out of those doors and my wife met me at the door of a car. I was still very ill then,' Mr Walker recalled.

But even though he had been injured as a result of the vaccine, he was still unaware of the Government's little-known vaccine damage payment scheme.

He only learnt about it until 'by chance' when another person who was injured from the vaccine told him about the scheme on social media.

But even then, he had to wait almost two years to receive the £120,000 pay-out, which he now calls 'not fit for purpose'.

'I applied to the government's vaccine damage scheme and was eventually paid in April 2023, some 21 months after I applied,' Mr Walker said.

The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, originally set up in the 70s, offers those who have been injured, or their families in cases of death, a £120,000 tax-free sum.

This policy covers an array of vaccines recommended by the Government, such as the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, and was extended to include Covid jabs during the pandemic.

In principle, the scheme is meant to reassure people that, in the unlikely event something goes wrong due to a vaccine they get, the state will provide them support and encourage people to get vaccinated in interests of public health.

But Mr Walker said he doesn't think the scheme is 'fit for purpose', given it took two years for him to receive any money.

During that time, he was forced to live off savings, a fact he said compounded the stress he was under during his recovery.

'The stress of it all on top of when you are ill, when you are struggling to live day to day as it is, to then have that heaped on top was horrible,' he said.

He added: 'I've got a friend who, who suffered a broken hip and leg in a in a car accident and in much less time his case and compensation was settled and now he's fully recovered.'

Freedom of information (FOI) requests to NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the body managing the UK's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, show £3.7m was paid out to 31 Brits injured or bereaved from AstraZeneca's Covid jab between November 2021 and April 2023.

When Mr Walker received his money in April 2023, 4,178 similar claims had been made to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme but only 63 claimants had been notified they were entitled to any money.

Now, one year on another FOI shows the scheme has received more than 11,000 Covid vaccine claims as of April 2.

Of these, 168 claims for state-funded financial support have now been approved.

Fewer than five were for fellow Covid jab makers Pfizer and Moderna, the remaining claims are all for AstraZeneca.

Successful claims to the scheme not only cover those affected by VITT but also other jab-related side effects such as the nerve condition Guillain-Barre syndrome, anaphylaxis or other blood clot reactions.

Time to resolution isn't the only criticism of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.

Those injured by a vaccine have either be killed or be at least 60 per cent disabled by their injury, as assessed by a medic, to get any money.

Data shows more than 4,800 claims have been rejected by the scheme, including 324 because they failed to meet this 60 per cent threshold.

'Although the claims met the criteria for causation, the independent medical assessor recommended that the vaccine has not caused severe disablement,' the NHSBSA said.

In practice the scheme's rule means people who are assessed as only 59 per cent disabled by a jab don't get a penny, a policy described as cruel by its critics.

Mr Walker argues it shows the scheme is vastly out of date and needs an overhaul.

To make it fairer, he believes there should be a tiered system to help the people who are cut off from getting any compensation.

Another criticism of the current scheme the maximum £120,000 cap.

This means, for example, someone who is completely paralysed by a vaccine would receive the same £120,000 as someone who had lost a leg.

Many alleged victims of the AstraZeneca jab, facing financial ruin from ongoing care costs and being unable to work, have turned to other means for compensation.

Fifty-one families, including Mr Walker, are currently pursuing legal action against AstraZeneca arguing its 'defective' jab was to blame for their injuries and deaths of loved ones.

Some of these people have already received a payment from Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.

Others are in the process of applying for a payment. Some have been told they are ineligible.

Should the action prove successful, compensation could reach seven-figure sums.

AstraZeneca, however, will not foot the bill.

Under a legal indemnity that the Government gave the company early in the pandemic — given the need to roll out the vaccine fast — the UK taxpayer will have to pay any compensation awarded.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13399741/Astrazeneca-Covid-vaccine-victim-father-left-disabled-struggling-breathe-rare-complication.html

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE-TIED)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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