The scientific community, hospitals and the president of the republic reacted to the statements of the government representative for the review of the management of the pandemic and the orthopedist Petr Kotlár, who presented an outline of his findings last week. They urge him not to question scientifically proven procedures and not to spread misinformation. Kotlár not only wants to stop the vaccination of mRNA vaccines, he even claims that they change human DNA. How does scientist and renowned virologist Boris Klempa view his statements?
Virologist Klemp says in an interview:
- what would it mean if mRNA vaccines were banned,
- how does the scientist perceive Kotlár’s experiments with vaccines,
- how could an investigation into pandemic management be beneficial,
- what kind of covid season are we in for
- whether state measures are in place,
- what will it mean for Slovakia if it does not join the WHO agreement.
On Wednesday, the government representative for the review of the management of the pandemic, Peter Kotlar, presented his conclusions. Has he fulfilled his mission?
I have to say that I feel very bad about the news at the moment. I only saw that press release, where a huge number of very disturbing and even bombastic claims were made, but they were not supported by any evidence, and even in the scientific community, there is no evidence for such claims. In addition, if the report was really about the evaluation of the management of the pandemic, it could be very beneficial with an honest approach to learn for the future which measures were effective. However, at least at that press conference, he hardly addressed this at all. It is a great shame and a missed opportunity to learn some rational lessons from the pandemic.
The plenipotentiary also played the speech of the American cardiologist and disinformer Richard M. Fleming on the press. How is Fleming perceived in the scientific community?
I first heard about Mr. Fleming only in connection with Mr. Kotlar. I think that his position within the USA is probably very similar to Mr. Kotlar’s position in our country, although with the difference that he is not a representative of the US government. He has no reputation in the scientific community, rather the opposite.
Plenipotentiary Kotlár said that he would recommend the government to stop vaccination with mRNA vaccines because, according to him, they change human DNA. What would it mean if vaccination with mRNA-based vaccines was stopped, and which vaccinations would have to be canceled if this happened?
I hope that the government will not accept that recommendation and will not take it into account. At the moment, it would prevent vaccinations against covid-19, since only mRNA-based vaccines are available against this disease. In addition, another mRNA vaccine against the RSV virus is already approved, although I have no information whether it is already on the market in our country. Probably not, but maybe it will. It would not be possible to vaccinate against these two infectious diseases. Much more serious could be that mRNA vaccines are currently in clinical trials in a completely different field. Not as a prevention of infectious diseases, but for the treatment of oncological diseases. Both important companies – BionTech and Moderna – have several such clinical trials currently in process, where mRNA vaccines would be tailor-made for each patient and would be used to treat cancer. This entire field of treatment of oncological diseases could therefore also not be used in our country, which would be a huge step back, as the whole world will probably move in this direction. I would also like to emphasize that the clinical trials are evaluated by the authorities, which are specifically designed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of vaccines. Mr. Plenipotentiary systematically questions the authority of institutions such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which I think is very dangerous.
We are currently in a period where cases of people with covid are increasing. If the government were to listen to the advice and stop the mRNA covid vaccinations until they are proven safe, as the commissioner suggests, what would that do to the herd immunity we have acquired from previous vaccinations?
At this moment, the consequences would probably not be too dramatic in terms of collective immunity, because almost all of us are not only vaccinated, but almost all of us have already overcome the disease. From this point of view, it would not have such tragic consequences. In this particular case, with covid-19, vaccination is critical only for at-risk risk groups who are at risk of a severe course. It would be very unpleasant for them, others would basically sleep through infections. It must be admitted that relatively few people are currently being vaccinated against covid-19 in our country. But for this group of people, such a decision would be very unpleasant and, above all, indefensible.
The proxy admitted that as part of the investigation, he monitored changes in his blood after infusing the vaccine into it. Do such attempts seem credible?
It is a downright mockery of serious scientific work. This is not how scientific work is done. From all possible points of view, if only because of the number of samples he analyzed. It is a mockery of all the thousands of workers who devote their entire careers to vaccine research, or vaccine safety and efficacy. You could really forgive this.
He advised that he would like to continue his work as a plenipotentiary. What should be the motivation for the government to take away his mandate?
The fact that until now he has not devoted himself to what he was authorized to do and instead has systematically collected all possible disinformation that has occurred in connection with the pandemic so far. He is now presenting them here as facts without any evidence, thereby disturbing the public.
What period do we have ahead of us in terms of the occurrence of covid? Will similar waves like we had come back, or will it be “lost”?
It can be assumed that the number of infections will increase. We have another wave ahead of us, but it cannot be assumed that the course would be fundamentally different from last year. This means that covid is an immediate threat only to risk groups – elderly people and chronically ill people. All others have already built up immunity, either by overcoming or a combination of vaccination and overcoming. Infections will certainly increase, there will be many of them, but it cannot be assumed that an increased number of infections would lead to a fundamental increase in severe cases and that hospitals would be overcrowded again. This is not really a threat at this stage.
So no measures from the state are necessary for now, say the obligation to wear masks when visiting specific places?
I don’t think that would happen. Of course, it would be very convenient if vaccination were available to everyone who is interested in it. Wearing respirators in medical facilities, where there is a greater risk of infection, but also a greater risk of endangering other chronically ill people, makes sense, but I do not suppose that it would be centrally mandated. Rather, the devices themselves can decide that way.
Plenipotentiary Kotlár also wants to recommend the government to reject the prepared pandemic agreement of the WHO countries. What consequences will this have for Slovakia?
It must be said that the pandemic contract is really only being prepared for now. The dissociation that occurred was related to international health regulations and not to the pandemic treaty. This is often confused. The pandemic contract is still under preparation. It turns out that it is really quite a problem for all the states to agree on its wording. Anyway, the result will probably be such that it is satisfactory for all countries. In that case, it would be a great shame if we did not participate in the process. In the fight against infectious diseases, we depend on international cooperation. By dissociating, we voluntarily isolate ourselves, and it will not bring us anything positive. Instead, we could participate in the preparation of a pandemic contract to meet all our requirements.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
