ICWA Weekly News
June 16th radio show links, WA Dept. of Health changes presentation at last minute, eye & vision issues continue to turn up in VAERS
by Gerald Braude
In this newsletter:
June 16 Episode of An Informed Life Radio - show links
WA Dept. of Health changes presentation during Board of Health - coincidence?
Eye & vision issues that continue to turn up in VAERS, as recently covered by Dr. Mercola
June 16 Episode of An Informed Life Radio
Stop The Shots In Your County - Here’s How
Guest: John Witcher, M.D.
Dr John Witcher MD (drjohnmd.org)
We The People 50 - Recall the Shots resources
React19 - Support for people suffering from long-term COVID-19 vaccine effects
Foundational Public Health Services | Washington State Department of Health
You and Your Family | Washington State Department of Health
Results Washington - state agency reports homepage
DOH Adverse Events (hospital) Quarterly Reports
What Happened to That Misinformation Slide at the Board of Health Meeting?
In the meeting packet for the June 14, 2023 Washington Board of Health (BOH) meeting, the Department of Health (DOH) planned to present the following slide during their usual allotment of time:
WSBOH-MeetingPacket-06-14-23_0.pdf (wa.gov)
Yet, during the live presentation from the DOH, they skipped this misinformation slide and instead delved right into taking vaccinations from the Care-a-Van at Seattle Storm home games under the slide heading “We’re All in this Together,” (which also happened to be Jay Inslee’s main campaign slogan when he was re-elected governor in 2020).
So why did the DOH skip this Misinformation & Vaccine Hesitancy slide? Was it human error? Did DOH Federal Relations Director Michael Ellsworth mistakenly skip over it when he was clicking through the slides on his laptop computer? Or was it a glitch in his computer? Or was it because the barrage of complaints from the public about the DOH’s “misinformation” campaigns and errant messaging that caused the DOH to remove the slide.
The most scathing complaint came from Be Brave Washington leader Natalie Chavez who remotely testified that she was “appalled” by the following quote from the DOH’s Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett during the April 25 Vaccine Advisory Committee (VAC) meeting:
“Hearing the public comments makes me reflect on the misinformation that is out there, and I wonder if that might be a possible topic for us to consider on how we might combat misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Chavez then said that this was “disrespectful, dishonorable, and pathetic to make such general judgements.” Chavez added that the DOH was in no position to be speaking on this topic considering their lack of transparency and accountability.
During my three-minute public comment period, I pointed to the DOH’s $35 million budget request to combat vaccine misinformation campaigns that lead to people becoming more likely to believe something that is ‘false’ from a friend or family member than something ‘true’ from the government.
I testified:
“At my first public comment in March, I told you of the number of deaths in the United States and its territories following the COVID-19 shots, which is now over 35,000. Here in Washington, we now have 219 deaths following the COVID-19 shots. Instead of looking at my concern, you’re asking for $35 million to smear what I have to say.”
I then reiterated the adverse events in Washington at the last BOH meeting in which I detailed the 1,470% increase in the CDC’s VAERS reports in 2021 after the release of the COVID-19 shot compared to just an increase of 280% in overall vaccine administration over the same time.
I then said, “But instead of looking into this data, you asked the OFM for $35 million dollars to smear what I had to say.”
Melissa Leady expressed to the board her disappointment with the state government’s lack of information.
“As of March 9, 2023, the DOH has gone twenty-seven months without posting any all-cause mortality statistics.”
Melissa added: “It seems that the DOH is hiding bad news. Where is the data, and what are the specifics on the data?” Speaking of data, she then cited the Cleveland Clinic study that showed those not up-to-date on the COVID-19 shots were less likely to get COVID-19 than those who were up-to-date on the shots, which calls into the question why anyone would continue receiving boosters or new formulas.
ICWA Board Secretary Lisa Templeton quoted excerpts from an opinion piece in the January 30, 2023 issue of Newsweek by Kevin Bass that reflects the sentiments of society for being misled by the government. The following excerpt she gave from the article reflects this:
“I can see now that the scientific community from the CDC to the WHO to the FDA and their representatives, repeatedly overstated the evidence and misled the public about its own views and policies, including on natural vs. artificial immunity, school closures and disease transmission, aerosol spread, mask mandates, and vaccine effectiveness and safety, especially among the young. All of these were scientific mistakes at the time, not in hindsight. Amazingly, some of these obfuscations continue to the present day.”
Two public commenters turned the tables on the DOH by pointing out their own misinformation.
Bill Leady told the board, “The reason for public distrust is the disinformation from the government.” Bill offered the following three points for restoring trust in public health.
Don’t state something as a fact when you’re not sure whether it’s true.
Don’t try to destroy those who question the science.
Trust should be earned.
ICWA Vice President Bob Runnells then went over numerous claims by health agencies that should be considered misinformation. Details of the evidence of government misinformation starts on page seventy-four of the BOH meeting packet. He concluded by wishing that State Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah were present at the meeting so that he could say to him, “Just tell the truth, we know there are a range of solutions and outcomes, admit when you don’t know, and please don’t let political situations drive a need for policy where none is needed.”
As it turned out, Dr. Shah did not attend the meeting. But he did appear via Zoom from Leavenworth for the DOH portion of the presentation. Kwan-Gett also appeared remotely. Conveniently for them, their presentation began following a ten-minute break after the public comments, board business, and community engagement update. This break gave them plenty of time to instruct Ellsworth, the only in-person representative for the DOH update, to delete the Misinformation & Vaccine Hesitancy slide from their presentation. Only those three really know why the slide was omitted.
The community engagement agenda topic did show for certain the communications gap between the DOH and the public. In fact, Board Chair Keith Grellner said, “We have never been funded to have a communications person. We are severely ‘out-personed,’ and that has been reflected in the public comments.” But in apparent disdain for the public, the BOH missed the main thrust coming from the public comments: All the funding in the world is not going to solve the government’s problems of missing information and its own misinformation.
Eye Problems in Washington Following COVID-19 shots
A June 13, 2023 article by Dr. Joseph Mercola exposed eye problems as another prevalent adverse event recorded in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
eye-problems-after-covid-vaccine-pdf.pdf (mercola.com)
The article states,
“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data mining of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reveals reports ranging from eye discomfort, bruising and numbness, to serious conditions such as retinal vein and retinal artery occlusions, eye hemorrhage and retinal and ophthalmic migraines.”
The Proportional Reporting Ratio (PRR) data mining of VAERS listed the following eye issues.
Ocular discomfort
Eye contusions (bruising)
Eye color change
Eyelid sensory disorder
Hypoesthesia eye (numbness of the eye, typically resulting from nerve damage and/or blood clots that result in tissue damage)
Retinal vein occlusion (blood clot in the vein that carries deoxygenated blood from your retina back to your heart)
Retinal artery occlusion (blood clot in the artery that feeds blood to your retina)
Eye hemorrhage Retinal migraine (a retinal disease accompanied by migraine caused by ischemia or vascular spasm in or behind the affected eye; bouts can cause diminished vision or 2 3 temporary blindness)
Ophthalmic migraine (a nervous system problem typically involving the third, fourth or sixth cranial nerves that allow for various eye movements; the condition is associated with severe headache and pain around the eyes; double vision is common during bouts)
The following VAERS data illustrate the above adverse events in Washington.
VAERS has recorded 718 cases of retinal eye occlusion.
Three of those cases have occurred in Washington.
VAERS ID: 1395942
39-year-old male with the following submitted write-up: Central Retinal Vein Occlusion one day after receiving second dose of Pfizer vaccination + Thrombocytopenia
VAERS ID: 1415691
56-year-old female with the following submitted write-up: After the first injection, I had what turned out to be a CRVO (Central Retinal Vein Inclusion) in my right eye and it took me a week to see a Eye Doctor/Retinal Specialist. The condition started to get better after the 1st dose and it continued into the 2nd dosage (became worse). The weekend of June 8th I was placed on treatment for my symptoms. Please note that I did have COVID in March of 2020 (do not know if the condition is related to contacting the virus).
VAERS ID: 2109572
40-year-old female with the following submitted write-up: This is a previously healthy 40 year old female that patient began having visual disturbances and a severe headache 1 week following her initial dose of the vaccine. Her symptoms progressed and she was evaluated by a retinal specialist 2 -3 weeks later. Examination showed a central retinal vein occlusion in her left eye. She had an OCT, fluorescein angiogram and fundus photos which revealed macular edema and ischemic peripheral retina. She has needed to have intravitreal injections of aflibercept to control her macular edema and she is being monitored for neovascular complications. She has had an extensive systemic workup which could not identify an underling cause. This included a negative hypercoagulable work-up with oncology and a negative autoimmune/inflammatory work-up. She had an extensive cardiovascular work-up including a negative Zio patch, Echocardiogram with shunt study, and carotid ultrasound. Infiltrative causes were been ruled out with an MRI. It is my impression as a retina surgeon that her retinal vein occlusion was a result of her vaccine given the temporal association and reports of prothrombotic events happening after these vaccines.
VAERS has recorded 412 cases of retinal artery occlusion with the largest number occurring in the age group 65-79 years old.
Eight of those cases occurred in Washington, including the following.
VAERS ID: 1351561
29-year-old female with the following submitted write-up: Branch retinal artery occlusion (stroke) causing vision loss Currently taking aspirin and Lipitor as prophylactic measure while continuing to undergo extensive testing
VAERS ID: 1390920
29-year-old female with the following submitted write-up: Branch retinal artery occlusion (stroke); This is a spontaneous report from a contactable consumer (patient). A 29-year-old female patient (not pregnant) received the first dose of BNT162B2 (PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE, lot number: EW0171 and expiration date not provided), via an unspecified route of administration, in left arm, on 25Apr2021 12:45 (at the age of 29-year-old, not pregnant), at single dose, for COVID-19 immunization. Medical history reported as "none". Patient had no known allergies. Patient was not diagnosed with COVID-19 prior to vaccination. Concomitant medications were not reported. Patient did not receive any other vaccines within 4 weeks prior to the COVID vaccine. Patient did not receive any other medications within 2 weeks of vaccination. The patient experienced branch retinal artery occlusion (stroke) on 05May2021 16:15. Events resulted in doctor or other healthcare professional office/clinic visit emergency room/department or urgent care, disability or permanent damage. The patient underwent lab tests and procedures, which included COVID-19 test (Nasal Swab) was negative on 10May2021, and negative on 18May2021. Therapeutic measures were taken as a result of events and included treatment with acetylsalicylic acid (ASPIRIN), atorvastatin calcium (LIPITOR) and ongoing tests/consultations. The outcome of the events was not recovered.
VAERS ID: 1395231
58-year-old female with the following submitted write-up: retinal branch artery occlusion occurred on May 31, 2021 resulting in permanent cloud damage to retinal area. No history of high blood pressure, no history of high cholesterol, no history of diabetes.
VAERS ID: 1916694
54-year-old male with the following submitted write-up: about a month after shot started to lose vision in my left eye.
VAERS ID: 2091042
67-year-old male with the following submitted write-up: Central Retinal Artery Occlusion; affecting my center vision / permanent loss of vision in the center of my left eye; loss of vision; I just had the Pfizer booster and flu vaccines at 12:15 pm; notice blank spot in the vision of my left eye;
VAERS ID: 2124873
41-year-old female with the following submitted write-up: On 2/5, day after I had the 1st dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine, I noticed that the bottom right portion on my left eye has a black shadow. I cannot see anything around that area. I immediately went to see an ophthalmologist at the Institute. He initially ruled out any detachment issue and he assumed that it might be due to inflammation or stress caused by the vaccine. On the following Monday, 2/7, since my condition was not improved, I went to see the doctor again. He realized that my condition was getting worse and mentioned to me that there is a branch retinal artery occlusion found on my left eye. He asked me to seek medical care immediately since he cannot determine if it is related to stroke. He wrote me a note and I then went to Urgent Care. At the urgent care, they started conduct various tests to see whether I might have a stroke. I spent a night at the hospital since they need to conduct more tests overnight. I was release from the hospital on 2/8. After conducting all the tests, they ruled out the possibility of stroke. At the time of this report, my left eye is still blocked and all the medical experts I met say that I am a very healthy individual and the cause of the vision impaired is unknown to them.
VAERS ID: 2522729
54-year-old male with the following submitted write-up: Multiple retinal artery occlusions in both eyes 3 days following his booster dose with a negative workup. I am a retinal specialist, and he underwent Echocardiogram, Carotid imaging / Neuro imagining, a herpercoaguable workup including an oncology referral / and cardiology referral.
Of the 1,118 cases of eye hemorrhage reported to VAERS, ten of them came from Washington.
VAERS reported 271 cases of ophthalmic migraine with large numbers occurring in those over 40, and the most in the age group 65-79 years old.
Six of those cases occurring in Washington; three of those explained below.
VAERS ID: 1334732
67-year-old male with the following submitted write-up: Shortly after the second vaccination I started developing frequent occular migraines. I had them occasionally before, but they became very frequent. I also had very bad pain in my wrists, which is one of my indications of inflammation. I had none of the regular advertse symptoms, like chills, fever, etc, so didn''t associate with the vaccine. Less than one month after the second shot I experienced intense occular migraine (no pain), dizziness and nausea. Went to ER the next morning, and I had had a stroke. The neurologist says can''t tell if due to migraine, but there is a rare type of stroke caused by occulat migraine.
VAERS ID: 2347866
69-year-old female with the following submitted write-up: I was diagnosed with Lyme disease 10 years ago. About 3-4 days after receiving the vaccine I had sharp joint pain in my shoulders, wrists, and a stiff neck. I was unable to turn my head. I had swollen cervical lymph nodes. Both of my knees, hips, ankles and feet also had severe joint pain. I had a headache, and ocular migraines, and balance problems. My sense of smell was also heightened. I felt the sensation of bugs crawling on my skin, fatigued, and I felt depressed and anxious. I also had visual disturbances, and brain fog. I had experienced these symptoms before so I knew that it was my Lyme disease flaring up. I saw my primary care doctor a total of three times after having these symptoms. I was put on eleven different medications. I am still experiencing foggy brain, and sensation of bugs crawling on my skin.
VAERS ID: 1770386
35-year-old female with reported head tension, numbness in arms and legs, ocular migraine, leg cramps/muscle aches in legs, and immediate painful reaction at injection site.
Thank you for the great coverage of the DOH meeting.