Over time, however, Covid changed, to the now much less virulent Omicron and newer strains, yet the vaccine messaging has not. Multi-dose vaccination and boosters are still the default recommendation of the CDC. Newer bivalent boosters, made to address both ancestral Covid and the newer Omicron variants have little to no data supporting their efficacy, and essentially none for Omicron. What we do know is that what immunity they provide fades rapidly, lasting only a few months. What’s more, as we gain experience with millions upon millions of vaccinated individuals, there are worrisome danger signals that can no longer be ignored, e.g. myocarditis in young men, menstrual irregularities and potential effects on future fertility in young women, and harmful modulation of the immune system from repeated boosters for no longer existent strains.

One of the few areas in which there is little debate regarding Covid is its unusual benignity for children. Serious illness and Covid deaths among healthy children are almost non-existent, and epidemiological studies have shown that children are not transmission drivers of Covid. Potential long-term harms of the Covid vaccines to children are entirely unknown. Another area in which there is no longer debate is that none of the current Covid vaccines stop transmission of the virus, so this argument for their widespread use has been thoroughly debunked. Even our illustrious Dr. Fauci has admitted as much.

And yet, the CDC persists in pushing childhood vaccination for Covid and has now even added Covid vaccines to the recommended vaccine schedule for young children. They have not made this mandatory, thank God, probably because they know there is no scientific or medical basis for this and, I believe, there would be a general public outcry, which I hope would be joined by my medical colleagues, against this unscientific, uncalled for over recommendation.

One wonders why the CDC would do this. Could it have anything to do with the fact that the CDC has purchased billions of dollars worth of Covid vaccines and will have to toss these if they are not used? Could it have anything to do with the outsize influence of big pharma, e.g. Pfizer, on CDC policies? It sure isn’t because they are following the science.

My friend wonders why I no longer trust the CDC. This is one big reason why.

Richard T. Bosshardt, MD, FACS

What are my trusted sources these days for Covid-related information? I look to the writings and videos of:

Paul Offitt, MD  Pediatrician, vaccinologist University of Pennsylvania

Vinay Prasad, MD  Oncologist, epidemiologist

Martin Kuldorff, PhD Harvard epidemiologist, biostatistician

John Ioannidia, MD  Professor in Disease Prevention at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and Co-Director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford

Sumetra Gupta, PhD  Epidemiologist at Oxford University

Jay Battachary, MD  Professor of Medicine and Public Health Policy at Stanford University

Marty Makary, MD  Oncologic surgeon and public health policy researcher at Johns Hopkins University

Scott Atlas, MD  Professor and Chief of Neuroradiology at Stanford University and Senior Fellow in Health Care Policy at the Hoover Institute

Paul Marik, MD  Former Chair of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Eastern Virginia School of Medicine.