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Maxwell Smith, PhD

@maxwellsmith.bsky.social
6.6K followers 777 following 353 posts

Bioethicist, Associate Professor, & CIHR Applied Public Health Chair at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. Also Director, Western's Centre for Bioethics and Associate Director, Rotman Institute of Philosophy. Views are my own. maxwellsmith.ca

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Reposted by Maxwell Smith, PhD
Jeremy Snyder @jsnyder.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I'm very happy to share a new OA publication in Public Health Ethics. I argue for the inclusion of a principle of non-complicity among other public health ethics principles & that non-complicity complements other ethical principles & particularly addresses limitations in a principle of solidarity.
academic.oup.com
Non-complicity as a principle of public health ethics
Abstract. The concept of complicity has received increased interest in academic and popular venues to describe a range of moral phenomena including contrib
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Reposted by Maxwell Smith, PhD
André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Why Is No One Talking About Long COVID Anymore? Attention has waned but patients are still suffering, by Jeffrey D. Klausner, Lao-Tzu Allan-Blitz www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco... via @medpagetoday.com @longcovidadvoc.com
medpagetoday.com
Opinion | Why Is No One Talking About Long COVID?
Attention has waned but patients are still suffering
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Canada Healthwatch 🍁 @canadahealthwatch.ca · 17/08/2026
Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak is now the deadliest in its history, Thomson Reuters reports. This article and more at canadahealthwatch.ca #EbolaOutbreak
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Hannah Norman @hannahnorman.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Four years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and abortions have actually gone up. We made a video explainer for @kffhealthnews.org that explains why: kffhealthnews.org/courts/video...
kffhealthnews.org
Watch: Why Abortions Are on the Rise Since ‘Roe’ Was Overturned - KFF Health News
The way people undergo abortions has changed. This video details five things to know.
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Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
#CDC reports that the confirmed #measles count in 2026 has hit 2,318, exceeding the 2025 total. It's the highest annual total — & the year's far from over — in 35 years. To keep measles under control, about 95% of kids need to be vaccinated. Few parts of the country are hitting that target.
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Matthew Cortland (they) @matthewcort.land · 20/07/2026
It's a scam all the way down. Taylor Farms gave MAGA Inc. $1M USD less than a week after FDA postponed implementation of food traceability rules. www.patreon.com/mattbc/posts...
FEC Schedule A itemized receipt, line C. Contributor: Taylor Fresh Foods Inc, 911-B Blanco Circle, Salinas, CA 93902. Date of receipt: 03/26/2025. Transaction ID: SA17.4550. Amount of receipt this period: $1,000,000.00. Marked "Memo Item" and labeled "NON-CONTRIBUTION." Receipt-for boxes (Primary/General/Other) are blank. Aggregate year-to-date: $1,000,000.00.
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
The Public Health Agency of Canada is recruiting two new members for its Public Health Ethics Consultative Group (PHECG). More info here: lnkd.in/p/g-86WF2T
lnkd.in
Recruitment: PHAC Public Health Ethics Consultative Group | Maxwell Smith
The Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada seeks to recruit two new members for its Public Health Ethics Consultative Group (PHECG). This expert committee provides adv...
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Don't know enough about it tbh. What will we release when we are overrun with Guinea foul?
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Reposted by Maxwell Smith, PhD
Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Court upholds NY repeal of religious vaccine exemption for school: Explaining the decision in Miller v. McDonald (take II), including background, the decision, and what's next. www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalrap... via @skepticalraptor.bsky.social
skepticalraptor.com
Court upholds NY repeal of religious vaccine exemption for school
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld New York's repeal of religious vaccine exemptions following extensive legal arguments from Amish plaintiffs. The court concluded that the mandate serves publ...
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SallyRCbra @srpassesiton.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Well done @HayleyGleeson “Experts say infection control protocols are not good enough, with some doctors warning widespread indifference to COVID is costing too many lives and adding unnecessary pressure to the health system.” www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10...
abc.net.au
Thousands caught COVID in NSW hospitals last year, hundreds died, new data shows
Thousands of patients caught COVID in NSW public hospitals last year and hundreds died, fuelling concerns among infection control experts that hospitals are not taking strong enough precautions agains...
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Jay Pitter @jaypitter.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
This is bigger than any premier or party. If a single elected official can unilaterally advance policies with adverse public safety impacts, we should be asking hard questions about the strength of our democracy & advocating like hell for evidence-based placemaking. #EvidenceBasedPlacemaking
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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
📣 Calling on all nations to show up and demonstrate solidarity www.cidrap.umn.edu/ebola/africa...
cidrap.umn.edu
Africa CDC triples amount needed to fight Ebola
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Reposted by Maxwell Smith, PhD
CBS News @cbsnews.com · 25/06/2026
NEW: The military is again requiring flu vaccines for recruits, months after Defense Secretary Hegseth ended a mandate.
cbsn.ws
Military requiring flu vaccines for recruits as Air Force base deals with outbreak
All military branches began requiring recruits to get flu vaccines earlier this month, an exception to Pete Hegseth's decision to lift the military's vaccine mandate, a Pentagon official said.
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Matthew Kavanagh @matthewkavanagh.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Just in case you were wondering whether the feigned outrage over personal freedom during Covid was real or theater… it turns out the right does really like the exercise of state control.
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
"If you confine people, they will need to be supported with food. And if they don’t get food, they will move": www.straitstimes.com/world/ebola-...
straitstimes.com
Ebola patients flee treatment centres in Congo for food as hunger crisis deepens
Over 150 escapes from Ebola treatment and isolation facilities have been documented since late May. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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Sarah T Roberts, PhD @ubiquity75.xyz · 17/06/2026
Just a reminder that all those LLMs are built on the pilfered vast libraries of humanistic and social scientific knowledge production. Good luck, society. You’re gonna need it. www.hpherald.com/evening_dige...
hpherald.com
U. of C. freezes Ph.D. admissions to most humanities programs
The University of Chicago will pause or scale back graduate admissions in more than a dozen programs next year as the school confronts what administrators have called “very real budget
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Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Secretary Kennedy pretended in the past to support free speech. Now he is using his position to bully a medical journal, in a way that's reminiscent of the conduct the Supreme Court struck down here: supremecourt.gov/opinions/23p... He cites no regulatory authority, and has none.
Letter from Kennedy to journal demanding answers to questions, page I. Letter from Kennedy to journal demanding answers to questions, page II.Tweet: https://x.com/SecKennedy/status/2066551769006538847?s=20
"I sent this letter to the Editor-in-Chief of Toxicology Reports demanding a full explanation for the removal of a published article examining vaccines and sudden infant death.

Americans have a right to know why scientific papers are removed, who made those decisions, what evidence supported them, and whether the same standards are applied consistently.

We will restore trust in public health by insisting on transparency, accountability, and open scientific inquiry—not by asking the public to accept decisions behind closed doors."

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Daniel S. Goldberg @profgoldberg.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I agree w/ @shobitap.org that lamenting the politicization of "science" and the health professions is both nonsensical and strategically problematic. The enterprise of science -- basic, clinical, and any other variety -- is fundamentally political in +++ ways. I've written about this here: 1/
ajph.aphapublications.org
Against the Very Idea of the Politicization of Public Health Policy | AJPH | Vol. 102 Issue 1
I criticize the concern over the politicization of public health policy as a justification for preferring a narrow to a broad model of public health. My critique proceeds along 2 lines. First, the fac...
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
"They have spent so much time talking about not having the government impose on peoples individual decisions..." "And yet, in response to the hantavirus and Ebola, this administration has chosen to impose very draconian and extreme public health measures." www.npr.org/2026/06/11/n...
npr.org
White House response to hantavirus and Ebola contrasts with COVID criticisms
The administration imposed mandatory quarantine orders on two passengers from the cruise ship hit by hantavirus and is blocking Americans who catch Ebola from returning home for treatment.
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Patrick Fafard @pfafard.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
This is an important & original analysis of whether & how “coercion” is defined in scholarship about public health. Very well done. Can something similar be done for the word “politics” in public health? My sense is the word is much used, rarely defined, and this confuses things.
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Thank you for the kind assessment, Patrick. And I would love to see a similar analysis of the word "politics" and "political" in public health!
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Reposted by Maxwell Smith, PhD
Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
ACOG’s Maternal Immunization Schedule: "Together with the RSV and Tdap vaccines, the flu and COVID vaccines can help to keep both pregnant mothers healthy and their baby safe ...before they develop immunity from their own vaccines." open.substack.com/pub/stopanti... @aboutpediatrics.bsky.social
open.substack.com
ACOG’s Maternal Immunization Schedule
The ACOG immunization schedule reinforces that vaccines are safe and necessary during pregnancy.
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Gotta learn to live with it
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Reposted by Maxwell Smith, PhD
Liz Szabo @lizszabo.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
“Cervical cancer elimination isn't just a public health objective. It's a moral imperative. No one should be diagnosed with or die from a cancer we have the ability to prevent." www.cidrap.umn.edu/human-papill...
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Just published in BMJ Public Health: "Coercion in public health: a scoping review of definitions" bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/4/2/...
bmjpublichealth.bmj.com
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 09/06/2026
NEW: Regulators have linked Mark McAfee’s raw dairy farm to more than a dozen recalls and outbreaks that left hundreds of people ill. “I’ve put a couple kids in the hospital,” McAfee said. “But here’s the thing: I’m a pioneer.”
propublica.org
He Profits Off Raw Milk That's Making People Sick. The Government Isn't Stopping Him.
With Raw Farm, the largest raw-milk dairy in the country, Mark McAfee has capitalized on a once-fringe product that's been thrust into the mainstream in recent years and backed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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Council of Canadian Academies/Conseil des académies canadiennes @cca-reports.ca · 04/06/2026
More than 14,000 deaths in Canada in 2018 were associated with resistant infections. Of these, 5,400 deaths were directly attributable to antimicrobial resistance. bit.ly/3NljSvK
bit.ly
When Antibiotics Fail, five years on
Ahead of the September 26 UN General Assembly high-level meeting on AMR, the CCA revisited When Antibiotics Fail, a 237-page report from its Expert Panel on the Potential Socio-Economic Impacts of An...
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CTV News Winnipeg @ctvnewswinnipeg.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Canada restricts U.S. livestock imports from areas affected by screwworm
bit.ly
Canada restricts U.S. livestock imports from areas affected by screwworm
Canada will place temporary import restrictions on livestock entering the country from affected areas in the U.S. after a case of screwworm was confirmed.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 04/06/2026
The U.S. government has charged two scientists at NIH of criminally conspiring to smuggle biological samples into the country and lying about it. The researchers have pled not guilty. scim.ag/4uRHH2k
science.org
NIH scientists criminally charged for bringing monkeypox virus into US, although samples “inactivated”
Defendants face up to 5 years prison for alleged “smuggling” and “conspiracy”
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Timothy Caulfield @caulfieldtim.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
The decrease in trust in science has happened almost ENTIRELY on one side of the political spectrum. Mostly created for political gain (MAGA/MAHA), the creation of wellness & influencer brands (eg, Rogan et al), selling unproven products (eg, ivermectin), and the profit of social media platforms.
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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
tl,dr; Scientists no longer allowed to use federal funding to publish, attend meetings, or talk to the public. They cannot collaborate internationally. Grants can be cancelled for any reason, at any time, political appointees have a final say over what gets funded, and who gets funded.
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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
💯 “$8 million funding announcement today from the Canadian government is a drop in the bucket – and it follows an outrageous $2.7 billion cut to Canada’s international assistance”
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David Keegan @drdavidkeegan.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
🚨🚨🚨 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... “These findings suggest that approximately 1 in 6 patients with COVID-19 develops postacute sequelae, predominantly chronic conditions currently invisible to surveillance systems, representing an accumulating rather than resolving health care burden.”
jamanetwork.com
Long COVID Persistence and Surveillance Gaps Across 58 US Hospitals
This cohort study quantifies the gap between true postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 burden and diagnostic code–based estimates, determines the proportion representing chronic disease, and characterizes...
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
"New Trump administration restrictions prevent US health experts from contributing during conference calls with the World Health Organisation and limit those only listening to “small groups” www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
independent.co.uk
Trump administration ‘restricts US scientists’ role in Ebola response’
New restrictions prevent US health experts from contributing during conference calls with the World Health Organisation and limit those only listening to “small groups”
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Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
"Hantavirus and Ebola are making headlines. But another deadly outbreak is unfolding that's barely registered on the global scene." More than 500 children died in a measles outbreak in Bangladesh, with over 60,000 suspected cases. via @npr.org www.npr.org/2026/05/24/g...
npr.org
More than 500 children have died in an outbreak that the world is virtually ignoring
The number of cases — and deaths — in Bangladesh is staggering. As of Sunday, 528 have died, mostly children. How did this measles outbreak begin? And how is the country responding?
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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
The world is witnessing the consequences of a perfect storm of aid cuts, extreme nationalism, withdrawal of multi-lateralism, attacks on science, and under-investments in public health www.wsj.com/world/africa...
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WHO @who.int · 23/05/2026
Since the last Disease Outbreak News was published on 16 May 2026, the number of suspected and confirmed cases has increased rapidly in DRC, with geographical expansion into North Kivu and South Kivu. www.who.int/emergencies/...
who.int
Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus – Democratic Republic of the Congo
On 15 May 2026, the Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the Ministry of Health of Uganda declared an outbreak of Ebola Disease following ...
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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @drtedros.who.int · 22/05/2026
The #Ebola situation in the #DRC is deeply worrisome. So far, 82 cases have been confirmed, with seven confirmed deaths. But we know the epidemic in the DRC is much larger. There are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths.
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David Fisman. @dfisman.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
New paper out in BMC Infectious Diseases, led by Natalie Wilson with Alicia Grima and Clara Lee: how we define hospital-acquired COVID changes whether we see its true mortality burden, and most common definitions hide it. 🧵
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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Already a large outbreak and could be the biggest yet Hopefully not, if enough investments are made right now www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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Billy Hanlon @bhanlon15.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
The Conversation: 'Long COVID will cost the US an estimated $8 billion over just 3 years due to healthcare burden, managing symptoms and loss to the workforce' theconversation.com/long-covid-w...
theconversation.com
Long COVID will cost the US an estimated $8 billion over just 3 years due to healthcare burden, managing symptoms and loss to the workforce
The US lacks the capacity to treat long COVID, and HHS defunding is taking the country further away from being able to handle the country’s growing number of long COVID cases.
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
One person with recent travel to East Africa being tested for Ebola virus in Ontario There's no need to panic. But this does not mean we shouldn't be doing everything possible to isolate possible, presumptive, and confirmed cases and interrupt onward transmission. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti...
ctvnews.ca
One person with recent travel to East Africa being tested for Ebola virus in Ontario
One person who recently returned to Ontario from East Africa is being tested for the Ebola virus, the province says.
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
"We've heard "don't panic" for so long and by so many that at best it implies no need for action..." Agreed. And that's why I chose to explicitly emphasize the exact opposite.
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
A problem (not *the* problem) is that many seem to equate taking action with panicking. IMO it's important to emphasize that we can take swift action even while acknowledging risk to the Canadian public is currently low.
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
africacdc.org/news-item/u-...
africacdc.org
Statement on US Travel Restrictions Related to the Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak – Africa CDC
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 19 May 2026 – The United States remains a longstanding and valued partner of Africa in disease surveillance, emergency response, workforce development and global health security...
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Canada's present position is reasonable and laudable: "Canada has no immediate plans to follow the Trump administration’s ban on travellers from three African countries considered at risk from the Ebola virus, a federal health official says." www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
theglobeandmail.com
No immediate plans for Ebola travel ban, Ottawa says, as deaths rise in eastern Congo
U.S. bans entry from three African countries; WHO chief voices worry about outbreak’s ‘scale and speed’
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
In this context, important to read the May 19 Africa CDC statement on US travel restrictions related to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak: "Our concern is not with the objective of protecting populations, but with the use of broad travel restrictions as a primary public health tool during outbreaks."
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
One person with recent travel to East Africa being tested for Ebola virus in Ontario There's no need to panic. But this does not mean we shouldn't be doing everything possible to isolate possible, presumptive, and confirmed cases and interrupt onward transmission. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti...
ctvnews.ca
One person with recent travel to East Africa being tested for Ebola virus in Ontario
One person who recently returned to Ontario from East Africa is being tested for the Ebola virus, the province says.
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
“No cases [of pediatric deaths] were classified as certain in relation to COVID-19 vaccination”. This the topline sentence in the results from the executive summary of the report that Prasad, Makary, and Hoeg claimed to show that 10 children died from the COVID19 vaccine.
 This memorandum presents findings from an analysis of U.S. VAERS pediatric death reports following COVID-19 vaccines. This analysis was conducted in response to a request from the Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR) for a structured causality assessment of VAERS reports of pediatric deaths following COVID-
staff have reviewed such reports previously as part of
CBER's routine, ongoing monitoring of incoming VAERS data, typically
(a) limitations inherent to passive surveillance databases, including unverified
(b) limitations in causality assessment including inability to eliminate or quantify incertainty, subjective variability and issues with reproducibility, inability to quantify relationship likelihood or relative contribution of vaccination, oversimplification of complex cases with variable quality information or confounding factors, and inability to definitively prove a connection between a vaccine and an adverse event. A VAERS query was conducted for all domestic reports of a death in a patient under 18 years old who received any COVID-19 vaccine, including both monovalent and bivalent formulations. The goal of this analysis is to provide causality assessment at the individual case level based on a systematic review of these reports by using structured causality assessment criteria.
(PTs) for specific adverse events.
medical officers reviewed and discussed each
individual case, including any available medical records and autopsy reports; overall causality assessment of each case was based on group discussion and consensus, ising the World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Centre (WHO-UMC) system or standardized case causality assessment (1). Using this system, each case was classified into one of six categories (certain, probable/likely, possible, unlikely, conditional or unassessable) based on the strength of available evidence that the vaccine was causally related to the patient's death.
Results: A cumulative query of VAERS retrieved 96 unique …
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