Candace Owens questions the narrative on childhood vaccinations in her show, “A Shot in the Dark,” where she discusses the medical establishment’s push to give children dozens of shots before they turn 18.
In “A Shot in the Dark,” Owens takes a non-political approach and uses mainstream sources to inform parents about vaccine ingredients, schedules, and the listed potential side effects while asking basic questions that she says doctors often ignore. The show is <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/candace/sitd">available for members on DailyWire+</a>.
“I am not going to try to convince you not to vaccinate your children,” Owens said about her show. “That is not what I am being tasked with. It is not what is in my heart or soul to do. What I want to give you instead is information.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/candace/sitd">JOIN DAILYWIRE+ TO WATCH &#8216;A SHOT IN THE DARK&#8217;</a>
Owens points out the conflicting claims regarding vaccine safety from the FDA and CDC, federal agencies that encourage parents to have vaccines administered to their newborns. Owens dives into the history of childhood vaccines, looking at how the number of vaccines and doses dramatically increased beginning in the mid-1980s after children first started receiving shots in the 1960s. She also questions the narrative that vaccines are making people healthier and shares her own traumatic story after receiving the Gardasil HPV vaccine.
“The slur of calling somebody an anti-vaxxer has been tremendously effective throughout my lifetime, and I thought it was the crazy, crunchy people who wanted their children to die that didn&#8217;t vaccinate their children,” Owens said. “But … your life experiences transform you. And I had a life experience that transformed me in the form of me being vax injured.”
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In “A Shot in the Dark,” the Daily Wire host reads through FDA inserts on vaccines that list ingredients and potential side effects, something Owens says doctors often fail to tell parents before injecting their children with vaccines.
“I want to use CDC data,” she said. “I want to take a look at the FDA inserts when I talk about what can happen if you give your child a vaccine. These are things that the pediatrician does not supply you with, which should be astounding to you.”
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Candace Owens Questions Big Pharma, Vaccines In Her Series ‘A Shot In The Dark’

Candace Owens

Vaccines

The federal government spent nearly two billion dollars of taxpayer money on promoting <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID vaccination</a> around the world, according to a new report from the U.S. Agency for International Development. 
According to a <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/USAID_COVID_GVAX_Capstone_Executive_Summary_082423_FINAL_508.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> released on Thursday by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/usaid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USAID</a>, the U.S. government spent $1.8 billion on promoting global COVID vaccination, and partnered with 120 different countries to donate 688 million COVID vaccination doses after launching “Global Vax” in December 2021.
“Global VAX demonstrated that a concerted push of technical support, diplomatic engagement, and funding can support countries to rapidly increase access to and confidence in vaccines in the midst of an evolving health emergency,” an executive summary of the report said. 
The effort encompassed USAID, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Department, the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Treasury Department. 
The report added that government agencies were going to maintain international partnerships
“As the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, U.S. government agencies sustain partnerships around the world to save lives, strengthen health security and pandemic preparedness, promote social and economic progress, and support countries to achieve their goals for health and development,” the report said. 
Prior to launching the Global Vax program in December 2021, the U.S. had already sent <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-ship-4-mln-covid-19-vaccine-doses-nigeria-566-mln-south-africa-2021-07-28/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">millions of doses</a> of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines to South Africa and Niger. 
The release of the report followed comments by USAID Administrator Sammantha Power on Wednesday suggesting that countries use religious leaders to push people into getting the COVID vaccine. 
“If you are trying to get people to take a COVID vaccine, you may not, in that particular community, have resources to fund a pop-up clinic, but you can engage a faith leader for free,” Power said. 
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Power’s comments echoed the government&#8217;s domestic strategy where then National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-the-federal-government-used-evangelical-leaders-to-spread-covid-propaganda-to-churches" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed for evangelical ministers</a> to use their “credibility” to promote the COVID vaccine. 
The vaccine, which was initially marketed as highly effective, faced backlash after the Biden administration attempted to implement an aggressive mandate and some medical experts <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covid-vaccine-brings-higher-heart-risk-little-benefit-to-young-men-medical-expert-warns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">questioned</a> the efficacy of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine. 
High-profile figures like X owner <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-claims-he-had-major-side-effects-from-second-covid-booster-shot-felt-like-he-was-dying" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> and radio host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/megyn-kelly-says-she-regrets-getting-covid-vax-opens-up-about-autoimmune-issue-after-booster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Megyn Kelly</a> have said that they regret taking the vaccine and had medical complications after taking the shot.

Chicago’s Roseland Community Hospital Administers Covid Vaccinations To Hospital Staff

New Report Shows How Much Money U.S. Government Spent On Promoting COVID Vaccine Abroad

COVID

Covid vaccine

Foreign Policy

Moderna

Pfizer

USAID

World

Tennis great <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-stays-with-you-novak-djokovic-back-in-australia-after-dramatic-detention-deportation-over-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Novak Djokovic</a> made history on Sunday when he defeated Daniil Medvedev in three sets to win the U.S. Open, scoring him his 24th major championship, tying the record for the most Grand Slam singles titles.
Djokovic, who has refused to take the COVID vaccine, was notably banned from entering the U.S. last year due to a Biden administration vaccine rule, keeping the athlete from competing in the U.S. Open last year.
&#8220;To make history [in] this sport is just something truly remarkable and special, obviously, in every possible way, in every possible meaning of the word,&#8221; Djokovic said after winning the Open, <a href="https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/38373910/novak-djokovic-beats-daniil-medvedev-win-2023-us-open-24th-major-title" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to ESPN. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to describe the words.&#8221;
&#8220;I never imagined that I would be here standing with you talking about 24 Slams,&#8221; the 36-year-old continued. &#8220;I never thought that would be the reality. But the last couple of years, I felt I have a chance, I have a shot for history, and why not grab it if it&#8217;s presented?&#8221;
Djokovic, who said he had already contracted and recovered from the virus, has chosen not to get <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vaccinated</a> against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a>. This led to the dramatic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/novak-djokovic-loses-visa-appeal-deported-from-australia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detainment and deportation</a> of the tennis star from Australia, rendering him unable to defend his Australian Open title in 2021. Later, he was banned from New York for the 2022 U.S. Open, similarly over his vaccination status.
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“Sadly, I will not be able to travel to NY this time for [the] US Open,” he said at the time on social media. “Thank you #NoleFam for your messages of love and support. Good luck to my fellow players! I’ll keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again. See you soon tennis world!”
Djokovic spoke about what happened to him about a year after the Australia incident. “Obviously what happened 12 months ago was not easy for me, for my family, team, anybody who is close to me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It’s obviously disappointing to leave the country like that.”
“You can’t forget those events,” Djokovic continued. “It’s one of these things that stays with you for I guess the rest of your life. It’s something that I’ve never experienced before and hopefully never again. But it is a valuable life experience for me and something that as I said will stay there, but I have to move on.”
The athlete has been open about what he&#8217;s willing to give up for his personal medical choices, specifically tennis championships.
“That is the price that I’m willing to pay,” Djokovic <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60354068" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the BBC. “Because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else. I’m trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can.”
“I was never against vaccination,” he added, “but I’ve always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-stays-with-you-novak-djokovic-back-in-australia-after-dramatic-detention-deportation-over-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It ‘Stays With You’: Novak Djokovic Back In Australia After Dramatic Detention, Deportation Over Vaccine</a>

2023 US Open Championships Day 14

Novak Djokovic Comes Back To Win U.S. Open After Biden Vax Policy Ban Last Year 

COVID-19 Vaccine

Novak Djokovic

Tennis

U.S. Open

US Open

Vaccine Mandate

A group of teachers in New York City who were fired after they refused to take the COVID vaccine must be given their jobs back along with back pay, a New York judge ruled Wednesday.
State Supreme Court Judge Ralph Porzio <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nyc-teachers-win-jobs-back-backpay-refusing-covid-19-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> that the decision to fire 10 employees of the New York City Education Department and deny them religious exemptions was unlawful, arbitrary, and capricious.
The group of school principals, teachers, and other educators sued the city after they were fired.
&#8220;This Court sees no rational basis for not allowing unvaccinated classroom teachers in amongst an admitted population of primarily unvaccinated students,&#8221; Porzio wrote in his 22-page opinion.
&#8220;As such, the decision to summarily deny the classroom teachers amongst the Panel Petitioners based on an undue hardship, without any further evidence of individualized analysis, is arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable. As such, each classroom teacher amongst the Panel Petitioners is entitled to a religious exemption from the Vaccine Mandate,&#8221; the judge wrote.
The 10 public school employees are entitled to their positions plus back pay in salaries, benefits, pensions, and seniority, the court ruled.
New York City&#8217;s COVID vaccine mandate for public school workers only ended on February 10. The mandate began on October 1, 2021.
The court&#8217;s decision <a href="https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2023/09/10-covid-vaccine-related-teacher-terminations-overturned-by-state-supreme-court-judge-som-plaintiffs-motions-denied.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only applies</a> to the 10 educators who sued, but thousands of other education workers lost their jobs due to the vaccine mandate, according to Fox News.
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The petitioners had wanted to make their lawsuit a class action suit, but the judge denied that request. Seven other petitioners were also requesting an exemption along with their jobs back with back pay, but the judge denied their requests. One of those denied was a group called Teachers for Choice, which opposes forced vaccination.
“Although the petitioners’ overall position is that the citywide panel did not provide relief to the vast majority of initial DOE applicants, and specifically that these petitioners did seek that review, the record before this court is insufficient to make any determination as to those claims,” Porzio wrote in his ruling.
The city had argued that “granting reasonable accommodation to classroom teachers could not be done without preventing a risk to the vulnerable and still primarily unvaccinated student population,” <a href="https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2023/09/10-covid-vaccine-related-teacher-terminations-overturned-by-state-supreme-court-judge-som-plaintiffs-motions-denied.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to court documents.
The judge also cited New York City Mayor Eric Adams&#8217; decision to scrap the vaccine mandate for athletes and entertainers as evidence that the vaccine mandate for public school teachers was arbitrary and unreasonable.
The same judge ruled last year in favor of a Staten Island firefighter who was fired for refusing to take the COVID vaccine.
“Hindsight is a powerful tool,” Porzio <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2022/10/go-fight-some-fires-covid-related-termination-of-staten-island-firefighter-overturned-in-state-supreme-court.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in that decision. “The pandemic today is not what it was a year, or even two years ago. Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting COVID-19.&#8221;
Scores of public and private employers across the country implemented a vaccine mandate for employees when the COVID vaccine became available. Many U.S. workers across industries who requested exceptions for religious or health reasons were denied their requests.
The Biden administration also attempted to require employers with at least 100 employees to require the vaccine, but the Supreme Court blocked that mandate early last year after The Daily Wire and others <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/read-it-supreme-courts-massive-blow-against-bidens-vaxx-mandate">sued</a> the administration.

Group Of 10 NYC Teachers Lose Battle With City Over Vaccination Mandates

NYC Teachers Who Refused COVID Vaccine Must Get Jobs Back With Back Pay, Judge Rules

New York

New York City

Journalist and podcaster <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/megyn-kelly-others-blasts-newsweek-for-slamming-critics-of-article-referencing-women-as-non-men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Megyn Kelly</a> said she regrets getting the COVID vaccine and additional booster shots after she recently “tested positive for an autoimmune issue.” 
Kelly, 52, has long been outspoken about her opposition to vaccine requirements for children, but she decided it would be best to get the shot herself. The conservative commentator said Wednesday that she realized it was a mistake to get the COVID shots after talking to her doctor when she tested positive for an autoimmune issue at her annual physical. 
&#8220;I regret getting the vaccine even though I am a 52-year-old woman because I don&#8217;t think I needed it,&#8221; Kelly said. &#8220;I think I would have been fine. I&#8217;ve gotten COVID many times and it was well past when the vaccine was doing what it was supposed to be doing.&#8221;
“I went to the best Rheumatologist in New York, and I asked her, do you think this could have to do with the fact that I got the damn booster and then got COVID within three weeks? And she said ‘yes.’ Yes,” Kelly continued. “I wasn&#8217;t the only one she&#8217;d seen that with.”
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In October 2022, Kelly was <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/megyn-kellys-anti-vax-lies-are-a-threat-to-public-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticized</a> for spreading “anti-vax lies” after she <a href="https://twitter.com/megynkelly/status/1582854900836290560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1582854900836290560%7Ctwgr%5E8da69c2dba3b48394c9da7e45bfba1fa5dc96baf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fmegyn-kellys-anti-vax-lies-are-a-threat-to-public-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> that children were “dying” from myocarditis and &#8220;other injuries&#8221; after getting vaccinated against COVID. In the tweet, Kelly went on to slam the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for adding the COVID vaccine to the children’s vaccination schedule. 
“HOW DARE THE CDC ADD THIS TO ITS LIST OF SCHOOL VACCINATIONS? Don’t listen,” Kelly warned last year. “Be very careful w/ your teenage boys in [particular] but girls too. These are not honest brokers. This is dangerous!”
The former Fox News host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/scary-of-kids-dying-megyn-kelly-slams-cdc-after-they-add-covid-vaccine-to-kids-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last year that she initially believed the vaccine “was a miracle,” but she was “upset” by government overreach and wanted more information about any health risks associated with getting the COVID vaccine.
“The vaccines and the information about the damage that the vaccines are doing versus their efficacy is dark,” Kelly said. “Why is it being buried? Why can’t we talk about it?”
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“You can’t trust the American health services; they have only one mission, which is to push their vaccines on us,” she added.
The federal government continues encouraging Americans to get the vaccine and additional boosters. President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-to-request-more-funding-for-new-covid-vaccine-recommended-that-everybody-get-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last month that he would ask Congress for additional funding for developing a new COVID vaccine.
“It will likely be recommended that everybody get it no matter whether they’ve gotten it before or not,” the president said.

Megyn Kelly

Megyn Kelly Says She Regrets Getting COVID Vax, Opens Up About Autoimmune Issue After Booster

Biden Admin

COVID-19

Media

U.S.

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers attended the US Open on Sunday night and appeared to praise tennis star Novak Djokovic’s refusal to get the COVID vaccine. 
Rodgers, who has received criticism in the past for his own actions regarding the COVID jab, was in attendance watching Djokovic in Queens, New York. Djokovic is competing in his first US Open in two years because he refused to get the shot. 
In an Instagram story Sunday night, Rodgers <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/09/04/aaron-rodgers-praises-novak-djokovics-anti-vaxx-stance-in-post-from-us-open/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> a photo of Djokovic preparing to serve the ball with the caption, “Bucket list … being able to witness the greatness of [Djokovic] in person at [Arthur Ashe Stadium]. He also included a hashtag that said “#novaxdjokovic” and had placed a red line through the Moderna logo – a biotech company that produces COVID vaccines – in an advertisement that can be seen behind the tennis star. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Aaron Rodgers went to watch Novak Djokovic play at the US Open and dropped a banger IG story <a href="https://t.co/EpVgtw6yHS">pic.twitter.com/EpVgtw6yHS</a>
&mdash; OutKick (@Outkick) <a href="https://twitter.com/Outkick/status/1698736833734050237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Djokovic, who is from Serbia, is considered one of the <a href="https://www.espn.com/tennis/rankings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">best</a> tennis players of all time but was denied entry into the United States in 2022 for the US Open. At the time, international air travelers were required to show <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/world-no-1-djokovic-finally-can-play-in-u-s-again-after-biden-ends-vaccine-requirement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proof</a> of vaccination against COVID before being allowed to enter the country. 
Earlier this year, just weeks before the COVID rule was rescinded, Djokovic was <a href="https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/35795350/novak-djokovic-pulls-indian-wells-eve-draw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced to withdraw</a> from the Indian Wells tournament in California because the Department of Homeland Security denied his COVID vaccine waiver request, ESPN reported. 
“The reason why I was not here for two years, I have zero regret on that. I’m just glad to be back,” Djokovic <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/15/sport/novak-djokovic-cincinnati-open-tennis-spt-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told CNN</a> last month upon arriving for the US Open. “I’ve had plenty of success on American soil with Indian Wells, Miami, obviously Canada and here, [I’ve] won many times at these Masters 1,000 events, all of them. Of course, the U.S. Open as well being the pinnacle of the hard-court season. I’m just excited.”
For his part, Rodgers has also made headlines for his refusal of the COVID vaccine. In 2021, Rodgers was asked whether he was vaccinated against COVID, to which he replied that he was “immunized.” The former Green Bay Packer said he is allergic to one of the ingredients in the Pfizer and Moderna shots. 
&#8220;They were doing this, I called it a witch hunt, where they were asking every single player ‘are you vaccinated?’” Rodgers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aaron-rodgers-blasts-medias-vaccine-witch-hunt-in-chat-with-joe-rogan-reveals-immunized-strategy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> podcast host Joe Rogan last year. “I had come to the conclusion that I was going to say, ‘I’ve been immunized,’ and if there was a follow-up, then talk about my process,” he said. “But I thought there was a possibility that, I say I’m immunized, maybe they understand what that means, maybe they don’t, maybe they follow up. They didn’t follow up.”
Instead of getting injected with a vaccine, Rodgers said he &#8220;looked into other options which included an immunization process through holistic doctor. I researched and talked to probably a dozen different MDs. I found a protocol that I felt like was the best available.”
Research on the relatively new COVID vaccines is still being conducted. According to one leading medical expert, young men <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-100-colleges-are-still-enforcing-vaccine-mandates-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">face an elevated risk</a> of heart inflammation after vaccination, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-100-colleges-are-still-enforcing-vaccine-mandates-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. 
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Dr. Marty Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and an oncology surgeon at the school’s affiliated hospital, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covid-vaccine-brings-higher-heart-risk-little-benefit-to-young-men-medical-expert-warns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highlighted</a> a study from Cedars Sinai that found a 30% increase in heart attack deaths among adults between the ages of 25 and 44 during the first two years of the COVID pandemic. While the uptick could result from the virus itself, Makary, speaking to The Daily Wire&#8217;s “Morning Wire” podcast in February, said there’s evidence that the vaccine could be to blame.
“We did not see the uptake before the vaccine was rolled out, but young people were primarily affected around that same time, as well,” Makary told “Morning Wire.&#8221; &#8220;The state of Florida did their own study, looking at heart attacks after the vaccine in particular, and found that there was an 81% increase in sudden death from heart attacks in the months following the vaccine compared to baseline rates. So many people do believe that the vaccine is one of the causes of heart problems in young people.”
Amanda Prestigiacomo contributed to this report.

Aaron Rodgers US Open

Aaron Rodgers Appears To Show Support For ‘Novax’ Djokovic’s COVID Vaccine Stance At US Open

Aaron Rodgers

Health

Sports

Sam Harris, the famous atheist who has criticized Robert F. Kennedy for his crusade against vaccines, explained why he thought any blanket condemnation of vaccines could be dangerous.
Speaking on “Impact Theory” with host Tom Bilyeu, Harris prefaced his comments about vaccines by speaking of the efforts to bury the news of Hunter Biden’s laptop just prior to the 2020 election.
“My view is it is a coin toss as to what you do there,” he argued. “Now, if you raise the stakes, more, right, you make Trump even more sinister, you make the election even more tenuous, you make the information even more dubious, then the dials change. And so many of these decisions are not decisions you can make categorically in principle; it really is this pragmatic balancing of just what is true and what are the stakes,” he argued.
“You felt that it was obviously wrong to force people to get the MRNA vaccine for COVID, right?” he asked Bilyeu. “I would grant you, certainly in retrospect, that seems true, but if we change a few of the variables, I think your ethical intuitions and political intuitions would totally change.”
“You make it a much more obviously effective vaccine that really does block transmission, so like a sterilizing vaccine,” he theorized. “You make it a much more dangerous virus. You make it a virus that’s actually preferentially killing kids, rather than old people.”
“So now we’re in an environment where you&#8217;re deciding not to get vaccinated is putting my kids at risk. Do you get to make that choice? You might say, ‘Oh yes, I should be able to make that choice about my body,’ but dial up the deadliness of the pathogen, give us something like airborne Ebola that incubates for a month, you don’t know you have it and you walk around spreading it, and it’s got a 75% mortality rate and it&#8217;s mostly killing kids, no one gets to make that choice anymore. Literally, the cops come in and vaccinate you.”
“I would say that all of us agree to that,” he declared. “You turn up the lethality of the pathogen; you turn up the effectiveness of the vaccine; you turn down the risk of the vaccine, give me a truly safe vaccine, where there’s not even one documented case of vaccine injury, right?”
“Then you just have to be completely crazy to be worried about being vaccinated in that kind of environment,” he asserted. “Then it’s just a no-brainer. Then we just don’t tolerate diversity of opinion because the stakes are too high. It’s a full-on emergency. Bodies of kids are being stacked up in parks. There’s so many of them we don’t know what to do with them; we’ve got these mobile morgues and we have a vaccine that actually works?”
“Then we’ve got RFK Jr. saying, ‘Maybe we don’t want to get the vaccine’ on Rogan’s podcast, right? That’s the world I’ve been worried about ever since COVID,” he stated.
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“If kids were dying by the hundreds of thousands from COVID, at a rate of whatever it was, 1% today, but it was pretty much all kids, we would have had a very different experience,” he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVnc4YZc9hQ&amp;t=5900s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> John Wood in January. “There would have been no f***ing patience for vaccine skepticism.”

End of Faith Discussion Group

‘No One Gets To Make That Choice’: Sam Harris Argues Against Blanket Condemnation Of Vaccines

Sam Harris Argues Against Blanket Condemnation Of Vaccines

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Sam Harris

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. backed up his views on “safe vaccines” and said the Democratic Party is not what it used to be during a NewsNation <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/2024-election/rfk-jr-town-hall-vaccine-trump-russia-ukraine-democrat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">town hall</a> on Wednesday night. 
Kennedy fielded questions from the audience and moderator Elizabeth Vargas, host of NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” on a variety of topics, including the war in Ukraine and the state of the Democratic Party. One prominent moment from the event came when Dr. Tariq Butt, a family medicine physician, confronted the presidential contender on his controversial views on childhood vaccinations. 
“I’ve never been anti-vaccine, and I’ve said that hundreds and hundreds of times but it doesn’t matter,” Kennedy said in response to Butt calling his stance “dangerous.” “Using a pejorative to describe me is a way of silencing me or marginalizing me,” Kennedy said.  
Kennedy, the founder of the nonprofit organization Children’s Health Defense, said that he is a proponent of “safe vaccines,” though Vargas pointed out that “nearly every” scientific and medical organization says he is “wrong” on the issue and that vaccines are already safe.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🔥 Robert F. Kennedy Jr Debates a Family Physician on Vaccine Safety During the NewsNation Town Hall<a href="https://t.co/ffJIzffZUZ">pic.twitter.com/ffJIzffZUZ</a>
&mdash; Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1674266437890744323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“I think virtually every American would agree with my stance on vaccines, which is that vaccines should be tested like other medicines. They should be safety tested,” Kennedy told Butt. “Unfortunately, vaccines are not safety tested, they’re not.”
“Of the 72 vaccine doses now mandated — essentially mandated, they’re recommended but they’re really mandated — for American children, none of them, not one, has ever been subject to a pre-licensing placebo-controlled trial,” Kennedy claimed, prompting Vargas to interject, saying, “Yes they have.” 
Kennedy pointed to a 2016 meeting with Dr. Anthony Fauci in which he requested a pre-licensing safety test from “any vaccine.” The presidential contender says he sued the Department of Health and Human Services to produce the documentation, but they never did. 
“They said they could not provide a single safety study for any vaccine that is on the childhood schedule — a pre-licensing safety study,” Kennedy said. 
During the town hall, Kennedy also expressed his displeasure with the modern state of the Democratic Party and refused to pledge to support the eventual Democratic nominee. He told Vargas he was running because he thinks his party has “lost its way.” 
“I believe that the values that I’m trying to promote are the exact values that my father and my uncle would have promoted,” Kennedy said. “One of my purposes in running is to remind the Democratic Party of what we are supposed to represent, and what we’ve always represented. … I want my party back.” 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
RFK Jr: &quot;One of my purposes in running is to remind the Democratic Party of what we are supposed to represent, and what we&#39;ve always represented &#8230; I want my party back.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/4f0w5D88QA">pic.twitter.com/4f0w5D88QA</a>
&mdash; The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) <a href="https://twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/1674229146107658240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Kennedy is polling at 15%, trailing President Biden, who sits at 62%, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris <a href="https://harvardharrispoll.com/key-results-june-3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a>. A CNN <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rfk-jr-remains-thorn-bidens-side-2024-polls-show-kennedy-holding-sizable-chunk-dem-voters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from earlier this year had Kennedy at 20% among Democrats, a strong performance against an incumbent president. 
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When asked whether he would support the eventual nominee, Kennedy said, “Of course I’m not gonna do that,” adding that he’d support the nominee if they were “living up to Democratic values.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Visits “The Faulkner Focus”

RFK Jr. Defends Vaccine Stance, Says Democratic Party Has ‘Lost Its Way’

Elections

Politics

UFC commentator and comedian <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-rogan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Rogan</a> invited a health expert to debate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/robert-f-kennedy-jr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert Kennedy Jr.</a>, a Democratic Party candidate for president, about vaccines on his popular podcast in exchange for a $100,000 donation to charity.
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, lashed out in response to Rogan speaking to Kennedy about vaccine efficacy and safety during a recent interview on &#8220;The Joe Rogan Experience&#8221; on Spotify.
Hotez, who is <a href="https://www.texaschildrens.org/find-a-doctor/peter-jay-hotez-md-phd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">also a director</a> of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, was recognized as a <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/about/awards/vaccine-champion-dr-peter-hotez-lands-one-ama-s-highest-honors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;vaccine champion&#8221; by the American Medical Association</a> last year for his work advocating for vaccines, particularly during the COVID pandemic.
On Saturday, Hotez <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1670040001751445504" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> a link to a Vice article, &#8220;Spotify Has Stopped Even Sort of Trying to Stem Joe Rogan’s Vaccine Misinformation,&#8221; tagging the author and saying the report was &#8220;really true&#8221; and &#8220;just awful.&#8221;
He added: &#8220;And from all the online attacks I’m receiving after this absurd podcast, it’s clear many actually believe this nonsense.&#8221;
Rogan replied from his verified Twitter account. &#8220;Peter, if you claim what RFKjr is saying is &#8216;misinformation&#8217; I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if you’re willing to debate him on my show with no time limit,&#8221; Rogan <a href="https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/1670196590928068609" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
&#8220;Peter. Let’s finally have the respectful, congenial, informative debate that the American people deserve,&#8221; Kennedy <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1670199933981589505" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a reply.
In a quote tweet response to Rogan, Hotez <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1670202716541296640" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, &#8220;Joe, you have my cell, my email, I’m always willing to speak with you.&#8221;
<a href="https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/1670217682640072704" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rogan</a> shot back, saying Hotez&#8217;s tweet was a &#8220;non-answer&#8221; to his challenge.
&#8220;I challenged you publicly because you publicly quote tweeted and agreed with that dogs*** vice article,&#8221; Rogan added. &#8220;If you’re really serious about what you stand for, you now have a massive opportunity for a debate that will reach the largest audience a discussion like this has ever had. If you think someone else is better qualified, suggest that person.&#8221;
The back-and-forth continued with Hotez quote-tweeting <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1670220482044362755" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a longer response</a> to Rogan.
&#8220;Joe if you are serious about addressing vaccines + the fact that 200,000 unvaccinated Americans needlessly perished during our awful delta/BA.1 Covid waves (including 40,000 in our state of Texas) because they fell victims to vaccine disinformation: I want to have that discussion,&#8221; Hotez said.
&#8220;And I’m open to a number of different options, but to be pressured to give you an answer on Twitter, now, with a &#8216;take it or leave it&#8217; demand that’s not how I work. Honestly, I don’t even think that would be in your best interests,&#8221; Hotez continued. &#8220;I’m happy to come on and have a meaningful discussion. I respect you and your show and I don’t want an adversarial relationship. I think we can make some progress.&#8221;
Rogan kept up the pressure. &#8220;Again, I’m going to ask you very clearly, are you willing to debate [Kennedy] on my podcast?&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/1670221537742340099" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he asked</a>.
&#8220;To those misunderstanding what he’s saying, he’s NOT agreeing to debate [Kennedy],&#8221; Rogan said in another <a href="https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/1670227548008005633" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweet</a>. &#8220;He’s just offering to come on my show by himself.&#8221;
Hotez started engaging with Twitter CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a>, who jumped into the fray by claiming that the doctor is &#8220;afraid of a public debate, because he knows he&#8217;s wrong.&#8221;
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&#8220;Seriously Elon? This is monstrous. 200,000 Americans needlessly perished (including 40,000 Texans, our neighbors) because they were victims of antivaccine disinformation during our awful Covid delta/BA.1 waves in 2021-22. Please don’t do this…&#8221; he said in response to Musk.
As the conversation continued, Hotez summarized his position in a separate pair of tweets.
&#8220;Let’s remember what this is about, not a small number of Americans lost their lives from antivaccine disinformation during the pandemic. 200,000 Americans perished, 40,000 from my State of Texas I have nothing personal vs Joe, Elon, RFK Jr. Just hoping to halt more destruction,&#8221; he <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1670231693611999233" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;Not easy to respond when those 3 gang up and tag team. Wish I could be more eloquent and clever when the moment demands, but there you are..&#8221;
In an effort to convince Hotez to agree to a debate, others began to pledge additional donations to the charity, including <a href="https://twitter.com/RealNickMugalli/status/1670224025258262529" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hedge fund manager Bill Ackman</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/stkirsch/status/1670260460514598913" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tech entrepreneur Steve Kirsch</a>, bringing the total possible amount to at least $600,000.
It remains to be seen whether Hotez will appear on Rogan&#8217;s show and debate Kennedy.

Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan Challenges Vaccine ‘Champion’ To Debate Robert Kennedy Jr.

Joe Rogan Challenges Vaccine 'Champion' To Debate Robert Kennedy Jr.

2024 Election

In the depths of 2020, many Americans couldn&#8217;t wait for the COVID vaccine to hit pharmacies.
Once they got their shot, some couldn&#8217;t wait for their first booster dose — or their second.
Now though, the pandemic has died down, and Americans are exhausted.
Most never bothered getting their second, third, fourth, or fifth boosters, despite <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/04/cdc-keeps-pushing-covid-boosters-on-kids-despite-health-risks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aggressive</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne4CfAglWmQ&amp;t=28s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">marketing</a> from the federal government. Those who did get four or five doses have inspired <a href="https://twitter.com/CryptoMo_/status/1473647681314729989" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memes</a> online — portrayed as fearful hypochondriacs still living in 2020 who fell for government propaganda.
Meanwhile, booster dose rates are nearing zero.
Only 16.9% of the U.S. population — about 56.1 million people — have received the updated bivalent booster dose, the latest version of the booster shot, <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-people-booster-percent-pop5">according</a> to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Contrast that with the 69.5%, more than 230 million Americans, who got their initial COVID vaccine at some point. About 81.4% received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1119-booster-shots.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> the first version of the booster dose for all adults in November, 2021. Ten months later in September, the updated bivalent booster targeting the Omicron variant <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0901-covid-19-booster.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">became</a> available.
By mid-October, a month and a half into the updated booster rollout, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/15/us/politics/covid-booster-shots.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only 15 million</a> doses of the new shots had been administered to about one in 10 eligible people.
Americans weren&#8217;t as excited as the government hoped they would be.
Most of the vaccinated people who didn&#8217;t get the updated booster shot said they either didn&#8217;t know they were eligible, didn&#8217;t know boosters were available, or believed they still had strong protection against infection, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7203a5.htm?s_cid=mm7203a5_w#suggestedcitation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a November CDC survey.
Shots of the updated booster dose peaked on Friday, October 14 when <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-trends" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than</a> 800,000 people across the country went to get their booster dose, according to the CDC&#8217;s tracker.
After that, though, the number of people getting boosters dropped precipitously in early November and has continued to sink since then. The last week of April saw a slight bump, but this month the numbers dropped even lower. According to the CDC, fewer than 8,000 people got a booster dose on May 9th.
Keep in mind, the CDC&#8217;s data only includes first booster doses. The numbers for subsequent boosters are even more dismal.
Enthusiasm for multiple COVID boosters was weak from the start.
By August, 2022, about 58.8 million people 50 or older had <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7135a4.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gotten</a> their original booster shot, but only 20 million had gotten their second booster dose, despite all of them being eligible. The people most likely to skip the second booster were blacks and Hispanics, people in rural areas, people aged 50 to 64, and people who got the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine.
Currently, the CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html#:~:text=You%20may%20get%20a%20Novavax,any%20other%20COVID%2D19%20vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> people ages six and up need only one updated booster, while people 65 and up can get a second booster. The agency recommends immunocompromised people get a booster dose every two months.
In other words, a healthy person does not need more than one booster, even by the CDC&#8217;s standards.
Nevertheless, a small <a href="https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1567961245889839105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">but</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/richsignorelli/status/1568267364512276481" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vocal</a> group is eager to announce getting their third, fourth, or fifth booster shots on social media, even as serious COVID cases have fallen.
For the most part, however, Americans&#8217; vaccine fatigue does not show signs of letting up, especially as we get further away from 2020.
The national public health emergency around COVID officially expired on Thursday, May 11, more than three years after it began under the Trump administration. This means the government will now treat COVID as any other respiratory illness.
Unless millions of Americans have a sudden change of heart about the booster shot, the anemic tally of those who have taken it is unlikely to change.

Close-up of bottles of COVID-19 vaccine

Vaccine Fatigue: COVID Booster Numbers Are Pretty Sad These Days

Health Care

Pandemic

Readers Pass

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/candace" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Candace Owens</a> will question the narrative on childhood vaccinations in her new show “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/a-shot-in-the-dark" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Shot in the Dark</a>,” where she will discuss the medical establishment’s push to give children dozens of shots before they turn 18. 
In “A Shot in the Dark,” Owens takes a non-political approach and uses mainstream sources to inform parents about vaccine ingredients, schedules, and the listed potential side effects while asking basic questions that she says doctors often ignore. The show will be available on <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus?utm_campaign=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_source=googlesearch&amp;utm_content=na_subscriptions&amp;mid=g&amp;cid=dailywire&amp;xid=0&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw3ueiBhBmEiwA4BhspK-KAKdVqiX1kGPv2GF22RDn3hLI-i_gVONg5pqLWdniRagJqgJoCBoC330QAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire+</a>. The first three episodes will be free for everyone beginning on Thursday, and new episodes will release weekly, with the first three episodes also available on YouTube.     
“I am not going to try to convince you not to vaccinate your children,” Owens said. “That is not what I am being tasked with. It is not what is in my heart or soul to do. What I want to give you instead is information.”
Owens points out the conflicting claims regarding vaccine safety from the FDA and CDC, federal agencies that encourage parents to have vaccines administered to their newborns. In episode 1, Owens dives into the history of childhood vaccines, looking at how the number of vaccines and doses dramatically increased beginning in the mid-1980s after children first started receiving shots in the 1960s. She also questions the narrative that vaccines are making people healthier and shares her own traumatic story after receiving the Gardasil HPV vaccine. 
“The slur of calling somebody an anti-vaxxer has been tremendously effective throughout my lifetime, and I thought it was the crazy, crunchy people who wanted their children to die that didn&#8217;t vaccinate their children,” Owens said. “But … your life experiences transform you. And I had a life experience that transformed me in the form of me being vax injured.”
Episodes 2 and 3 focus on the Vitamin K shot, where Owens shows that it’s more than “just a vitamin,” and male infant circumcision, where she questions the idea that circumcising newborns is more sanitary.   
“I want to use CDC data,” she added. “I want to take a look at the FDA inserts when I talk about what can happen if you give your child a vaccine. These are things that the pediatrician does not supply you with, which should be astounding to you.”
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New episodes of “A Shot in the Dark” will release every Thursday, and will be available exclusively for <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus?utm_campaign=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_source=googlesearch&amp;utm_content=na_subscriptions&amp;mid=g&amp;cid=dailywire&amp;xid=0&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw3ueiBhBmEiwA4BhspK-KAKdVqiX1kGPv2GF22RDn3hLI-i_gVONg5pqLWdniRagJqgJoCBoC330QAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire+ members</a> after the third installment.

Candace Owens/A Shot in the Dark

Candace Examines Mainstream Narrative On Childhood Vaccines In New Show ‘A Shot In The Dark’

Nearly 60 years after scientists tried and disastrously failed to develop a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the Food and Drug Administration has approved the first-ever <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pfizer-seeks-fda-approval-of-first-vaccine-to-protect-infants-by-injecting-pregnant-mothers-late-stage-trial-failed-to-meet-one-of-two-goals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RSV shot</a>.
On Wednesday, the FDA gave a thumbs-up to Arexvy, the RSV vaccine developed by British pharmaceutical company GSK, which is intended for those 60 years old and up. The vaccine is a single shot and could be available for seniors as soon as the fall, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/03/health/first-rsv-vaccine-approved/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“Today’s approval of the first RSV vaccine is an important public health achievement to prevent a disease which can be life-threatening and reflects the FDA’s continued commitment to facilitating the development of safe and effective vaccines for use in the United States,” <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
RSV attacks the lungs and breathing passages, and can cause pneumonia and bronchitis in older adults, according to the FDA. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that up to 10,000 people aged 65 and older in the U.S. die after contracting RSV each year.
“Older adults, in particular those with underlying health conditions, such as heart or lung disease or weakened immune systems, are at high risk for severe disease caused by RSV,” Marks said.
RSV also poses a higher risk to infants with between 100-300 babies dying in the U.S. from the virus each year. Along with the new RSV shot for older adults, the FDA is also currently considering granting approval to a first-of-its-kind Pfizer vaccine that is administered to expectant mothers during the second half of their pregnancy to protect infants against RSV.
According to the late-stage <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pfizer-seeks-fda-approval-of-first-vaccine-to-protect-infants-by-injecting-pregnant-mothers-late-stage-trial-failed-to-meet-one-of-two-goals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trial data</a>, Pfizer’s experimental vaccine was 82% effective in preventing severe cases of the potentially deadly virus in infants 90 days after birth, but that dropped to 69% efficacy in preventing severe infections up to 180 days after a baby is born. The Pfizer shot also failed to meet its second goal of reducing non-severe illness in newborns, Reuters reported.
The FDA’s approval of the GSK vaccine comes after nearly six decades of attempts at developing a shot for RSV.
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The first try at producing an RSV vaccine in the late 1960s ended in disaster when two children died and many were hospitalized with severe RSV after taking the experimental vaccines, according to CNN. During the trial, 80% of the vaccinated children were hospitalized compared to only 5% who got the placebo. The tragedy forced researchers to put a pause on developing an RSV vaccine.
After eight years of study, researchers at Johns Hopkins University revealed <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rsv-shot/research-shows-why-1960s-rsv-shot-sickened-children-idUSTRE4BM4SH20081223" target="_blank" rel="noopener">findings</a> in 2008 that showed the late 1960s RSV vaccine trial failed because children’s antibodies were not binding to the inactivated virus strongly enough, Reuters reported. The antibodies, instead, were pulling the dead virus with them, causing the immune system to respond with a massive attack.
Now, scientists have high hopes for the rollout of RSV vaccines. An international study on the GSK vaccine looked at 25,000 people 65 and older and found that one dose of the vaccine was nearly 83% effective at preventing lung infections that stem from RSV, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/rsv-vaccine-respiratory-virus-60a8b859c692a593b652f68ff25738be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The trial data also showed that the risk of severe infections was reduced by 94%.
Pfizer also has a vaccine for older adults similar to Arexvy that the FDA is currently considering approval for.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus

FDA Approves First-Ever RSV Vax Nearly 60 Years After Disastrous Experimental Shot

Disease

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