Warp Speed COVID-19 Vaccine Makes Big Pharma Crooks Rich by Dr. Joseph Mercola for Mercola
According to the Albany Herald,1 two prominent spokesmen for the pro-vaccine movement are now expressing concerns about the messaging used when promoting Operation Warp Speed — the name given to the White House effort to manufacture and launch a COVID-19 vaccine (as well as other potential therapeutics) at a record-setting pace.
The two long-time pro-vaccine advocates, Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, and Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, fear communication about the accelerated vaccine program may fuel safety concerns that could dampen vaccine uptake. Albany Herald writes:2
“The approach itself is not unreasonable, said Dr. Peter Hotez … But the way it’s being communicated is scaring people, he told CNN. ‘The way the message is coming out of Operation Warp Speed creates a lot of chaos and confusion. And it is enabling the anti-vaccine movement,’ Hotez said …
‘The way they are messaging it is a little frightening because they make a point of saying how quickly it is being done,’ said Dr. Paul Offit … ‘It makes people think there are steps being skipped.'”
Well, the fact of the matter is that steps are being skipped, and there can be serious ramifications when doing so. Simply changing the narrative will not change that.
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Big Pharma Executives Rake in Millions
Hotez also criticized drug company executives for being too obvious in their greed. As reported by Albany Herald:3
“… vaccine makers send out news releases trumpeting incremental successes. Last month, Moderna, the US biotech company heavily promoted by the White House and the National Institutes of Health, announced promising early results, sending its share price up 30%. At the same time, two top executives sold $30 million worth of shares.
Lorence Kim, Moderna’s chief financial officer, exercised 241,000 options for $3 million, filings show. He then immediately sold them for $19.8 million, creating a profit of $16.8 million.
The next day, Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer, spent $1.5 million to exercise options. He immediately sold the shares for $9.77 million, triggering a profit of $8.2 million. It was all legal, but looked bad, Hotez said. ‘They are shooting themselves in the foot,’ he said.”
Indeed, the message sent by Zaks’ and Kim’s share sales is a terrible one that is not likely to garner public confidence in their product. According to Moderna, the sales were done under automated trading plans called 10b5-1, which means neither needed to take any action for the sales to occur.
But that hardly matters. What people see is Moderna leadership getting rich quick off vaccines that are being rushed through and skipping crucial safety checks. There’s no evidence whatsoever right now that the company’s novel vaccine will actually work, let alone be safe.
According to director of research services at Equilar, Andrew Gordon, the only way the trades would be deemed illegal would be if Zaks or Kim created or modified their 10b5-1 plans “while in possession of material insider information.”4
Whatever the truth of that may be, what appears clear is the pair raked in nearly $25 million in the days between Moderna’s press release5 announcing its phase 1 trial a success and vaccine safety experts pointing out just how troublesome the results actually were. Even Hotez said he’s “not convinced that this is really a positive result.”6 As reported by Fort Russ News:7
“The two executives pocketed almost $25 million in profits in a day’s work before experts cast doubt on the vaccine’s success and sent shares tumbling. FRN reported on the false reports, citing an article written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that the Moderna vaccine results were a failure.
Fake fact checkers working for social media firms tagged FRN’s report as ‘false information’, insisting instead that the Moderna tests had been a success. Investors in biotech and pharma, and the virologists they depend on, apparently agreed with FRN’s assessment.”
