The final report of the Alberta COVID-19 Pandemic Data Review Task Force recommends against COVID-19 vaccines for minors and favouring physician freedom to prescribe ivermectin.
“Task Force recommends halting the use of COVID-19 vaccines without full disclosure of their potential risks, ending their use in healthy children and teenagers, conducting further research into their effectiveness, establishing support for vaccine-injured individuals, and providing an opt-out mechanism from federal public health policy,” the report explains.
Premier Danielle Smith commissioned the task force in 2022 that penned the report. The task force was chaired by Dr. Gary Davidson, formerly Chief of the Emergency Department at Red Deer Regional Hospital and an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Alberta. Dr. Byram Bridle, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Dr. John Conlyn, and other medical professionals also contributed.
The report found “concerning gaps in safety and efficacy data provided” during the vaccine’s approval process.
“The highest risk of severe infection was in people 75 years old and older, with two or more comorbidities. It is unknown why vaccines were aggressively pushed for people under 60 with much lower risk profiles,” the report says. “Healthy minors were at low risk of serious COVID-19 infection and yet were recommended vaccination despite known and unknown safety risks inherent in the vaccines.”
The task force said the value of naturally acquired immunity was underemphasized, while the masking and shots did little to stop the spread.
“Despite the limited evidence and potential harms, Alberta implemented mask mandates in various settings, including schools, public gatherings, and businesses. The number of COVID-19 infections did not decrease despite these mandates and the widespread vaccination,” the authors found.
“Alberta should acknowledge the absence of evidence showing continuous masking provides protection against respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, and highlight the potential harms associated with masking,” they added.
The authors expressed concern about the potential for false positives and false negatives from PCR tests. “The Task Force questioned the proportionality of PCR-based screening for asymptomatic individuals and suggested testing based on established risk factors instead,” the report explained.
On March 31, 2021, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta and the Alberta College of Pharmacy jointly issued a communique by email directing the profession to stop prescribing hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), chloroquine, remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, colchicine, and azithromycin for COVID-19. The task force found no precedent for such directions.
In September of 2021, the colleges released a joint statement saying, “[t]here is no evidence that prescribing and dispensing ivermectin is beneficial but there is certainly significant risk of patient harm.” They promised discipline for unprofessional conduct for doctors who prescribed it COVID-19.
The task force questioned the basis for these conclusions, given early studies already showed ivermectin held promise to treat COVID-19. Besides this, an analysis of “WHO/Uppsala VigiAccess pharmacovigilance database on March 22, 2021, showed that the number of adverse events associated with ivermectin after decades of use was lower than Remdesivir, tocilizumab, and COVID-19 vaccines.”
The report said by now the usefulness of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 has been analyzed in 103 studies, including 50 with randomized controls, that showed lower risk of contracting the disease and lower mortality. Following 410 studies, HCQ was also found to statistically significantly lower risk for mortality, hospitalization, recovery, cases, and viral clearance. Some other medications, as well as Zinc and Vitamin D3 were also confirmed to help.
The task force recommended legal changes to prevent regulatory bodies from obstructing prescriptions of approved medications for off-label uses. “Instruct regulatory bodies to halt all prosecution or disciplinary actions against healthcare workers or pharmacists for using, promoting, or publicly discussing the benefits of approved medications for off-label treatment of illnesses,” the task force added.
A spokesperson from Health Minister Adriana LaGrange’s office said the province is reviewing the report and has not made any policy decisions related to its findings. The 269-page document posted Friday afternoon has been downloaded over 12,500 times.