Government will look into a Covid vaccine trial taking place across the district involving healthy children as young as 12 – after an MP set out his concerns in Parliament.
Shipley MP Philip Davies questioned the ethical rationale for the trial approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and involving the Bradford Patient Recruitment Centre, given it is believed healthy children were at very small risk from Covid-19.
The trial is looking at how effective a small booster dose of Moderna vaccine is, and participants will be reviewed after one month, three and six months and then after a year to check antibody levels and also possible side effects.
Mr Davies said: “I wrote to the Health Research Authority in August to ask what the ethical rationale is for the inclusion of healthy children in this trial, because of course it is known and has been for a long time that healthy children are at vanishingly small risk from Covid-19. And so far, I have not received a coherent answer to that simple question. It has now come to my attention that the centre (in Bradford) has been recruiting children using advertisements which have not been ethically approved as required by UK rules.
“Children can only be recruited to a clinical trial if they as an individual have some reasonable expectation of significant benefit, when balanced with the risks associated with their participation. Any potential benefit for adults is not good enough and does not trump this principle. So, what is going on here?”
Health Minister Maria Caulfield said she would meet with Mr Davies and look into the claims, along with contacting the MHRA regarding the posters.
Mr Davies set out his concerns in a debate in Parliament during the Covid-19 vaccine damage payments Private Members Bill.
Mr Davies also called for people affected by the vaccine to be properly compensated by government, given the push for people to be vaccinated. He pointed to vaccine passports for flying, the need to have been vaccinated to attend large gatherings and also the fact care workers were pressured to take the vaccine or face losing their job.
He added: “I am sure many of us have had contact from constituents who have experienced serious symptoms following vaccination. I am not talking about a sore arm but a whole range of life changing conditions such as strokes, heart attacks or blood clots to name a few.
“The Government has a duty of care to these people who have been injured or lost loved ones to the vaccine, which they took because the government, let’s be honest, pressured everyone.”