Guest Editorial: Why I Changed My Mind About Recommending COVID vaccines

Robert Jackson

A defining characteristic of honest medical clinicians is the ability to admit when they are wrong when confronted with new data. Well, with the thimble full of humility that I possess, I am here to tell you I was wrong about the COVID vaccine (actually, it’s a genetic therapeutic agent).

Let me back up a few steps. I have never recommended a new medication or vaccine to my patients until it has been on the market for at least one year. I’ve seen multiple medications recalled in the first year due to serious adverse events, including deaths. For example, the Swine Flu vaccine was recalled within 90 days due to 54 deaths. I was dismayed that the COVID shot was approved under EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) after only six months of research. The least amount of time devoted to R&D (research and development) for any prior vaccine has been 10 years. Nevertheless, because of the exigencies of the COVID pandemic, I advised my patients that if things looked good after six months (six months of research and six months on the market), I would recommend the shot — which I began to do in June 2021, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

I recommended the shot for those over 65 with comorbidities (diabetes, COPD, hypertension, obesity, etc.), but not for those under 65 who were healthy. Within three months — by August 2021 — I realized I had made a mistake. Some of my own patients came back to me with reports of SAEs (serious adverse events). One patient was paralyzed in both legs for 48 hours one day after the shot. Several others developed rashes/hives that persisted for months. Another 42-year-old male without any comorbidities died of a heart attack two days after the shot. An ER nurse told me that numerous patients with strokes and heart attacks presented to her emergency department within days of receiving the shot.

I was still uncertain until the VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) data began to roll in. VAERS relies on doctors and nurses to report serious vaccine-related events. Due to busy schedules and the difficulty of reporting, everyone acknowledges that VAERS is underreported by a factor of 4-5. Within 90 days, there were 189 deaths reported. That’s more than all deaths reported for all other vaccines in the previous 20 years! Within six months, there were more than 4,000 cases of myocarditis, which is also more than all similar cases for the previous 20 years. Within 18 months of the COVID shot being on the market, VAERS reported 26,622 deaths — 50 percent within two days of the shot, and 80 percent within one week. Additionally, there were 20,560 episodes of myocarditis reported. The total number of SAE reported were 983,756, with 108,522 hospitalizations and 107,860 urgent care visits. There were 10,429 heart attacks, and 34,615 people were permanently disabled by “the safe and effective” vaccine. Compare this to flu shots, which resulted in 906 deaths over the last 10 years.

I am apologizing to my patients. I was wrong to recommend the vaccine to the over-65 age group, even those with comorbidities. The risk of the vaccine outweighs the supposed benefit.

I am distressed beyond words that the CDC is advising young people to receive the shot, especially when healthy young people have essentially no serious illness from COVID. Serious illness and/or death among young patients in the United States have been among patients with pre-existing serious illnesses such as cancer or autoimmune disorders. To advise blanket immunization for a potentially harmful, and inadequately tested, genetic therapeutic agent in healthy young patients who will universally recover from COVID infection is foolishness. Over 300 elite professional and college level athletes have collapsed or died, some on the playing field in the last 18 months after receiving the shot. Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist, states that 50 percent of Big Ten athletes have asymptomatic myocarditis detectable by MRI after the COVID shot. According to Dr. Milhoan, this puts them at serious risk of developing congestive heart failure or sudden death.

So what are my patients to do? I advise them to:

Educate yourself and your family to the dangers of the COVID shots (Johnson & Johnson and Astra Zeneca shots were recalled in recent weeks due to causing blood clots), and the benefit of safe, alternative treatment options like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. (A massive study in Brazil released recently showed a 68 percent reduction in COVID mortality from those using IVM and 67 percent reduction in hospitalizations.)

Don’t allow yourself or your children to be manipulated into taking the COVID shot. Your life is more valuable than a job or an educational opportunity. For more information, listen to my podcast, “More Than Medicine.”

— Robert Jackson is a family physician in Spartanburg. Read more at www.jacksonfamilyministry.com.