Mandating COVID-19 vaccination ‘is not worth the cost,' warns government doctor Dr. Matthew Memoli to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In an email exchange, Dr. Memoli expressed concerns about the negative consequences of coercing or forcing people to take the vaccine. He argued that such mandates could have biological, sociological, psychological, economical, and ethical implications.
Dr. Memoli suggested a more prudent approach that focuses on vaccinating those at high risk of severe disease and death, such as the elderly and obese, rather than pushing vaccination on the young and healthy. He believed that this strategy would prevent a loss of public trust and political capital.
The email was sent on July 30, 2021, after Dr. Fauci had promoted mass vaccination as a means to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Fauci stated in a CNN interview that communities would be safer if more people received the COVID-19 vaccines.
However, Dr. Memoli disagreed with this approach, citing research in the field of influenza vaccination that indicated yearly shots sometimes drive the evolution of the virus. He warned that vaccinating individuals who have not been infected with COVID-19 could affect the evolution of the virus in unexpected ways. He argued that mandated mass vaccination may not be effective in preventing the emergence of variants and could even prolong the pandemic or cause more harm than good.
Dr. Memoli criticized the vaccination strategy for relying on a single antigen, which only provides immunity for a certain period of time. As the immunity weakens, the virus is given an opportunity to evolve.
While some experts, including virologist Geert Vanden Bossche, share similar views to Dr. Memoli's, others in the scientific community, such as U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists, argue that vaccination prevents virus evolution. However, the agency has acknowledged that it doesn't have records supporting this claim.
The email exchange between Dr. Memoli and Dr. Fauci was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, and The Epoch Times obtained the email and 199 other pages of Dr. Memoli's emails through a Freedom of Information Act request. There were no indications that Dr. Fauci ever responded to Dr. Memoli.
In 2021, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal government agencies began requiring COVID-19 vaccination under the direction of President Joe Biden. Dr. Memoli criticized these mandates as unethical and expressed hope that legal cases against them would allow individuals to make their own healthcare decisions.
Dr. Memoli highlighted several concerns in his emails, including the waning protection of vaccines over time, the potential for serious health issues like myocarditis, and the similar transmission rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. He questioned the bioethics of mandating a vaccine that doesn't effectively stop the spread of the disease.
The email led to Dr. Memoli speaking at an NIH event in December 2021, where he reiterated his concerns about mandating vaccines. He stated that vaccine mandates should be rare and require strong justification, which he believed was lacking for COVID-19 vaccines due to their fleeting effectiveness.
Other NIAID officials, such as Julie Ledgerwood, defended the vaccines' high effectiveness and downplayed significant side effects. However, Ledgerwood acknowledged the need for boosters after a certain period of time.
In 2023, the NIH and many other government agencies removed their vaccine mandates with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Dr. Fauci did not respond to a request for comment, and Dr. Memoli was unable to provide further clarification due to restrictions from the NIAID's media office. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of health policy at Stanford University, commended Dr. Memoli for his bravery in speaking out against mandates. Dr. Bhattacharya, a frequent critic of the U.S. response to COVID-19, believes that mandates have eroded public trust in public health and vaccines.
