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On the latest episode of “Doctors and Scientists” on CHD.TV, host Brian Hooker, Ph.D., P.E., interviewed Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, a pediatrician and president and CEO of the Rimland Center for Integrative Medicine in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Mumper, author of numerous peer-reviewed articles on allergy, immunology and behavioral and developmental pediatrics, explained how children can easily stay healthy the old-fashioned way: good food, exercise, enough sleep, a rich social life and playing outside in the dirt.

With a decision expected soon on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will authorize emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old, Mumper answered the big question: Is it necessary for children to be vaccinated against COVID?

“I don’t want to give anyone anything they don’t need if it has side effects,” Mumper explained. “One of my basic worries about this vaccine is that we are asking people’s bodies to manufacture the very thing that is associated with some of the pathology.”

Mumper said she finds it troubling that experts are not consulted on real and evolving data, and that big policy decisions, such as mandatory vaccinations for California schoolchildren, are left up to public health officials to decide.

“Those of us who actually have a lot of experience — and I’ve have been doing pediatrics now for 41 years — we have had very little voice in raising some of these important issues, and we’ve certainly been ostracized for suggesting we may not be able to vaccinate ourselves out of this pandemic,” she explained.

Mumper said she believes herd immunity ought to count “if you’re part of the pack that got COVID and recovered, because I think you’re going to have better, more well-rounded and robust immunity than someone who got immunity just from this one little piece of the spike protein making one little specific antibody.”

The best way for children to stay healthy, Mumper said, is to support their innate immune system by having a nutrient-dense, organic diet, and by avoiding fast food, keeping strong social relationships and getting enough sleep and exercise — yet she said she rarely sees these simple solutions covered on the radio or in the news.

Watch this week’s episode here:


Tune in every Thursday at 9 a.m. PT / Noon ET to watch a new episode of “Doctors and Scientists” on CHD.TV.

“Doctors and Scientists” is hosted by Brian Hooker, Ph.D., professor of biology, bioengineer and author of more than 60 science and engineering peer-reviewed publications. Hooker invites leading voices in science and medicine to discuss the latest science. In 2013 and 2014, Hooker worked with the CDC Whistleblower, Dr. William Thompson, to expose fraud and corruption within vaccine safety research in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which led to the release of more than 10,000 pages of documents. On his show, Hooker and his guests uncover more controversies in the hope to clear up the data and break down the details.