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This week, Mary Holland, Children’s Health Defense president, and Polly Tommey, co-producer of “Vaxxed,” covered the latest headlines on COVID-19, Big Pharma and other issues, including news that a court has reinstated the federal employee vaccine mandate — which the White House said is on hold awaiting “procedural steps.”

Plus, Pfizer hired 600 additional employees to process vaccine injury reports, with plans to hire more, according to documents released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Polly and Mary also discussed an exclusive interview with The Defender, in which Jeffrey Beauchine said his mother, Carol, knew her Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease was related to the Moderna shot. Her death was like “something you see out of a movie,” he said.

Also on tap this week: Data from VAERS, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, show cardiac disorders account for 20% of the 1.2 million injuries reported after COVID vaccines.

More of this week’s highlights:

  • “Many people around the world have now been vaccinated against COVID-19 while pregnant, and no pregnancy-related safety concerns have been identified for them or their babies,” said the World Health Organization Monday in a tweet. “That’s just a complete lie,” said Mary.
  • The FDA quietly approved a fourth COVID vaccine, despite debate among top scientists. “It’s never going to end,” said Polly.
  • As health officials debate the logistics of administering fourth COVID vaccines to older Americans, children under 5 remain ineligible for any shots — and it’s unclear when that will change. “The science just doesn’t support children getting vaccinated,” said Mary.
  • Mainstream media is following a tried-and-true script to push vaccine uptake, according to an article Polly called “interesting and on point.” We can expect more misleading commentary — and this time our children are the targets, Polly said.
  • In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams and health commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan have decided to extend the city’s school mask mandate for children under 5. “Extremely disturbing stuff,” said Polly.
  • A nine-and-a-half-hour April 6 meeting of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee was riddled with technical issues and punctuated by a long public hearing, as committee members tried but failed to answer basic questions. Catch the recap on the April 8 episode of CHD.TV’s Friday Roundtable.
  • Top FDA official Peter Marks old the drug regulator’s advisory committee to decide by June if COVID vaccines should be updated to target specific variants.
  • Moderna recalled 764,900 COVID vaccines after contaminants were found in a vial.
  • Freedom of Information Act data reveal 70% of COVID cases among CDC employees in August 2021 were in vaccinated employees.
  • A new study found the FDA approval of COVID vaccinations did not convince unvaccinated Americans to get the shot. “The unvaccinated are standing firm,” said Polly.
  • The German parliament rejected a compulsory COVID vaccination bill by a vote of 378 to 296. “This is very big news,” said Mary.
  • Bowing to public pressure, the Chinese government changed Shanghai lockdown rules to let parents stay with infected children. “This shows how the power of the people can change things,” said Polly.
  • Emory University started limiting internet access for students who did not receive a COVID booster. “I could not believe I was reading this,” said Polly.
  • A veteran waitress at Yankee Stadium filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Mayor Eric Adams’ “despicable” vaccine exemption for professional athletes.
  • The city of Philadelphia will reinstate its indoor mask mandate, making it the first U.S. city to do so this spring.
  • A new deadly bird flu is infecting wild birds in America, which may mean trouble for poultry farmers. “This is definitely something we have to watch,” said Mary.
  • Parents in the UK are being warned to check their children for signs of hepatitis after more than 70 kids under 10 were diagnosed with the illness.
  • “Farm-free” lab food is catastrophic for human health and the environment, according to a report by Navdanya International. “We all need to start looking seriously at getting our own local food,” said Mary.
  • The “Defeat the Mandates” rally last weekend was a huge success. Watch the recap here.
  • Donate to support CHD’s efforts here.

Watch “This Week” with Mary + Polly: