(GreatGameIndia) A public open data source for government spending has revealed that the US government gave millions to gynecologists to promote COVID-19 vaccines to pregnant women.
Although pregnant women were excluded from clinical trials and regulatory data revealed the vaccine had not been examined for safety during pregnancy (pdf below), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded $11.8 million to the leading professional membership organization for obstetricians and gynecologists to promote COVID-19 vaccines to expectant mothers.
Maggie Thorp, JD, said she submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to HHS in 2022 to learn more about the COVID-19 funding received by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) during the pandemic and what motivated the group’s advice on COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women.
(Marina Demidiuk/Shutterstock)
A public open data source for government spending was used to track three grants that HHS/CDC gave to ACOG during the pandemic, one of which was for $11.8 million. Documents pertaining to these funds were sought.
According to documents Ms. Thorp was able to access, HHS and the CDC gave ACOG the first of three cooperation agreement awards on February 1, 2021. Grant funding for COVID-19 was only awarded if ACOG agreed to give the CDC significant supervision over initiatives it financed and complied fully with all CDC recommendations for COVID-19 infection and control.
“This is a cooperative agreement, and CDC will have substantial programmatic involvement after the award is made. Substantial involvement is in addition to all post-award monitoring, technical assistance, and performance reviews undertaken in the normal course of stewardship of federal funds,” the documents state.
Furthermore, ACOG consented to permit program employees from the CDC to “assist, coordinate, or participate in carrying out effort under the award.”
If ACOG did not follow the federal government message that COVID-19 vaccinations were safe and effective for pregnant women and new mothers, the contracts further stipulated that funding would be returned to the HHS.
HHS Funds ‘Trusted Messengers’ to Increase Vaccine Confidence
The “COVID-19 Community Corps,” a “nationwide, grassroots network of local voices and trusted community leaders to encourage vaccinations,” was established by HHS on April 1, 2021. Its inaugural members included ACOG and more than 275 other groups, giving it the “ability to reach millions of Americans.” According to a now-defunct HHS portal, the initiative works with the CDC and HHS to offer resources and factual public health information.
In an episode of her podcast, “The Megyn Kelly Show,” that aired on September 6, Megyn Kelly confessed she regretted getting the COVID shot due to a vaccine injury.
Members get weekly updates with the “latest scientific and medical updates, talking points about the vaccine, social media suggestions, infographics, factsheets with timely, accurate information, and tools to help people get registered for an appointment and vaccinated.”
“As part of the COVID-19 Community Corps, HHS awarded billions of federal dollars to recruit what HHS referred to as ‘trusted community leaders’ who could push vaccines within our most private relationships,” Dr. James Thorp, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and maternal-fetal medicine physician told The Epoch Times. “Much like modern-day trojan horses, these ‘trusted messengers’ would be unique in their ability to permeate all facets of private life.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy met with founding members of the multibillion-dollar program to discuss the upcoming stages of the “public education campaign from the White House” to promote vaccinations and boost vaccine confidence.
ACOG Encourages Members to ‘Enthusiastically Recommend Vaccination’
On April 23, 2021, former CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky publicly stated for the first time during a White House COVID-19 briefing that the organization was recommending that all pregnant women get the shot despite the lack of information on the vaccine’s safety because pregnant women were not included in the clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The usage of COVID-19 vaccines during the first 11 weeks of the vaccine rollout, according to early findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine, was the basis for Dr. Walensky’s choice.
