DUP MLA for North Antrim, Paul Frew, has told Gript that he believes there is a “blanket silence” around the issue of Covid vaccine injuries despite thousands of claims being reported to the Yellow Card scheme in Northern Ireland.
In information released under Freedom of Information, and seen by Gript, 51 deaths were reported under the Yellow Card system to the authorities, while 5,093 ‘serious’ events were reported along with 1,585 ‘non-serious’ events – a total of 6,678 reports.
The figures were released by the Medicines and Healthcare products Authority Regulatory. The Yellow Card scheme accepts reports from patients – including self-reporting – and from healthcare professionals.
The MLA added that it is important to note that each report does not necessarily represent each personal case, because sometimes cases can be reported by individuals themselves or a family member, along with a GP or medical practitioner – meaning some cases may be reported more than once.
Mr Frew, who served as Minister for the Economy from June to July 2021, said it is his belief that health authorities, the media, and politicians have “determined” not to talk about adverse incidents from the Covid-19 vaccines. Speaking to Gript, he blasted what he called a “cowardice” in journalism and in the political world to investigate and address the issue.
The MLA says that failing to have an open discussion will only serve to diminish trust among the public, at a time when there have been a significant number of claims to Northern Ireland’s yellow card scheme. Under the U.K. government scheme, those who are left 60 percent disabled following vaccination will receive a sum of £120,000 in compensation, but they must meet this threshold.
While there have been a small number of payouts in the Britain, it is understood that no one in Northern Ireland has so far received this payment, despite the 6,678 reports of Covid vaccine injuries in Northern Ireland according to Yellow Card system.
YELLOW CARD SCHEME
Under the scheme a total of 6,678 reports of non-serious, and serious (including fatal), reports for a Covid-19 vaccine were received from individuals across Northern Ireland. Of the 6,678 reports, the majority (5,093) were serious, while 51 were fatal:
The MHRA says that a Yellow Card report “is considered serious according to two criteria; firstly, a reported reaction can be considered serious according to our medical dictionary. Secondly, whether the original reporter considers the report to be serious whereby they can select based on 6 criteria.”
The seriousness criteria for ADR reporting were determined by a working group of the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) and are defined as 6 possible categories which are documented on the Yellow Card.
Reporters can select one or more of the following criteria by ticking the appropriate box on the Yellow Card.
The criteria are: (1) patient died due to reaction (2) life threatening (3) resulted in hospitalisation or prolonged inpatient hospitalisation (4) congenital abnormality and (5) involved persistent or significant disability or incapacity or (6) if the reaction was deemed medically significant.
A breakdown of the numbers show that 3,251 of all reports received were for the Pfizer/BioNTech monovalent vaccine, of which 2,339 were serious – while 14 reports claimed a fatal outcome.
A total of 3,131 reports were received regarding the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, of which 2,533 were reported as being serious – while 37 reports claimed a fatal outcome.
A further 194 reports involved the Moderna monovalent vaccine, of which 146 were reported to be serious, while there were 29 reports of injuries from the Moderna bivalent vaccine.
However, at present, there have been three confirmed deaths by the coroner related to the Covid vaccine in Northern Ireland. The breakdown regarding whether patients or healthcare professionals submitted the Yellow Card reports is not known at this point from the MHRA data.
Mr Frew told Gript that he has been contacted by up to 100 people across Northern Ireland, many of whom have visited his constituency office, who say they have been injured by a Covid-19 vaccine, or have suffered a bereavement due to it, and are seeking advice, including a pathway to care.
The MLA says people have gotten in touch with him specifically, even though they may realise he cannot do much for them on a constituency level, because they know the unionist politician has used his public platform to raise awareness on the issue. He says many have reported feeling “alone and ignored” by MLAs in their own constituencies.
“I do believe the health authorities, many politicians, and many in our media, have determined not to talk about this. But I think we should naturally recognise the reality of adverse incidents when it comes to medicine. There are always side effects and adverse incidents, so this should not be stigmatised and avoided the way it has been. But the result of not talking about it will only be a breakdown of trust,” Mr Frew said.
He told Gript that those who have reported adverse events have suffered effects which include blood clots, neurological damage, and heart issues including myocarditis and pericarditis. He has also had women, in groups and as individuals, report experiencing first-hand disruption to menstrual cycles, menopausal changes, and vaginal bleeding.
He says those he has met include young athletes and a ballroom dancer who he said had to give up his passion because of damage sustained after taking a Covid vaccine.
While the MLA says some have had to stop activities including football for a number of months, for others, changes to life after a Covid vaccine have been more permanent.
“I was seeing people come to me at the very start of the rollout about adverse effects, but as the vaccine rollout broadened, I found people at younger ages were contacting my office about this,” he said.
“There was one young man who was a championship ballroom dancer. That was his passion, although he didn’t do it full time as a career. He has had to give that up despite being one of the top amateur ballroom dancers in the world because of myocarditis,” he said.
“I have had young footballers who have had to stop playing for maybe two, three, four months, after taking a Covid vaccine, who had to stop training completely.
“I also clearly remember one man, aged 50, who had been a physically fit man working full time, who developed a blood clot after taking his first Covid vaccine. He ended up in a Covid ward after that, and had he contracted Covid, it would have been fatal for him.
“I was also contacted by another man who sustained an infection in his blood after vaccination, and also had a heart problem, having to go through multiple operations. He was actually granted a medical exemption by his doctor after that, so he could travel without being fully vaccinated, because it was acknowledged he had been damaged directly because of it.”
He recalls a woman who got in touch with his office after suffering “severe nerve damage”. The woman is part of the UKCV Family, a campaign group for those who are vaccine injured. Mr Frew said doctors are perplexed at her condition, and have “no idea” how they are going to treat her.
In August, Mr Frew spoke at the launch of Vaccine injured and Bereaved Support Northern Ireland (VIBS-NI) in Belfast’s Europa Hotel. He said that despite the group being apolitical, they have failed to secure cross-party sponsorship to hold a second event at Stormont.
“They have not been able to secure a signature from one nationalist politician. This is despite the fact they help everyone from all sides of the divide who have been injured by a Covid vaccine. Interestingly, the SDLP have made it their policy that they will not sign for this event to take place, while Sinn Féin also refuse to sign for it,” Mr Frew explained.
“In effect, these two nationalist parties are cancelling these families and stopping their stories from being heard,” he said.
He believes opposition may stem from Sinn Féin’s support of Covid certification, something he vocally opposed, criticising the measure as “discriminatory.”
The SDLP, meanwhile, were the party who “pushed hardest” for vaccine certificates in Northern Ireland, according to Frew.
“That’s why I believe they don’t want this event going ahead,” he said. “Because this is a source of embarrassment and discomfort for the SDLP, and Sinn Féin also.
“In my opinion, the biggest political story at the moment is Sinn Féin and the SDLP not allowing this event to go ahead. I believe politicians are so opposed to shedding light on stories these people have because this was pushed so much politically. Take the SDLP; they were the first party here in Northern Ireland to advocate for vaccine passports. They didn’t want people to be allowed to use a Covid test to enter pubs and restaurants – they wanted vaccine certification only.
“WE SHOULD HEAR THESE STORIES”
“It was Colm Eastwood who came out and said he wanted to see a vaccine mandate in Northern Ireland for medical staff, admitting on Nolan Live that he felt nurses who were not vaccinated against Covid should be sacked, because such a policy would encourage vaccine uptake.
“The irony was that he was talking about the very nurses who had worked on the frontlines for a full year before a vaccine was even available. That’s how appalling the SDLP were on this issue. Sinn Féin, I feel, were a bit more guarded but they still voted for Covid certification as a policy,” Mr Frew said.
“To give these individuals and families a platform, many of whom were under huge pressure to take a Covid vaccine because they would essentially be locked out of society otherwise, would bring massive embarrassment to these politicians. But I believe they should be forced to answer questions and hear these stories.”
He insists that while he is not “anti-vaccine,” he wants a discussion to take place, and for families to be listened to.
“I think the reluctance to look at this issue is due to a societal stigma about being ‘anti-vax.’ Here’s the thing, I’m not anti vax. in fact, I would fight for someone’s right to gain access to this medicine. I am simply aware that people have been injured. I also realise I am the only politician here in Northern Ireland really talking about this, and trying to help these people. I am that lonely voice representing the injured and bereaved community.”
‘MANY PEOPLE FEEL ALONE, FORGOTTEN AND IGNORED’
Mr Frew accused the media of “playing down” the issue of injuries and failing to properly report on it at a time when “many people feel alone, forgotten and ignored” for what he says is the media’s apparent reluctance to report on the issue.
“I have met constituents and members of VIBS-NI who have said they have been bereaved following Covid vaccination, and those cases remain under review by the yellow card scheme.”
“There is a concern from families that because there were fewer post-mortems carried out during Covid, there are deaths for which we will never have answers. I have spoken to families who strongly believe a death may be linked to the Covid vaccine, but they’ll never be able to prove that. What I know from an FOI is that there have been 51 reported fatalities in Northern Ireland,” Mr Frew added.
Mr Frew said those who have been injured by vaccines face a level of stigma which makes it difficult to speak out.
“Many of those who have been injured and now want a pathway to care, or who have applied for compensation, find it hard to go public with their stories or engage with the media because they face being called conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers.
“That’s difficult for them, because these people are not ‘anti-vax’. They are vaccine injured for the very reason that they took the vaccine.”
The MLA also said it is his view that many of those now seeking help were coerced into taking a Covid vaccine.
“Many people I speak to say they were coerced. They took a Covid vaccine simply because they didn’t want to be excluded from society. Young people for example wanted to continue to have a social life and get into nightclubs. They were exposed to peer pressure over this,” Mr Frew said.
“Other people needed to travel to see family or for work, and they felt they were left with no option because of restrictions on travel for the unvaccinated. Others just wanted to go on holiday, and this was their means to do that.
“Those people were coerced. Yes, a lot of people gladly took the vaccine, and they were happy, even excited, to do so – but others were frightened and felt they had no other option. They were given the wrong advice. There was a huge amount of pressure on people, and I believe far more people were coerced than actually realise it.”
The Government, he says, do not want to answer questions because of policies enacted during Covid and the introduction of vaccine passports.
“Government policies had a big role to play in the situation we now see, and so they don’t want to go near this issue.”
Regarding the media, he says that a reluctance from journalists to cover vaccine injuries or bereavements is unsurprising given how some in the media approached issues around Covid.
“The media pushed one narrative on this, for the most part, and they pushed government policy regarding vaccines. Not only that, but the unvaccinated were actively pursued by the media and portrayed in the worse possible light.”
Politicians, he says, while predominantly publicly silent on the issue, have also personally expressed support for the MLA.
“I can remember speaking on the floor of the Assembly on vaccine injuries, and my opposition to lockdowns and vaccine certification. I heard the tuts and the boos and the jeers from across the aisle while I was speaking.
“I felt very alone. But I knew I had to defendthe truth and I had to represent people. At the same time, later on, I would have been going to lunch or walking to my office, and I had a tap on the back from other politicians who said things like, “I agree with everything you said in there.”
“When I asked why those politicians did not say anything, they told me that their parties would go through them for doing so. There is a political cowardice at play, and regardless of how some MLAs feel, they absolutely will not speak on this.”
At the same time, the DUP politician says he acknowledges that there is a certain level of misinformation online regarding the issue, but he also believes that some of this is “deliberate” in order to prevent a sensible and balanced conversation from taking place.
In addition, he believes changes need to be made to the compensation scheme to ensure those who are injured below the threshold of 60 per cent disability receive a payment. He says there should be reform to the scheme to allow for this and to grant recognition to those with different levels of injury.
“It’s very difficult to classify what 60 per cent disabled means – does this mean you have 60 per cent function in your body? Does it mean you can work 60 per cent of the time? And if you do qualify, bear in mind that a lump sum of £120,000 isn’t all that much if you’ve had to permanently stop work.
“What I would like to see is a payment scheme that’s tiered and that actually caters for people’s needs,” Mr Frew said.
Going forward, he says he will continue to work with groups including VIBS-NI to raise awareness of an issue which he feels continues to be met with a “blanket silence.” However, he admits he feels it could take years, possibly decades, for answers to be secured.