ICAN, through its attorneys, has once again written to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the new Director of the CDC, along with Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, this time to demand that the FDA and CDC confirm whether or not they still maintain that COVID-19 vaccines cannot change human DNA.
On March 16, 2021, ICAN’s attorneys wrote to Dr. Walensky and Dr. Marks to inquire about viral vector COVID-19 vaccines and the CDC’s assertion that “[t]he genetic material delivered by the viral vector does not integrate into a person’s DNA.”
ICAN pointed out a recent study which explains that “studies have shown that replication-incompetent adenoviral vectors randomly integrate into host chromosomes at frequencies of 0.001-1% of infected cells” and asked that Dr. Walensky and Dr. Marks either provide the science to explain how these studies are incorrect or confirm removal of CDC’s contrary assertion.
On March 22, 2021, we received a two-sentence reply email from Sandra Cashman thanking us for our letter and our “interest in COVID-19 vaccines and viral vector technology” and directing us to “see the latest information on the COVID-19 response at https://www.cdc.gov/COVID-19/.” This site also states that “COVID-19 vaccines do not change or interact with your DNA in any way.”
We, therefore, wrote again to follow-up on that request and to also bring the following study to their attention which indicates that segments of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA can become integrated into human genomic DNA and that this newly acquired viral sequence is not silent, meaning that these genetically modified regions of genomic DNA are transcriptionally active (DNA is being converted back into RNA).
Due to the apparent inconsistencies, we asked that Drs. Walensky and Marks advise whether the CDC and FDA still maintain that it is not possible for the mRNA in the COVID-19 vaccines to integrate into a vaccinee’s DNA.
ICAN continues to ask the hard questions of Dr. Walensky and others. ICAN will closely review any response from Dr. Walensky or Dr. Marks and will continue to push for improved transparency regarding vaccines and their development, clinical trials, and safety surveillance.
