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Executive summary<\/strong><\/p>\n * On February 16th, 2022, the UK Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) issued a statement to update its advice for 5-11 year olds in relation to COVID-19 jabs.<\/p>\n * The JCVI Code of Practice states that it is an \u201cindependent Departmental Expert Committee.\u201d <\/em>It advises UK health departments on immunisation.<\/p>\n * There is a COVID-19 sub-committee of the JCVI. It has 15 core members (1 lay member). This note reviews the conflicts of interest of those members.<\/p>\n * None of the members of the COVID-19 sub-committee of the JCVI declared conflicts of interests. Five of the 14 non-lay members provided additional information in their \u2018non-declaration\u2019 that revealed conflicts of interest. A cursory search on the remaining nine revealed that six had conflicts of interest \u2013 from running a COVID-19 vaccine trial to being their organisation\u2019s representative for Pfizer. One member failed to declare that he leads the Pfizer Vaccine Centre of Excellence.<\/p>\n * The members work for organisations, which collectively have received approximately $1,000,000,000 \u2013 one billion dollars \u2013 from the Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n (The SAGE conflicts can be seen here…<\/a> )<\/p>\n Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n On February 15th, Wales became the first of the UK nations to offer COVID-19 jabs to any 5-11 year old whose parents want them to have one (Ref 1). Wales Health minister Eluned Morgan said she had received final advice from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on COVID-19 jabs for children aged five to 11 who are not judged to be at clinical risk. On February 16th, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland followed suit.<\/p>\n The statement issued by the JCVI on February 16th opened as follows:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has updated its vaccination advice for children aged 5 to 11, with a view to increasing protection against potential future waves of coronavirus (COVID-19).<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAlthough this age group is generally at very low risk of serious illness from the virus, <\/em>a very small number of children who get infected do develop severe disease.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLatest evidence suggests that offering the vaccine ahead of another potential wave <\/em>will protect this very small number of children from serious illness and hospitalisation \u2013 and will also provide some short-term protection against mild infection across the age group.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe committee has therefore advised a non-urgent offer to all 5 to 11 year olds of 2 (10mcg) doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech paediatric vaccine. The 2 doses should be given with an interval of at least 12 weeks between doses.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe recommendation should not displace the delivery of other non-COVID-19 childhood vaccinations, or any other part of the COVID-19 vaccination programme\u201d <\/em>(Ref 2).<\/p>\n The positioning of this as an \u201coffer<\/em>\u201d was interesting, although the word \u201crecommendation<\/em>\u201d appeared soon afterwards. The words \u201capprove<\/em>\u201d, or \u201capproval<\/em>\u201d, were absent from the statement.<\/p>\n This note is not<\/em> about the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 jabs. We don\u2019t know much about either in this age group. The trials in children are not due for completion until May 2026 (Ref 3). This note is about the conflicts of interests of the members of the JCVI \u2013 those responsible for this statement.<\/p>\n Membership of the JCVI<\/strong><\/p>\n There are core members of the JCVI and then members of the COVID-19 sub-committee. I have reviewed the conflicts for the latter, as being more relevant to the recent statement. Both sets of members can be seen here (Ref 4).<\/p>\n The overall chair of the JCVI is Professor Andrew Pollard, Chair (University of Oxford). The membership details reported, \u201cIn order to prevent any perceived conflict of interest it was agreed that the JCVI Chair (Professor Andrew Pollard), who is involved in the development of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine at Oxford, would recuse himself from all JCVI COVID-19 meetings<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s the chair out.<\/p>\n COVID-19 sub-committee (Ref 5) <\/strong> A number of other people attend the meetings (as the meeting minutes report), but those are the key members. Those are the ones I will focus on, therefore.<\/p>\n Declarations of interest<\/strong><\/p>\n The web site reported that declarations of interest are reported at the back of meeting minutes. The most recent meeting minutes can be found here (Ref 6). The approach that I have taken is to accept the declarations in the meeting minutes, (even if the person did not see them as conflicts), without digging deeper on that person, and to do a cursory search for other conflicts if none have been declared by a member.<\/p>\n In five cases, the committee members declared that they did not have conflicts but in the \u201cother information<\/em>\u201d immediately following the zero declaration, conflicts were revealed. A number of members don\u2019t seem to realise what a conflict of interest is. If the organisation you work for receives money directly or indirectly from an organisation with an interest in vaccines (e.g., Pfizer or The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), there is at least a potential conflict of interest.<\/p>\n The passages in italics below are verbatim extracts from the declarations of interest in the most recent meeting minutes. I have then started the passage after the verbatim extract with \u201cComment\u201d, so that you can easily distinguish between the extract and my words.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Lim Wei Shen (Chair) (Nottingham University Hospitals) Comment: The chair declared no conflicts, but the \u201cother information<\/em>\u201d described conflicts. He is the chief-investigator for research, which receives funding from Pfizer. He is involved in trials related to COVID-19 and all of the trials will have funding \u2013 I\u2019ve not looked into where from. Nottingham University has received $13,510,155 funding from the Gates Foundation, but Nottingham University Hospitals may not have benefitted from this, so I excluded it from the Gates funding total.<\/p>\n On 4th August 2021, Professor Lim Wei Shen stated categorically that 12-15 year olds would not<\/em> be offered COVID-19 vaccines (Ref 7). Barely 6 weeks after that statement, 12-15 year olds were offered jabs (Ref 8). Barely 6 months later, 5-11 year olds are being offered them.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Anthony Harnden, Deputy Chair (University of Oxford) Comment: Harnden declared no conflicts, but the \u201cother information<\/em>\u201d described conflicts (vaccine administration and deployment). The University of Oxford has received $278,724,831 from the Gates Foundation (Ref 9).<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr Kevin Brown (Public Health England) \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr Rebecca Cordery (Public Health England) Comment: Public Health England\/Gates Foundation conflicts as above.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr Maggie Wearmouth (East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust) Comment: As Dr Wearmouth declared no interests, I did a cursory search and found no conflicts. On 6 April 2021, Dr Wearmouth said “in a personal capacity<\/em>” that the vaccine roll-out should be slowed “in younger people<\/em>” to maintain public trust and confidence, after the committee had discussed concerns over a possible link between the Oxford\u2013AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare type of blood clot (Ref 12).<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Matt Keeling (University of Warwick) Comment: As Professor Keeling declared no interests, I did a cursory search and found that he has Wellcome Trust conflicts on his university page (Ref 13). (Jeremy Farrar, the Director of the Wellcome Trust, is to be interviewed under oath by the US Congress over concerns that he was at the centre of a cover-up about the origins of Covid.) (Ref 14). The University of Warwick has received $7,115,915 from the Gates Foundation (Ref 15).<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ms Alison Lawrence (lay member) Comment: As a lay member, Ms Lawrence will have little or no influence.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Robert Read (Southampton General Hospital) Comment: As Professor Read declared no interests, I did a cursory search and found that he is Director of Southampton NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, which is doing a COVID-19 vaccine study (in pregnant women) (Ref 16).<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Anthony Scott (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine). Comment: Professor Scott declared no conflicts, but the \u201cother information<\/em>\u201d described conflicts with several organisations invested in vaccines (highlighted in bold). The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is similarly invested with its own COVID-19 vaccine centre (Ref 17). The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has also received $308,640,471 from the Gates Foundation (Ref 18).<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Adam Finn (University of Bristol) Comment: Professor Finn doesn\u2019t consider being the chief, principal or co-investigator for several different COVID-19 vaccine trials as a conflict of interest. He says he receives no personal payments from the manufacturers of vaccines, but his research\/institution is funded by these companies and presumably he is paid a salary for his research by his institution. The University of Bristol has received $16,870,808 from the Gates Foundation (Ref 19).<\/p>\n Professor Finn also failed to declare that he leads the Pfizer Vaccine Centre of Excellence at the University of Bristol, which was given an initial investment of \u00a34.6 million from Pfizer (Ref 20).<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr Fiona van der Klis (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Netherlands) Comment: As Dr van der Klis declared no interests, I did a cursory search and found that she works for the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, which approved COVID-19 jabs for 5-11 year olds from mid December 2021 (Ref 21). I have taken this as no conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Maarten Postma (University of Groningen) Comment: As Professor Postma declared no interests, I did a cursory search and found that his university website lists him as a \u201cRepresentative of Pfizer<\/em>\u201d (Ref 22).<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Simon Kroll (Imperial College London) Comment: Professor Kroll is the Honorary Medical Director of Meningitis Now. The charity has Pfizer conflicts (Ref 23). Imperial College London was arguably the single institution responsible for lockdowns with the harmfully inaccurate modelling done by Neil Ferguson. Imperial College London has received $303,875,383 from the Gates Foundation (Ref 24). This included one grant for $79,006,570 in March 2020, which was the month of Ferguson\u2019s report.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr Martin Williams (University Hospitals Bristol). Comment: As Dr Williams declared no interests, I did a cursory search and found that he collaborated on a paper with Professor Adam Finn above with Pfizer funding declared (although not directly for Dr Williams) (Ref 25). In this June 2021 paper Finn declared his interests as follows<\/p>\n \u201cAF is a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) and chair of the World Health Organization European Technical Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (ETAGE) committee. In addition to receiving funding from Pfizer as Chief Investigator of this study, he leads another project investigating transmission of respiratory bacteria in families jointly funded by Pfizer and the Gates Foundation<\/strong>.\u201d <\/em>(My emphasis in bold).<\/p>\n It\u2019s not ideal for committee members to be co-workers. They are unlikely to challenge each other. There are also the Public Health England\/Gates Foundation conflicts again. However, I have counted Dr Williams as having no conflicts.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Jeremy Brown (University College London Hospitals) Comment: Professor Brown declared no conflicts, but the \u201cother information<\/em>\u201d suggests otherwise. If you\u2019re funded for research other than vaccines, you\u2019re still not going to bite the hand that feeds you if that funder also makes vaccines. University college London has also received $68,284,599 from the Gates Foundation (Ref 26).
\nThe members of the sub-committee are:
\nProfessor Lim Wei Shen (Chair) (Nottingham University Hospitals)
\nProfessor Anthony Harnden, Deputy Chair (University of Oxford)
\nDr Kevin Brown (Public Health England)
\nDr Rebecca Cordery (Public Health England)
\nDr Maggie Wearmouth (East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust)
\nProfessor Matt Keeling (University of Warwick)
\nAlison Lawrence (lay member)
\nProfessor Robert Read (Southampton General Hospital)
\nProfessor Anthony Scott (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine)
\nProfessor Adam Finn (University of Bristol)
\nDr Fiona van der Klis (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Netherlands)
\nProfessor Maarten Postma (University of Groningen)
\nProfessor Simon Kroll (Imperial College London)
\nDr Martin Williams (University Hospitals Bristol)
\nProfessor Jeremy Brown (University College London Hospitals)<\/p>\n
\n\u201cProfessor Lim has no registered conflicts of interest <\/em>
\nOther information <\/em>
\nProfessor Lim’s institution has received unrestricted investigator-initiated research funding from Pfizer for a study in pneumonia in which Professor Lim is the Chief Investigator (non-vaccine related), and from NIHR HTA for clinical trials in which Professor Lim is the Chief Investigator. <\/em>
\nProfessor Lim is: <\/em>
\nCo-investigator of the NIHR-funded (COVID19) RECOVERY Trial. <\/em>
\nCo-investigator of the UKRI\/NIHR funded PROTECT-CH (PROphylactic TrEatment of COVID in Care Homes) Platform Trial <\/em>
\nExpert Panel Member: NICE COVID19RapidGuidelines <\/em>
\nMember of the New and Emerging Respiratory Viral Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) and occasionally sits on SAGE. <\/em>
\nMember of UK-CTAP anti-virals sub-group <\/em>
\nMember of UK Specialist Commissioning Group \u2013 Remdesivir, Tocilizumab <\/em>
\nNational Lead, NCEPOD Pneumonia <\/em>
\nNational Lead, National CQUIN in Community Acquired Pneumonia <\/em>
\nNational Lead, British Thoracic Society Community Acquired Pneumonia Audit Programme<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cProfessor Harnden has no registered conflicts of interest. <\/em>
\nOther information: <\/em>
\nProfessor Harnden is a Partner at an Oxfordshire Practice which is a PCN lead practice for COVID- 19 vaccine administration <\/em>
\nProfessor Harnden is a member of the Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Clinical Review Group <\/em>
\nProfessor Harnden is a University of Oxford employee but has had no involvement in the development or the clinical trials of the Oxford Astra Zeneca Covid 19 vaccine. He has received NIHR research funding as chief investigator for a programme of work on influenza in at risk children<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201c<\/em>Dr Brown has no registered conflicts of interest<\/em>.\u201d<\/em>
\nComment: As Dr Brown declared no interests, I did a cursory search and found Public Health England (his employer) has received $7,451,295 from the Gates Foundation (Ref 10). Dr Brown co-authored this favourable study on the \u201creal world effectiveness<\/em>\u201d of the Pfizer & AZ jabs (Ref 11). Should he be examining the evidence or creating it?<\/p>\n
\n\u201cDr Cordery has no registered conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cDr Wearmouth has no registered conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cProfessor Matt Keeling has no registered conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cMs Alison Lawrence has no registered conflicts of interest<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cProfessor Read receives no payments from the manufacturers of vaccines. <\/em>
\n\u201cProfessor Read has no registered conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cProfessor Scott receives no payments from the manufacturers of vaccines. <\/em>
\nProfessor Scott has no registered conflicts of interest <\/em>
\nOther information <\/em>
\nProfessor Scott is Director of the Health Protection Research Unit at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He receives research funding from the National Institute for Health Research, the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance<\/strong>, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation<\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0(My emphasis in bold.)<\/p>\n
\n\u201cProfessor Adam Finn receives no personal payments from the manufacturers of vaccines. <\/em>
\nNon personal interest: Professor Finn is chief investigator in the Valneva COVID19 vaccine clinical trials programme in the UK and in the Sanofi COVID19 booster vaccine clinical trial in the UK. He is also local Principal or Co-investigator in the Oxford-Astra Zeneca COV001, COV002 and COV006 studies and the National Immunisation Schedule Evaluation Consortium study ComFluCov<\/em>. \u201c<\/p>\n
\n\u201cDr Fiona van der Klis has no registered conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cProfessor Postma has no registered conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cProfessor Kroll has no registered conflicts of interest <\/em>
\n\u201cOther information <\/em>
\n\u201cHe is the Honorary Medical Director of Meningitis Now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cProfessor Martin Williams has no registered conflicts of interest. <\/em>
\n\u201cOther information <\/em>
\n\u201cProfessor Williams holds a contract for work with Public Health England.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u201cProfessor Brown has no registered conflicts of interest <\/em>
\nOther information <\/em>
\nProfessor Brown has\/is: <\/em>
\nMRC and <\/em>Wellcome research funding not related to COVID-19 vaccines <\/em>
\nUniversity College London (UCL) and University College London Hospital (UCLH) BRC and Rosetrees charity funding for work on COVID-19 serological responses and post-COVID lung damage <\/em>
\nLocal principle investigator for the multicentre PHOSP COVID study phenotyping patients after being hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia <\/em>
\nWorking on UCL \/ UCLH clinical studies of the longer-term effects of COVID-19 pneumonia\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
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