The College Fix

Raise medical, legal issues in sample letter

The Bruin Republicans at the University of California, Los Angeles have demanded that campus officials reject a COVID vaccine mandate.

The public university has not yet mandated the vaccine, but the campus Republicans want to get ahead of the issue and are urging action.

The group released a statement “Opposing Immoral and Mandatory Vaccines.” The news release, posted on the Republicans’ Instagram page, said that a mandate would be “unethical and in violation of federal law and FDA guidelines,” because of the shot’s approval only under the Emergency Use Authorization.

“Given that all COVID-19 vaccines are currently not approved and only authorized for emergency use (EUA) by the FDA, it is a violation of FDA guidelines and federal law (21 U.S. Code § 360bbb–3) to mandate an experimental product,” the conservative group wrote in a sample email that it wants students to send to university officials.

“As informed consent is the foundational issue in medical ethics, it would not only be unlawful but highly immoral to mandate experimental vaccines known to induce severe side effects,” the group said.

MORE: Experts disagree on legality of COVID vaccine mandates

The sample email also asks for “exemptions [to] be made for religious students who have ethical concerns about the use of the human embryonic cell line HEK 293 in the development of [the Moderna and Pfizer] vaccines.”

“Since religious exemptions were made possible for the 2020-2021 mandated flu vaccines, there is no valid reason why a similar exemption should not be offered for the COVID-19 vaccines,” the letter said.

The students have a strong scientific, if not legal reason, to oppose the mandate. While the vaccines are generally safe for the general population, there have been concerns raised by some of the vaccines.

Women have reported problems with menstruation after getting the vaccine. While the vaccine is not yet proven to cause fertility problems, 19,000 women have responded to a survey post-vaccine menstruation problems.

And tracking menstruation is an integral part of “fertility awareness,” which involves a woman tracking signs such as body temperature and cervical mucus to determine when she is likely to ovulate.

So if one of the data points for fertility is thrown off by the vaccine, it can cause problems with those trying to conceive.

Yesterday I said the J&J vaccine is Game Over for women 18-50, with 6 cases in 1.4 million vaccinated in that age group (~1/200k), here is why I say that….

[thread]

— Vinay Prasad MD MPH (@VPrasadMDMPH) April 15, 2021

The FDA has urged a pause of the use of the J and J vaccine. Furthermore, a University of California San Francisco medical professor said that women ages 18 to 50 should not receive the J&J vaccine.

“[T]he J&J vaccine is Game Over for women 18-50, with 6 cases in 1.4 million vaccinated in that age group,” Vinay Prasad said. Prasad is also a hematologist and oncologist.

A supporter of vaccines, Prasad is still skeptical about the safety of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

MORE: UNC System said it has no ‘legal authority’ to mandate COVID vaccine

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