Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the first Trump administration, told Newsmax on Thursday that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were overprescribed and wrongly mandated, particularly for children and healthy adults under 65, and continue to pose risks because of how they work in the body.
Redfield, who led the CDC during the early months of the pandemic, told "Finnerty" the federal government made a mistake in pushing the vaccines so broadly.
"These vaccines ... should never have been mandated," he said. "Two, they should have never been recommended for children."
He argued the risk-benefit ratio never justified administering the shots to young people or adults without serious underlying health issues. He also questioned why the Food and Drug Administration is still approving new boosters from Moderna and Pfizer when, for the general population, the risks outweigh the benefits.
Redfield's biggest concern is the mechanism of the mRNA technology itself.
"I'm not an advocate anymore for the mRNA vaccines really at all because when you give the mRNA vaccine, you turn the body into, as you mentioned, a factory to make spike protein," he said. "And we don't know how much you make and how long you make it."
Such uncertainty, he said, makes the spike protein a potentially "significant immunotoxic protein."
Pressed on whether the body can be "detoxified" from the spike protein, Redfield said no.
"Once we've had an mRNA vaccine, we continue to make spike protein for some period of time," he said. "And it's variable in different people. We don't know how much and how long. But I do think that is a problem."
Rare but serious side effects have been linked to spike protein exposure from mRNA vaccines, including myocarditis and pericarditis. A recent study even detected circulating spike protein in young patients who developed myocarditis after vaccination.
While stressing that vaccines should still play a role in protecting vulnerable Americans, Redfield said the country needs to move away from mandates and acknowledge the risks of mRNA technology, especially for young people.
"The vaccines are in the right position now," he said, "recommended for those over 65 or with serious health conditions. But beyond that, the risks are just not significant enough to warrant widespread use."
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