An Israeli professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who called for a halt to the COVID-19 vaccine is one of eight new people appointed by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the committee that issues official government recommendations on immunizations, days after Kennedy removed all 17 previous members.
Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, has published several papers regarding the mortality rates from COVID-19 vaccines.
In a video post on X in January 2023, which has received 2.5 million views, Levi railed against the use of COVID-19 vaccinations using mRNA technology, about which Kennedy too expressed skepticism.
“At this point in time, all COVID mRNA vaccination program should stop immediately,” said Levi in the video. “They should stop because they completely fail to fulfil any of their advertized promise regarding efficacy, and more importantly, they should stop because of the mounting and indisputable evidence that they cause unprecedented level of harm, including the death of young people and children.”
Links between the COVID-19 vaccine, which has been administered to billions of people, and death have been widely dismissed by physicians’ groups and research studies.
Levi is one of a number of new appointees to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel who rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, either as critics of government policies on school closures and lockdowns, or of the mRNA vaccines.
Public health groups have decried Kennedy’s decision to replace the advisory board, which helps set vaccine policy and guides health providers and insurers. Many are expressing concern that the new appointees do not have the credentials to oversee vaccinations in the United States.
“All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense,” Kennedy said in a post on X announcing the slate of advisors. “They have each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations.”
Levi, who has a PhD in operations research from Cornell University, also serves as the faculty leader for food chain supply analytics. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Tel Aviv University in 2001, and also served in the Israeli Defense Forces for 12 years as an officer.
In an interview Thursday with journalist Maryanne Demasi, Levi said he stood by his claims last year on X. When asked whether he will recommend against mRNA vaccines at an upcoming ACIP meeting, Levi appeared to indicate that it was likely.
“I don’t want to say too much before the meeting and I don’t want to pre-empt the materials and data I will receive, and I’m going to look at what I am presented with. From what I’ve seen so far, I think it’s obvious that these mRNA vaccines should not be given to anybody young or healthy. It is also not at all clear to me that they should be given to anybody, based on the evidence,” said Levi in the interview.
Kennedy vouched for Levi’s appointment in his announcement Thursday:
“His research has contributed to discussions on vaccine manufacturing processes, safety surveillance, and public health policy,” said Kennedy of Levi. “Dr. Levi has also served on advisory committees and engaged in policy discussions concerning vaccine safety and efficacy.”
Following Kennedy’s announcement Monday, the American Academy of Pediatrics lambasted the Trump administration for what it said was an effort to “stoke distrust in lifesaving vaccines.”
“We are witnessing an escalating effort by the Administration to silence independent medical expertise and stoke distrust in life-saving vaccines. Creating confusion around proven vaccines endangers families’ health and contributes to the spread of preventable diseases,” the statement read.
The president of the American Medical Association Association, Dr. Bobby M. Mukkamala, also issued a statement Thursday expressing concern about the new appointees.
“The AMA is deeply concerned to learn that new members have already been selected for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) without transparency and proper vetting to ensure they have the expertise necessary to make vaccine recommendations to protect the health of Americans,” Mukkamala said in the statement.
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