Former UK Vaccines Chief Says Incidence of Myocarditis Is Higher ‘Than Most of Us Anticipated’

Oxford University's Sir John Bell said he's 'not entirely sure' UK needed boosters

Undated file photo of the UK's Houses of Parliament in London. (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Sir John Bell told British members of Parliament (MPs) that boosters aren’t really providing any prolonged protection against transmission, and his “biggest issue” with the mRNA vaccines is the incidence of myocarditis, particularly in young males. He also said it was “possible” there was an accidental lab leak in Wuhan.

Bell, a Canadian British immunologist and geneticist, told MPs at the Science and Technology Committee and Health and Social Care Committee on Nov. 30, as part of the inquiry into lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, that he didn’t know why COVID-19 booster jabs were rolled out to the entire population.

As Regius professor of medicine at Oxford, Bell played a critical role in the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot as an early member of the government’s vaccine task force.

A dose of AstraZeneca vaccine is prepared at COVID-19 vaccination centre in the Odeon Luxe Cinema in Maidstone, UK, on Feb. 10, 2021. (Andrew Couldridge/Reuters)

‘Natural Infection Is Much More Effective’

“So let me start by saying that all three of the original vaccines, the AstraZeneca vaccine, and the two mRNA vaccines have been unbelievably effective that eliminated that really dreadful disease that caused many deaths early on, and the durability of those vaccines and preventing those problems has been impressive,” he said.

“And I’m not entirely sure that they even needed boosters, and we don’t have any real clear gauge on that, but that syndrome, associated with Coronavirus, has essentially now disappeared,” he said, adding that he thinks that the boosters “are probably a safe bet for the elderly.”

He said there are still deaths but they’re associated largely with elderly people and those who have COVID infections alongside other particular medical problems.

Bell said boosters are now associated with a level of protection against transmissions that “only” lasts about 70 days.

“So the boosters are not really providing any prolonged protection against transmission.”

He added that “natural infection is much more effective” in terms of preventing reinfection, lasting for about 180 days, with extremes up to about 10 months.

Illustration of antibodies (y-shaped) responding to an infection with the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. (Getty Images)

Myocarditis

While questioning Bell, Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey quoted the Health Advisory & Recovery Team (HART) and raised concerns about a number of possible side effects from COVID-19 vaccines.

HART is an organisation that was set up to share concerns about policy and guidance recommendations relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The three vaccines, but particularly the two vaccines which we’re using now, have gotten pretty good safety profiles, that does not mean they’re not without some very minor issues that need to be tracked, obviously,” Bell responded.

“The biggest issue with the mRNA vaccines in my view is the incidence of myocarditis, particularly in young males aged 15 to 30.

“This is observed very early on originally by the Israelis and everyone’s replicated it.

“And I think the real question is, first of all, the incidence of that myocarditis is higher I think than most of us anticipated.”

Bell pointed to scientific papers in Canada and in the United States that showed an incidence in that particular age group, where 1 in 30,000 males will get myocarditis that’s severe enough to seek medical attention in hospitals.

“That’s a higher number than you like,” he said.

Bell claimed that “myocarditis goes away.”

“But I think there’s an interesting question about whether there might be some long-term effects of that and that requires continual scrutiny.”

‘Measurements That Are Far Worse’

Consultant pathologist and HART member Dr. Clare Craig told The Epoch Times that myocarditis is “not mild.”

“Whenever you see safety issues with drugs you’ll see that over time, the incidence that is measured, gets worse as it is measured more carefully and that’s exactly what we see with myocarditis,” she said.

“We’ve absolutely seen measurements that are far worse than 1 in 30,000 as high as 1 in 3,300 in 18–24-year-old men after the Moderna second dose.”

Craig said that “historical myocarditis” that people have gotten from other causes and not the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine isn’t benign, as a certain percentage may need a heart transplant, and the mortality rate is high.

“When you are saying how serious is it with a vaccine, then you have to first check you are measuring it right, and chase those patients up and see what is happening to them. In the short term, it seems to be mild for a proportion,” she said.

“But if you’ve still got problems, months on sometimes, you can’t be calling that mild.

“A teenager, or someone in their 20s or 30s with a heart problem for months, that’s not mild.

“And when you’ve had myocarditis, heart cells have been damaged and you can’t replace your heart cells, they are not replaceable, so you will be left with a damaged heart for the rest of your life, albeit in a very minor way. But until we’ve had some time for a proper follow-up, we don’t know what that means.”

The Epoch Times contacted Moderna for comment.

A worker is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei Province, on Feb. 23, 2017. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

Lab Leak

Bell, who also sits on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, told the committee that “it’s quite possible there was an accidental leak out of the lab.”

“To be honest, handling highly pathogenic viruses, in any controlled circumstances, has got a lot of risks associated with it and there are leaks, we’ve had them ourselves and of course one of our facilities, we had a smallpox leak many years ago in Birmingham,” he said.

“So these things, they do happen.”

Update: Dr. Clare Craig’s comment on the higher measurements of cases of myocarditis.