Idaho Republican pushes ban of mRNA vaccines against COVID, gene therapy products

The new bill would ban mRNA vaccines for a decade. | Adobe Stock image BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — A freshman Idaho lawmaker wants to ban most COVID-19 shots for the next decade, with a bill rooted in misconceptions about vaccines that thrived during the pandemic. The bill from Sen. Brandon Shippy, R-New Plymouth, would place a moratorium on “human gene therapy products” until July 2035. The bill defines those as products that include nucleic acids, “genetically modified microorganisms” and other “engineered site-specific nucleases.” The bill seeks to ban most forms of gene therapy, a set of cutting-edge treatments for some diseases. But the bill also would prohibit mRNA vaccines, like those developed by Pfizer and Moderna to combat COVID-19, Shippy told the Idaho Statesman. Vaccines that use mRNA technology are not gene therapy, according to medical doctors, including retired physician Dr. David Pate, the former CEO of St. Luke’s Health System. But mRNA vaccines and gene therapy often are conflated by pharmaceutical skeptics, according to The Associated Press. Shippy’s bill includes an exception for gene therapies that treat cancer or genetic disorders. Lawmakers this legislative session also have pushed to prohibit government mask mandates, like those enforced during the COVID-19 pandemic, to help stop the spread of disease. What are ‘gene therapy’ products? The first mRNA-based vaccines were distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with funding help in 2020 from Republican President Donald Trump’s administration. The mRNA vaccines generate an immune response and give the body’s cells a blueprint to help it later do battle with an infection from the actual virus, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The mRNA administered in the vaccines can only be replicated a limited number of times, and disappear from the body after a few days, according to the hospital. Gene therapy, by contrast, usually refers to other novel medical technologies that are in the process of being developed to alter DNA as a treatment for a disease. Joe Rogan, the popular podcaster — and medicine skeptic — is among those who have previously misidentified mRNA vaccines as a form of gene therapy. Not all of the COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. use mRNA technology; the vaccine made by Novavax does not. Asked whether his bill would similarly ban non-mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, Shippy told the Statesman he did not know. “There are a lot of medications, immunizations that have been tried and proven to be very effective and safe,” Shippy said. “I am not against vaccination in any way.” Gene therapy is new and experimental, and the effects are still not fully known, said Shippy, who is the owner of a sprinkler installation company. “I believe all the gene therapy products that are being used for immunization should be put on on hold until we can determine their safety and efficacy,” he said. No immunizations employ gene therapy, Pate said. The bill is named after Doug Cameron, an Idaho framer who believes he was injured by a COVID-19 vaccine that he received in 2021, according to interviews with Cameron posted online. Cameron previously testified in Washington, D.C., at a panel held by Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson about people allegedly harmed by vaccines. An estimate from 2024 concluded that COVID-19 vaccines have saved close to 800,000 lives in the U.S. Pate told the Statesman by text that banning mRNA vaccines just as new, potentially more lethal viruses are emerging “will win political points now, but result in widespread panic and political fallout for these shortsighted politicians if these other threats materialize.” A strain of influenza known as bird flu could lead to another pandemic that hits children and young adults especially hard, he said, and may overwhelm hospital pediatric units and cause many deaths. The H5 bird flu has spread widely across the U.S. It has infected 67 people and been associated with one death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prohibiting “real” gene therapy, Pate added, would “ban current and emerging treatments for serious medical conditions that have nothing to do with immunizations.” A previous effort by two far-right lawmakers in Idaho to ban COVID-19 vaccines in 2023 failed.The post Idaho Republican pushes ban of mRNA vaccines against COVID, gene therapy products appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com