Pope rails against vaccine 'denier' cardinals

Yahoo – AFP, September 15, 2021 

The pope is a strong advocate of coronavirus vaccines and has previously
expressed his incomprehension with those who refuse to take it (AFP/Tiziana FABI)

Pope Francis on Wednesday spoke out against "denier" cardinals who refused the coronavirus vaccine, in an apparent swipe at his main opponent who recently contracted Covid-19. 

"In the College of Cardinals, there are a few deniers. One of them, the poor man, contracted the virus," the pontiff told reporters as he flew home from a trip to Slovakia. 

The 84-year-old did not name the man he was referring to, but conservative US Cardinal Raymond Burke, one of Francis' fiercest and most vocal critics in the Catholic Church, was recently admitted to hospital in the United States with Covid-19. 

The pope said that in the heart of the Vatican, "everyone is vaccinated, with the exception of a small group". 

"We are studying how to help them," he said during a press conference onboard the papal plane. 

The pope is a strong advocate of coronavirus vaccines and has previously expressed his incomprehension with those who refuse to take it. 

"It's a bit strange because humanity has a history of friendship with vaccines," Francis said, highlighting the jabs that have for decades protected children against measles or polio. 

"We should clarify things and speak calmly," he advised, while also conceding that the debates over the different anti-coronavirus vaccines could create uncertainty or fear. 

The pope made a brief stopover in Budapest on Sunday before visiting Slovakia, and held a private meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. 

He is at odds with the populist leader's hardline stance on migration, but said Wednesday they did not discuss the issue. 

Hungarian President Janos Ader did most of the talking during the three-way meeting, the pope said, and they focused on ecology as well as Hungary's support for couples hoping to have children. 

For his part, Orban -- who has claimed Europe is threatened by a Muslim "invasion" -- said on Facebook that he had asked the pope in their meeting "not to let Christian Hungary perish". 

During his press conference, the pope repeated his call for Europe to return to the principles of solidarity on which it was founded, warning of "the danger that it has become just a managerial office. And that is not good."

New implant, vaccine trial offer fresh HIV hope

Yahoo – AFP, July 23, 2019

The findings were unveiled during the 10th International AIDS Society (IAS)
Conference in Mexico City (AFP Photo/RODRIGO ARANGUA)

Paris (AFP) - A matchstick-sized implant could revolutionise HIV prevention regimes after early trials suggested the device could stop at-risk people contracting the virus for up to a year at a time, new research showed Tuesday.

Unveiling their findings from a clinical trial at the 10th annual International AIDS Society conference in Mexico City, developers said the device could eventually offer a novel approach to HIV suppression.

It uses a molecule called MK-8591, which is roughly 10 times stronger as an HIV inhibitor than medicines currently on the market, and which has a very high barrier against resistance.

"It slowly releases the drug and maintains a very consistent level of the drug in your body and taking this prophylactically it can actually prevent you from getting infected," Mike Robertson, director global clinical development for virology at MSD research, told AFP.

Currently, individuals at high risk of contracting HIV have to take a pill every day in order to guarantee their protection.

In its annual report on the disease, the United Nations this month said that global AIDS deaths had fallen one third since 2010 to roughly 770,000 in 2018.

But it warned that the decline in new infection rates was slowing worldwide, and in some regions including Eastern Europe and the Middle East, rates were increasing dramatically.

Robertson said that the implant, or even a monthly pill containing the same active ingredient could provide more options for at risk communities.

"The people that are at highest risk are different populations -- for example men who have sex with men still remain in the US and Europe the group that has the highest rate of new infections," he said.

"But globally the highest incidence rate is in young women in sub-Saharan Africa and this is another group where most the new infections are occurring."

Anton Pozniak, International AIDS Society president, said that the implant "offers another choice for those who might in the future also have pills and injectables available" to prevent infection.

Tuesday also saw fresh analysis unveiled on a recent clinical trial into the safety and tolerability of a HIV vaccine.

The Phase 2 trial took place in Kenya, Rwanda and the United States among healthy, low-risk, HIV negative adults. The initial results showed that the vaccines were well-tolerated among subjects.

A Phase 3 trial is now in planning.

"These are very promising times in HIV vaccine research, with multiple efficacy clinical trials ongoing, new approaches in development, and a growing sense that we may be getting closer to an effective vaccine," said Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise Director Roger Tatoud.

Big daycare group says children who are not vaccinated will be sent home

DutchNews,May 1, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

A large Dutch childcare group has gone public in saying that it will ban children who have not be vaccinated against mumps, measles and German measles from July 1, broadcaster NOS said. 

The Berend Botje daycare group, which looks after over 3,000 children in Noord-Holland province, has told parents that children who have not been inoculated will be sent home after that date. The aim is to protect children of pre-inoculation age. 

There have been four cases of measles at a daycare centre in The Hague in recent weeks. Several are under 14 months old, the age at which children are vaccinated against the three diseases. 

So far around 100 daycare groups in the Netherlands have said that they will not accept children who have not been inoculated, but Berend Botje is thought to be the first one which has said it will ban children who already use its facilities. 

It is currently illegal to discriminate against non-vaccinated children under discrimination legislation but legislation to make a ban possible is currently going through parliament. 

Parents 

Berend Botje looks after children in a variety of age groups at 50 different locations across the province. So far around 10 parents have asked for further information about the ban, which will come into effect on July 1, the organisation told NOS. 

At the moment 90.2% of Dutch children are vaccinated against potentially serious illnesses such as measles, polio and whooping cough. This is below the level of 95% the World Health Organisation considers safe. 

The last measles epidemic in the Netherlands hit the Dutch Bible belt in 2013. In total, 2,600 people were diagnosed with measles and the outbreak was concentrated in families with young children who had not been vaccinated for religious reasons. One girl, who had not been vaccinated, died.

Related Articles:

New York mandates vaccine to contain Brooklyn measles outbreak

Vaccination debate rages on, €2m allocated to answer parents’ questions

“To vaccinate or not to vaccinate, that is the question”

Kryon Q&A

Question (2003): Dear Kryon, I have a new grandson. He's going for his first vaccination in the next few weeks. If we're beginning to transmute toxins with reconnections to our endocrine system through our DNA, then what happens to our babies, who by law have to be vaccinated? What are your thoughts on this subject?

Answer: First, know that vaccinations are a God-given science that humanity earned. They're a tried and proven homeopathic method that have been with you for years. You were probably vaccinated yourself, and it worked.

We have three answers: (1) God is not in a vacuum. Even the vaccinated Human Being who's older can modify and rework their DNA. So there's no time limit, and there are no rules that say "Once vaccinated, you're ruined." (2) The Human who is of the age of awareness can say, even as they are vaccinated, "Let nothing inappropriate enter my chemistry." This is a conscious instruction given to your "intelligent cellular structure" (the same one responsible for kinesiology and homeopathic results). This will result in your cells only using what they need and casting away everything else. (3) Finally, about babies: There has been a push by your science lately to vaccinate against many things at the same time. You'd be advised to seek out a doctor who will only vaccinate your child for only the basic diseases that have been known in the last 40 years. Eliminate the vaccinations for the new ones. This leaves you with approximately seven or eight - the very ones that have been used for years. What your science is not appreciating yet is the results of combining all the vaccination substances together. There's a problem that will show itself in time. Stick with the basic ones.

New York mandates vaccine to contain Brooklyn measles outbreak

Yahoo – AFP, Thomas URBAIN, April 10, 2019

A school bus on April 9, 2019 in a Jewish quarter of Williamsburg, Brooklyn -- where
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency over an
outbreak of measles (AFP Photo/Johannes EISELE)

New York (AFP) - New York's mayor declared a public health emergency in parts of Brooklyn on Tuesday, ordering all residents to be vaccinated to fight a measles outbreak concentrated in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

The order concerns all people living or working in four zip codes of Williamsburg, northwest Brooklyn, where some residents oppose vaccines on religious grounds -- although neither Jewish texts nor local Jewish authorities advise against vaccination.

"It was time to take a more muscular approach," de Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference as the emergency measures were announced.

"This can be turned around quickly," he said. "We can stop this."

Under the new rules, anyone who has not received the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine or does not have evidence of immunity risks a fine of $1,000.

The city also warned that yeshiva religious schools and day care programs serving the local Orthodox Jewish community would face penalties and possible closure if they keep taking in students who are not vaccinated against measles, which can cause severe diarrhea, pneumonia and vision loss and can potentially be fatal.

New York authorities warned that yeshiva religious schools and day care programs 

serving the Williamsburg Orthodox Jewish community would face penalties and 

possible closure if they continue to take in unvaccinated students (AFP Photo/

Johannes EISELE)

Like all but three American states, New York requires a series of vaccinations for school-age children but has until now granted exemptions on both medical and religious grounds.

Since October, however, 285 cases of measles have been confirmed in New York City, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). None proved fatal, but 21 patients required hospitalization and five were admitted to intensive care.

"I urge everyone, especially those in affected areas, to get their MMR vaccines to protect their children, families and communities," de Blasio said in a statement.

'Safe, effective and life-saving'

"There's no question that vaccines are safe, effective and life-saving."

That message was echoed by Dr Herminia Palacio, deputy mayor of health and human services.

"When you make the decision not to vaccinate your child, please understand you're also making that decision for the people around your child," warned Palacio, who said her services had received reports of so-called "measles parties" held to purposely expose children to the disease.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said it was time for "a more muscular approach" to

the resurgence of measles in parts of the city (AFP Photo/Jim WATSON)

Although measles was declared officially eliminated from the United States in 2000, a total of 465 cases have been confirmed in 19 states from January 1 to April 4, according to the CDC.

"This is the second-greatest number of cases reported in the US since measles was eliminated in 2000," it said.

The highest figure -- 667 -- occurred in 2014.

The resurgence of the once-eradicated, highly-contagious disease is linked to a growing anti-vaccine movement in richer nations -- which the World Health Organization has identified as a major global health threat.

Most of the New York cases involved unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated individuals, according to de Blasio's office.

The so-called anti-vax, or anti-vaxxer phenomenon has adherents across Western nations but is particularly high profile in the US, where it has been fueled by medically baseless claims spread on social media.

Although measles was declared officially eliminated from the United States in 2000, 

cases have been confirmed in 19 US states this year, according to the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (AFP Photo/Johannes EISELE)

Rockland County, located near New York City, has also declared a 30-day public health emergency over a measles outbreak there that has seen 168 people contract the disease, according to the CDC.

Non-vaccinated minors in the county were banned from public places in a bid to prevent the spread of the disease, and hundreds of people have now been vaccinated, according to authorities.

Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, the health commissioner there, said that since October she has been waging an uphill fight to persuade people vaccines are safe and necessary to protect the larger community.

Among her daily battles: having to constantly repeat that the vaccine does not cause other diseases, that it does not lead to autism, and that the practice of using fetal tissue to produce the vaccine ended decades ago.

Related Articles:

Vaccination debate rages on, €2m allocated to answer parents’ questions

“To vaccinate or not to vaccinate, that is the question”

Kryon Q&A

Question (2003): Dear Kryon, I have a new grandson. He's going for his first vaccination in the next few weeks. If we're beginning to transmute toxins with reconnections to our endocrine system through our DNA, then what happens to our babies, who by law have to be vaccinated? What are your thoughts on this subject?

Answer: First, know that vaccinations are a God-given science that humanity earned. They're a tried and proven homeopathic method that have been with you for years. You were probably vaccinated yourself, and it worked.

We have three answers: (1) God is not in a vacuum. Even the vaccinated Human Being who's older can modify and rework their DNA. So there's no time limit, and there are no rules that say "Once vaccinated, you're ruined." (2) The Human who is of the age of awareness can say, even as they are vaccinated, "Let nothing inappropriate enter my chemistry." This is a conscious instruction given to your "intelligent cellular structure" (the same one responsible for kinesiology and homeopathic results). This will result in your cells only using what they need and casting away everything else. (3) Finally, about babies: There has been a push by your science lately to vaccinate against many things at the same time. You'd be advised to seek out a doctor who will only vaccinate your child for only the basic diseases that have been known in the last 40 years. Eliminate the vaccinations for the new ones. This leaves you with approximately seven or eight - the very ones that have been used for years. What your science is not appreciating yet is the results of combining all the vaccination substances together. There's a problem that will show itself in time. Stick with the basic ones.

Indonesia vaccinates millions to halt deadly diphtheria outbreak

Yahoo – AFP, 11 December 2017

   

Jakarta (AFP) - Millions of Indonesian children are being vaccinated this week as the country responds to a widespread diphtheria outbreak that has killed dozens, officials said Monday.

Indonesia vaccinates millions to halt deadly diphtheria outbreak

Some eight million children and teenagers across the Southeast Asian nation will receive the shot to prevent further spread of the disease which is caused by a bacterial infection.

It can lead to breathing difficulties, heart failure, paralysis, and even death if left untreated.

Widespread incidents of the communicable disease are relatively rare in Indonesia, although it had the second largest number of reported cases globally from 2011-2015, behind India, according to the World Health Organization.

This year, nearly 600 cases have been detected in 95 Indonesian communities across 20 provinces, killing 32 people.

The vaccination programme started from Monday in three of the country's most populous provinces, including the capital Jakarta, and could continue into next month, officials said.

The spike in cases is due to poor public awareness as well as a growing anti-vaccination movement in Indonesia, the health ministry said.

"Diphtheria cases have been rare for a long time in Indonesia, so people were no longer aware of the danger and did not take their children for vaccinations," senior ministry official Jane Soepardi told AFP.

Officials hope to halt the spread before Indonesia hosts the Asian Games next year.

"It was not scary at all. My teacher told me we all must be vaccinated and it did not hurt either," Ragil Setiawan, a 10-year-old student at an elementary school in Tangerang, just outside of Jakarta, said Monday after getting his shot.

Ebola vaccine may be 'up to 100% effective': WHO

Yahoo – AFP, Marlowe Hood, December 23, 2016

In a major clinical trial, nearly 6,000 people in Guinea were given the test vaccine
last year, at the tail end of a lethal epidemic of Ebola and non of them contracted
the disease (AFP Photo/CELLOU BINANI)

Paris (AFP) - A prototype vaccine for Ebola may be "up to 100 percent effective" in protecting against the deadly virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday.

If all goes well, the vaccine could become available in 2018 under a fast-track approval process, it said.

In a major clinical trial, nearly 6,000 people in Guinea were given the test vaccine last year, at the tail end of a lethal epidemic of Ebola.

Not one of the 6,000 contracted the disease.

But in a control group of volunteers that did not receive the vaccine, 23 Ebola cases occurred, researchers reported in The Lancet medical journal.

"If we compare zero to 23, this strongly suggests that the vaccine is very effective, that it could be up to 100 percent effective," Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO's assistant director-general and lead author of the study, told AFP.

Her team of three dozen researchers calculated a 90-percent likelihood during a full-fledged epidemic that the vaccine, dubbed rVSV-ZEBOV, would work in more than 80 percent of cases.

"After 40 years, we appear to now have an effective vaccine for Ebola virus disease to build upon," Thomas Geisbert, a scientist at Galveston National Laboratory in Texas who did not take part in the study, wrote in a commentary, also in The Lancet.

Factfile on how the Ebola virus attacks (AFP Photo/John Saeki/Adrian Leung)

'Compassionate use'

First identified in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Ebola virus erupted periodically in outbreaks of up to a couple hundred cases, mainly across west and east Africa.

In early 2014, however, a handful of infections in southern Guinea mushroomed rapidly into an epidemic.

Over the next two years, more than 28,000 people fell ill, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Some 11,300 died.

With a mortality rate above 40 percent, the disease -- one of a category of so-called haemorrhagic fevers -- has an incubation period of up to three weeks. It causes violent and painful symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhoea, organ failure and internal bleeding.

The new vaccine was initially developed in Canada by public health authorities before being taken over by pharmaceutical giant Merck.

It is slated to be submitted by Merck to health authorities in the United States and Europe sometime next year under a fast-track approval process.

"We may have a vaccine which is registered in 2018," Kieny told journalists at a press conference Thursday, noting that the standard approval process for a new drug takes a decade, if not more.

In the meantime, Merck has committed to ensuring that 300,000 doses of the vaccine are available for emergencies under a protocol called "compassionate use".

"They will be able to produce a million in very short period of time," Kieny noted.

Of the more than 6,000 people injected with the Ebola vaccine only two showed 

serious adverse effects, the study reported, both recovered fully (AFP Photo/

CELLOU BINANI)

Unanswered questions

There are still questions to be resolved concerning the vaccine, including side effects.

Initial tests last year did not include children, while the most recent trials covered those over six years old.

Of the more than 6,000 people injected with the Ebola vaccine only two showed serious adverse effects, the study reported. Both recovered fully.

But it is still unknown if the vaccine is safe for children six and under, pregnant women, or people with the AIDS virus -- all groups that were excluded from the most recent trials.

Another unknown is how long innoculation lasts.

"With the Canadian Merck vaccine, you have a protection very early after vaccination, but we don't know if it will last after six months," Kieny said.

Other Ebola vaccines under development -- some of which have been tested in humans -- could prove more effective over a longer period.

British firm Glaxosmithkline and Johnson & Johnson, based in the United States, each have experimental products in the pipeline.

China and Russia have also developed vaccines, with the Russian one having just finished the second phase of three-step clinical trials.

Some of these vaccines require two doses three weeks apart, and may confer a longer immunity.

"That might be better suited to immunise health workers in advance of an outbreak," Kieny said.

Health officials also point to the fact that other strains of the virus -- including one in Sudan -- will require the development of separate vaccines.

Health workers assist a patient suspected of having Ebola on their way to a

 treatment centre run by the French Red Cross in Patrice, Guinea, on

November 21, 2014 (AFP Photo/Kenzo Tribouillard)

Related Articles:

Sierra Leone's first Ebola-hit community reconsiders its traditions

WHO declares Ebola outbreak over

"Revelations of Darkness" - Oct 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ .. The Role of Gaia in Human Consciousness

One of those times might be frightening for you to know about, since it was a full cooperation with Gaia for your termination, and a pandemic almost wiped humanity off the map. A pandemic! Now, you say, "What has that got to do with Human consciousness, Kryon?" Pay attention, dear ones, because this is the day where the teaching was given by my partner, and he put together the Nine Human Attributes. One of the attribute sets included three Gaia attributes and one of them was the consciousness of the planet. Gaia is related to Human consciousness!

Are you starting to connect the dots? You are connected to this planet in a profound and spiritual way. As goes humanity goes the planet's consciousness. Gaia, Mother Nature, whatever you want to call it, cooperates with Human consciousness. If you spend 1,000 years killing each other, then Gaia will do its best to cooperate with your desires! Gaia will look at Human consciousness and try to help with what you have shown you like to do! Did you know this role of Gaia with you? It's a partner with you, fast tracking what you give to it. You may wish to review what the indigenous of the planet still understand. Gaia is a partner!

Pandemic: Don't you find it odd that in the last 50 years, when you have a population of seven billion Human Beings, with up to 2,000 airplanes in the air at any given moment, going between almost every conceivable place, that there has not been a pandemic in your lifetime? There have been five starts of potential pandemics over the last 20 years, yet none became serious. Did any of you put this together? Dear ones, when the world was far less populated a few hundred years ago, with no mass travel to spread a virus, there were still millions wiped out by a pandemic. With the increased population and mass travel, there is far more danger today than before. It doesn't make sense, does it? What happened to stop it?

When you know humanity's relationship to Gaia, it makes sense. Gaia is a life-force that is your partner, watching you change the balance of light and dark and reflecting what Humans want. It has polarity, too! Perhaps it's time to start your meditations with thanking your planet Earth for supporting you in the spirituality of your Akash, for always being with you, a life-force that is always present. The ancients started their ceremonies in that way. Have you forgotten?

Ebola

Now, I've just set the stage for the next subject, haven't I? Ebola. Are you afraid yet? Gaia is a life-force that is a part of Human consciousness. My partner put it on the screen today so you could see the connections [during the lecture series]. Now it's time to connect the dots. Dear one, Gaia is in the battle, too, for here comes something scary that you haven't had in your lifetime and you're afraid of it - the potential of a pandemic on the planet.

There's a very famous film that has some dialogue that my partner will quote. Some of you will know it and some of you won't, but here it is: "Have a little fire, scarecrow?" What are you afraid of? Darkness? Gaia is in the battle with you and is actively pursuing solutions through light. The energy of the planet is with you in this fight! The ebola virus is a shock and a surprise. It is propelled by ignorance and fear, so it can flourish. Look at where it started and look at how it gets its ability to continue. It expands its fear and power easily with those who believe it's a curse instead of those who understand the science.

Villages are filled with those who refuse to leave their family members because they believe the disease is a curse! FEAR! Instead of understanding that they should be in isolation from the virus, the family dies together through ignorance and fear. This represents how darkness works. Are you going to become afraid also? Dear ones, ebola will be conquered. Know this and be at peace. Pray for light for those in the villages who are afraid, that they can know more about how to keep the spread of this disease and live to see their families. .”

Vaccination debate rages on, €2m allocated to answer parents’ questions

DutchNews, November 17, 2016

The public health institute RIVM is spending €2m on a campaign to get more parents to have their children vaccinated, amid growing concern that vaccination rates are falling. 

Parents are increasingly questioning the need for vaccinations as diseases disappear from the radar and wrong or outdated information circulates on the internet, spokesman Hans van Vliet told broadcaster NOS. 

Over nine in 10 children take part in the state vaccination programme, which runs from the age of 0 to 19. However, the take-up rate among newborns has fallen 0.5% for the past two years and is declining in fundamentalist Protestant and Free School communities, the RIVM says. 

‘People have become more vocal and are less likely to take the word of experts,’ Van Vliet said. ‘We have to do more to convince worried parents and answer their questions properly.’ 

Daycare

The Boink foundation, which represents parents whose children use organised daycare, wants to know if it is legally possible for crèches to refuse to accept children who have not been vaccinated. 

That discussion started two years ago after an eight-month old baby became seriously ill with measles. The baby reportedly contracted the disease from a child who had deliberately not been vaccinated. 

The baby’s mother Nicole Gommers believes daycare facilities should be allowed to refuse children who have not been vaccinated. ‘You should not be taking risks with extremely young children,’ she told the broadcaster. 

During the Bible belt measles epidemic in 2013-14, one child died and 182 were hospitalised.

Related Articles:

“To vaccinate or not to vaccinate, that is the question”

Kryon Q&A

Question (2003): Dear Kryon, I have a new grandson. He's going for his first vaccination in the next few weeks. If we're beginning to transmute toxins with reconnections to our endocrine system through our DNA, then what happens to our babies, who by law have to be vaccinated? What are your thoughts on this subject?

Answer: First, know that vaccinations are a God-given science that humanity earned. They're a tried and proven homeopathic method that have been with you for years. You were probably vaccinated yourself, and it worked.

We have three answers: (1) God is not in a vacuum. Even the vaccinated Human Being who's older can modify and rework their DNA. So there's no time limit, and there are no rules that say "Once vaccinated, you're ruined." (2) The Human who is of the age of awareness can say, even as they are vaccinated, "Let nothing inappropriate enter my chemistry." This is a conscious instruction given to your "intelligent cellular structure" (the same one responsible for kinesiology and homeopathic results). This will result in your cells only using what they need and casting away everything else. (3) Finally, about babies: There has been a push by your science lately to vaccinate against many things at the same time. You'd be advised to seek out a doctor who will only vaccinate your child for only the basic diseases that have been known in the last 40 years. Eliminate the vaccinations for the new ones. This leaves you with approximately seven or eight - the very ones that have been used for years. What your science is not appreciating yet is the results of combining all the vaccination substances together. There's a problem that will show itself in time. Stick with the basic ones.

Parents Demand Official Explanation on Ill-Effects From Fake Vaccines

Jakarta Globe, Alin Almanar, July 20, 2016

Parents wait for their children to be revaccinated at a hospital in Bekasi
on Monday (18/07). (Antara Photo/Risky Andrianto)

Jakarta. Parents who suspect that their children have been given fake vaccines are demanding that the government issue an official explanation about their health effects, instead of sticking to unofficial claims that the counterfeit vaccines pose no health risks at all.

Tests conducted by the Food and Drug Monitoring Ageny (BPOM) show some of the fake vaccines contained regular vaccine mixed with insulin.

If only a small amount is injected, the counterfeit vaccines will not have any side effect, the Health Ministry has said.

"We need official statements from the government," said Imam Subali, the parents' representative, in a meeting with the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday (20/07).

"This would help ensure that hospitals administering the fake vaccines can be held responsible if the patients suffer ill-effects later," Imam told the lawmakers.

The chairman of the House's Commission IX — which oversees health and manpower affairs, Dede Yusuf said, "The fake vaccines are not necessarily dangerous but the production did not follow hygienic standards."

Tuesday's meeting came five days after the Health Ministry revealed the names of 14 hospitals, most of which are located in Bekasi, West Java, that have allegedly administered counterfeit vaccines.

Shortly after the revelation, enraged parents besieged some of the hospitals, demanding they provide data on patients that have been been given fake vaccines, conduct medical check-ups and perform revaccination if necessary.

The fake vaccine revelation prompted the House to agree last week on establishing a special mechanism to supervise the distribution of vaccines and other medicines in Indonesia.

Late last month, a joint task force made up of officials from the Health Ministry, the National Police and the BPOM was formed to crack down on the fake vaccine distribution ring.

Related Article:

Health Ministry Reveals Names of 14 Health Facilities That Have Been Using Fake Vaccines

Health Ministry Reveals Names of 14 Health Facilities That Have Been Using Fake Vaccines

Jakarta Globe, 14 Jul 2016

Jakarta. The Health Ministry on Thursday (14/07) announced the names of 14 health facilities that have allegedly been administering fake vaccines to their patients. 13 of the 14 health facilities are located in Bekasi, just outside Jakarta.

The names of the private hospitals were revealed during a hearing at the House of Representatives, which had been urging the Health Ministry to announce the names since Wednesday.

The National Police announced on Tuesday that according to their ongoing investigation 14 health facilities have been using fake vaccines.

"We have obtained a permission from the police's criminal investigations unit to announce the names," Health Minister Nila Moeloek told lawmakers from the House's Commission IX, which oversees health and manpower affairs.

According to the document released by the ministry, the names of the 14 hospitals and their locations are:

1. Dr. Sander Batuna in North Cikarang, Bekasi

2. Bhakti Husada in North Cikarang, Bekasi

3. Sentral Medika in Cikarang, Bekasi

4. Puspa Husada in South Tambun, Bekasi

5. Karya Medika in West Cikarang, Bekasi

6. Kartika Husada in Jatiasih, Bekasi

7. Sayang Bunda in Pondok Ungu Permai, Bekasi

8. Multazam in Bekasi

9. Permata in Bekasi

10. Gizar in South Cikarang, Bekasi

11. Elisabeth in Bojong Rawalumbu, Bekasi

12. Hosana Medica in Lippo Cikarang, Bekasi

13. Hosana Medica in Bekasi

14. Harapan Bunda in Ciracas, East Jakarta

The 13 hospitals in Bekasi bought their fake vaccines from Juanda, an employee of CV Azka Medika. Harapan Bunda Hospital in East Jakarta obtained the fake vaccines from a man named M. Syahrul.

According to the document, both men had "given a list of the vaccines and their prices to the procurement units at the hospitals. The orders were later agreed by the hospital directors."

Antibody shields monkeys from 'HIV' for months: study

Yahoo – AFP, Mariette Le Roux, April 27, 2016

Exposed to simian HIV once a week, non-treated macaques contracted the virus
after just three weeks on average, researchers say, whereas the trial monkeys given
 one shot of a lab-produced antibody remained virus-free for up to 23 weeks (AFP
Photo/Jay Directo)

Paris (AFP) - Just one shot of a lab-produced antibody protected macaques against a sort of monkey HIV for nearly six months, said a study Wednesday into a potential vaccine alternative.

Exposed to simian HIV (SHIV) once a week, non-treated monkeys contracted the virus after just three weeks on average, the researchers said, whereas the trial monkeys remained virus-free for up to 23 weeks.

In human populations at high risk of contracting the AIDS-causing virus, such protection, even temporary, "could have a profound impact on virus transmission," the team of German and US-based researchers reported in the journal Nature.

They had examined "passive immunisation" as an alternative to an HIV vaccine, which experts fear may still be years off.

A vaccine works by priming the body to respond with germ-fighting antibodies whenever a virus or bacteria invades. It is long-lasting, sometimes for life.

"Passive immunisation" involves the transfer of antibodies generated by one person directly to another to provide protection, which is shorter-lived.

Antibody shots were used to protect travellers against Hepatitis A until a vaccine became available in the 1990s, and some hope the technique could stave off millions of HIV infections until a vaccine comes to the market.

Transferred antibodies had previously been shown to protect animals against HIV-like viruses for a day or two, but never as long as in this study.

Proof of concept

Since the outbreak started in the early 1980s, about 71 million people have been infected by HIV, and some 34 million have died, according to UN estimates.

There is no cure, and the only way of dealing with HIV is lifelong reliance on antiretroviral drugs, invented in the 1990s, to stop the virus from replicating.

The treatment carries side effects and is costly.

The quest for a vaccine has been long and frustrating, in spite of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding.

Some of the focus has shifted to antibodies, but this too proved complicated as each HIV antibody tends to target a specific virus strain.

In recent years, researchers have discovered that about 10-30 percent of HIV-infected people have a naturally-present, "broadly-neutralising" (bNAb) type of antibody which targets several strains at once.

Three of these were tested in the new study.

Each delayed infection in macaque monkeys, said the team -- the first by up to 12 weeks, the second by 20 weeks, and the third by 23 weeks.

A single antibody shot "was protective against repeated low-dose SHIV infection for several months," the team wrote.

This served as "proof of concept" that periodic antibody shots may be useful as an alternative to vaccination, they said, though further research must confirm that the findings can be replicated in humans.

"When considered in the context of a potential exposure to HIV-1 in regions of the world where HIV-1 is endemic," wrote the team, such an infection barrier "could have a profound impact on virus transmission".