Align Health Agency, which offers chiropractic, acupuncture, movement therapy and other services from its base at the Lido Medical Centre, says that it has been made aware of potential risks in relation to pregnant or breastfeeding women who come into contact with Pfizer-vaccinated individuals and that it has a duty of care to staff and patients to help keep them protected.
The company says the potential risk is identified by Pfizer itself in its clinical-protocol document and Align has therefore contacted all clients asking that vaccinated individuals wait two weeks after having any of the approved jabs before attending the clinic.
The government, however, has taken issue with Align’s stance on the matter and, the company says, threatened to report it and its owner, Dr Marie-Christine Dix, to the Care Quality Commission.
Align managing director Andy Cunningham said the company was not ‘anti-vax’ but seeking to protect a group of otherwise healthy members of society for whom the long-term impacts of the Covid vaccines was not yet known.
He added: ‘Personally, I believe the government has taken quite a strong and – in my opinion – threatening approach to our risk assessment and following safety request.
‘As an independent business and a health business we have a duty of care to our staff and clients – not government – and as such we take perceived threats very seriously, especially when these threats are in regards to freedom of speech. As a professional clinic where the safety of clients and staff are at the forefront at all times, this request is no different – it’s a matter of ethics not comfort.
‘We felt that as the potential risk was documented by Pfizer in their own clinical protocols we had no choice but to ensure we were providing adequate precautions in clinic to ensure the safety of this particular group.’
Responding to the concerns raised by Align, deputy medical officer of health Dr Ivan Muscat said: ‘I am aware of an email that has been circulated to clients of a local wellness clinic. The email asks clients to not attend appointments within two weeks of having had a Covid vaccine.
‘There is often a misconception that the Covid-19 vaccines can cause Covid infection. Jersey’s vaccination programme uses MHRA-approved vaccines that do not contain the Covid virus and therefore cannot replicate or cause infection in individuals after vaccination. As such, vaccinated individuals cannot pass Covid-19 onto other people as a result of receiving vaccination.’
He added: ‘I would like to reassure Islanders that vaccinations are safe and effective, and remain the best way to protect you, your family and friends from Covid-19.’
Align’s email to clients, which the government claims – according to emails seen by the JEP – has led to ‘complaints and concerns from Islanders’, states: ‘As the potential risks are unclear and undocumented but recognised by Pfizer in their clinical protocol document (align.je/pfizer-protocol) we have reviewed the data and made the clinical safety decision to request ALL vaccinated individuals leave two weeks following vaccination before attending the clinic.’
Asked about medical advice, such as from Dr Muscat, that the vaccines do not contain the virus and therefore cannot transmit Covid to the recipient or those they come into contact with, Mr Cunningham said: ‘We know these injections are not true vaccines as they do not contain live virus. However, Pfizer have deemed it of significance to mention “occupational exposure” in their vaccine protocol.
‘We have not made claims that this is shedding [the release of parts of the vaccine to outside the body], however the description and mode of potential risk described would suggest they are aware of a similar process occurring. From research which is ongoing, as these vaccines are still in research phase, we believe that the spike protein may be shedding, but this is a working theory – which prominent scientists are hypothesizing – until further in-depth research can be carried out to fully understand exactly what Pfizer has raised.
‘We have been reviewing the data and research that the spike protein does not stay at the site it was injected (ie the deltoid), research has clearly demonstrated that it travels to the bone marrow and more heavily to the ovaries. As Pfizer have specifically singled out pregnant women and breastfeeding women in their risk assessment, we suspect that their concerns relate to this understanding.
‘A paper within the International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice and Research on 10 May 2021, discussed that mRNA technology may have the ability to cause occupational risk through a process involving the release of exosomes from dendritic cells.’
