Pfizer chairman: We're not sure if someone can transmit virus after vaccination

Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla told Dateline host Lester Holt that the pharmaceutical company was "not certain" if the vaccine prevented the coronavirus from being transmitted, saying, "This is something that needs to be examined." In a prime-time special titled "Race for a Vaccine" set to air Thursday, Holt questioned Bourla and other individuals involved in the development and distribution of the medicine. In November, Pfizer announced that its vaccine candidate had been shown to be more than 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 and has applied for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The U.K. became the first country to approve Pfizer's vaccine this week with the first round of immunizations expected to roll out next week. In a list of interview highlights released before the special, Holt asked Bourla, "Even though I've had the protection, am I still able to transmit it to other people?" "I think this is something that needs to be examined. We are not certain about that right now with what we know," Bourla responded. Though Pfizer's vaccine has shown promising results, challenges have surfaced when it comes to distributing and administering it. The vaccine must be delivered and stored in extreme sub-zero temperatures, which has heightened the demand for dry ice.

Once the vaccine is kept at normal refrigeration temperatures, it must be used within four or five days or be discarded. The vaccine is administered in two doses spaced a few weeks apart. Government health officials have said that if the vaccine is approved, the first round of immunizations could be available for health care workers and high-risk individuals before the end of the year. Moderna and AstraZeneca have announced their own vaccine candidates to be highly effective at preventing the coronavirus as well with Moderna applying for emergency use authorization from the FDA.

https://thehill.com/news-by-subject/healthcare/528619-pfizer-chairman-were-not-sure-if-someone-can-transmit-virus-after

Firm That Conducted ‘Audit’ of Georgia Voting Machines Has Long History With Dominion

The firm hired by Georgia’s secretary of state to conduct an “audit” of Dominion Voting Systems technology used during the 2020 elections is the same one that previously certified the Dominion systems and also approved a last-minute system-wide software change just weeks before the election. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger failed to disclose that the company, Pro V&V, had a preexisting relationship with Dominion that dated back years, in his Nov. 17 statement announcing the results of the audit. Raffensperger also failed to disclose that Dominion had used technical conclusions from Pro V&V in a pre-election Georgia lawsuit that questioned the reliability of Dominion’s systems during a last-minute software fix before the Nov. 3 election. The testing from Pro V&V had been characterized as “superficial” and “cursory testing” by an expert cited in court documents.

In the widely quoted statement, Raffensperger said that the audit of Dominion machines was complete, there was “no sign of foul play,” and that “Pro V&V found no evidence” of tampering with the machines: “We are glad but not surprised that the audit of the state’s voting machines was an unqualified success,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “Election security has been a top priority since day one of my administration. We have partnered with the Department of Homeland Security, the Georgia Cyber Center, Georgia Tech security experts, and wide range of other election security experts around the state and country so Georgia voters can be confident that their vote is safe and secure.” Raffensperger also included an impressive description of Pro V&V in his statement, but again failed to disclose the firm’s relationship with Dominion, nor did he address the fact that Pro V&V appears to be a very small and private company that operates out of a single office suite. “Pro V&V, based in Huntsville, Alabama is a U.S. Election Assistance Commission-certified Voting System Test Laboratory (VSTL), meaning the lab is “qualified to test voting systems to Federal standards.” VSTL certification is provided for under the Help America Votes Act of 2002. Pro V&V’s accreditation by the USEAC was also recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the U.S. government’s physical science laboratory dedicated to creating standards and measures that would help America be the leading science innovator in the world. NIST contributes regularly to the development of cybersecurity and elections security standards for the U.S. and the world.”

According to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) website, it appears that the federal commission currently has only two accredited testing labs for the entire country: Pro V&V and SLI Compliance. There are seven voting system test laboratories (VSTL) listed on the EAC site, but five of these companies have notations showing their accreditations as expired. Additionally, although the EAC lists Pro V&V as being accredited, the link for Pro V&V’s accreditation certificate leads to a “page could not be found” warning. An older certificate of accreditation for Pro V&V can be found separately, on the company’s profile overview. It has an issue date of Feb. 24, 2015, and shows as being effective through Feb. 24, 2017. It’s unclear if the company’s accreditation has expired or if the fault lies with the EAC website. Raffensperger’s characterizations of Pro V&V gave no indication that he had any prior familiarity with the company and one could easily believe that there was no affiliation or long-standing ties between Dominion and Pro V&V, although that impression is inaccurate. Raffensperger’s statement does indicate that Pro V&V’s post-election audit work was fairly limited, describing only the extraction of “the software or firmware from the components to check that the only software or firmware on the components was certified for use by the Secretary of State’s office.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/firm-that-conducted-audit-of-georgia-voting-machines-has-long-history-with-dominion_3604466.html?utm_source=morningbriefnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mb-2020-12-04

https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/elections/secretary_raffensperger_announces_completion_of_voting_machine_audit_using_forensic_techniques_no_sign_of_foul_play

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.gand.240678/gov.uscourts.gand.240678.941.0.pdf

Implementation Statement

https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/voting_system/files/Attachment_A_-_Dominion_D-Suite_5.5-A_Implementation_Statement.pdf

https://www.eac.gov/voting-equipment/democracy-suite-55-modification

https://www.eac.gov/voting-equipment/democracy-suite-50

https://www.eac.gov/voting-equipment/certified-voting-systems