An anti-vax group claims to have issued a High Court application to challenge the authorisation of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine by Health Minister Joe Phaahla and the regulatory authority – but the Health Department says it has not yet been served with any legal papers.
The Freedom Alliance of South Africa (Fasa) released documentation which claims it has lodged papers in the High Court calling the authorisation of Pfizer’s jab “unlawful”, naming Phaahla, the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) and Pfizer among its respondents.
But Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said that although the department had heard about the case, “we have not received court papers on this matter”, reports Health Policy Watch.
Willis Angira, Pfizer’s external communications manager for East and Southern Africa, declined to comment.
Fasa’s 736-page “court documents” show no court number or stamp proving they have actually been lodged in court.
The group appears to be part of the international anti-vaccine movement, and cites as supporters various outspoken critics of Covid-19 vaccines including UK cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, whose recent presence and talk in the Western Cape created a stir.
Bizarre conspiracies
Fasa promotes a range of extreme conspiracy theories on its website, including articles claiming that the Covid vaccines contain artificial intelligence “synbio” aimed at “transforming humanity to Human version 2.0”, and that these react to WiFi and 4G, and assemble microchips in people’s bloodstreams.
The group’s Telegram channel also claims that vaccines “make people magnetic”, amid other, bizarre, 5G conspiracy theories about streetlights.
International challenges
Meanwhile, in the US, renowned anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr and his organisation, the Children’s Health Defence, are suing various news organisations fighting misinformation, including the BBC, The Washington Post, Associated Press and Reuters.
They claim that these outlets have censored “alternative Covid narratives”, and that they have been “censored, de-monetised, demoted, throttled, shadow-banned, and/or excluded entirely from platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Linked-In”.
Kennedy’s group has opted to bring the case in the jurisdiction of ultra-conservative Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who recently ruled that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had erred by authorising abortion pill mifepristone.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
South African scientists say Pfizer jab legal challenge ‘baseless’
CDC investigates ‘relatively few’ reports of myocarditis from Pfizer vaccination
Leading medical experts condemn talk by anti-vax doctor in Western Cape legislature
Scientists slam BBC for airing claims by anti-vax cardiologist
Experts debunk false claims from anti-vax film
Anti-vaxxers target doctors on social media and rating websites