The National Citizens’ Inquiry (NCI) has called for a judicial investigation with the potential for criminal liability into Health Canada after the department greenlit Moderna’s latest COVID vaccine for all Canadians aged six months and older, despite analyzing data from just 15 days follow up on 50 people — and none of whom who were younger than 21-years-old. 

The NCI, a citizen-led and citizen-funded public inquiry into Canada’s response to COVID-19, called for a thorough investigation into Health Canada on Thursday and wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday.

NCI Commissioner Ken Drysdale called for authorities to “Conduct a full judicial investigation into the authorization process of COVID-19 vaccinations in Canada with the possibility of addressing any criminal liability that might be found.” 

Asked later by a reporter to elaborate on the potential criminal liability, NCI Commissioner Heather DiGregorio said “Our recommendations don’t preclude that a proper investigation into the actions of approving the COVID-19 vaccines could have involved [criminal activity].” 

Emergency Use Authorization 

Drysdale noted this latest Moderna so-called COVID vaccine was approved because Health Canada has made permanent an “Interim Order,” which was Canada’s term and more lenient drug approval policy, in light of what it perceived to be an “urgent public need.”  

This Interim Order has since been codified into Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations.

“The only notable change between the test in the Interim Order and the new permanent regulation is that the ‘public health need’ that needs to be addressed is no longer described as urgent,” the letter reads.

The new permanent approval process lacks traditional safety and efficacy vetting. Instead, the Minister only needs “sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that the benefits associated with the drug outweigh the risks.”  

“The authorization of the vaccines appears to have been all but pre-assured by the creation of the Interim Order,” the letter to Trudeau reads.

The NCI further called to immediately halt the current use of the authorized COVID vaccines.

Health Canada

In approving Moderna’s latest flavour of the month, Health Canada claims it conducted a “thorough, independent review of the evidence.” This review consisted of just 50 participants who took Moderna’s new COVID vaccine. The data also lacked an unvaccinated control group, and no one under 21-years-old took the shot.

Furthermore, Health Canada’s approval came despite only viewing 15 days’ worth of data among the 50 participants, which led Health Canada to declare the updated COVID vaccine “could provide superior protection.”  

“Data on Day 29 will be submitted at a later time as a Term and Condition for authorization,” Health Canada stated. 

One of the fifty participants in the study (2%) had an adverse reaction but the details of this reaction are unclear. 

Drysdale also pointed to what seems a conflict of interest, that is the federal government had already agreed with Moderna that the new Montreal-based pharma plant would manufacture millions of mRNA vaccines, and this came before the approvals were given, thus seemingly pressuring Health Canada to give the green light.