Why did Claire Byrne ignore the long list of nasal spray flu vaccine side-effects for children?

RTÉ became the shopping channel for vaccines over the past three years. No mention of side-effects or risk benefit analysis, just a cold, hard-sell, even if it risked children's lives...

In October 2020, RTÉ presenter Claire Byrne received a drive-through flu jab live on air, apparently. Former TD and pharmacist Kate O’Connell delivered the shot and afterwards, the pair discussed the nasal spray flu vaccine for children. View video here.

The exchange went as follows:

Byrne: Now we know that the children are getting it for free from ages two up, is it?

O’Connell: Yes two up. The children are free. So there’s a nasal vaccine out now for two to 12 years included. And it’s a very simple vaccine. It’s not an injection like the normal….

Byrne: This is just the best news for mammies and daddies…

O’Connell: Yeah and it’s point one of a mil into each nostril and I did about 10 of them during the week, they all went smoothly. I’ve done two of three of my own children so far and it’s all worked out. So I suppose in terms of doing children, they are a priority group because children tend to, I suppose, carry the virus around with them, the influenza virus, they tend to be reservoirs of disease. 

Byrne: Ok

O’Connell: So it’s very important that they are vaccinated. 

This is a shocking exchange considering the low efficacy rate of the nasal spray flu vaccine for children and the long list of side-effects associated with the spray, also referred to as FluMist or in Ireland the Fluenz Tetra made by the controversial pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. 

US site Immunizationinfo.com tells us: 

FluMist is a nasal spray flu vaccine. It was discontinued in 2016-2017 flu season because it was only 3% effective in the previous three flu seasons. FluMist contains a live flu virus that can cause infections, asthma, fevers, and other serious side effects.

The site lists some of the side-effects to the vaccine: 

• Allergic reaction

• Anaphylaxis

• Asthma

• Bell’s palsy

• Brain damage

• Breathing problems

• Diarrhea

• Eosinophilic meningitis

• Encephalitis

• Epistaxis

• Facial paralysis

• Gastrointestinal infection

• Guillain-Barré syndrome

• Heart inflammation

• Hypersensitivity reactions

• Hypoxia

• Leigh syndrome symptoms worsen

• Low oxygen in blood

• Meningitis

• Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy symptoms worsen

• Nausea

• Pericarditis

• Rash

• Reye’s Syndrome (aspirin side effect)

• Respiratory distress

• Respiratory tract infection

• Vaccine-associated encephalitis

• Vomiting

• Wheezing requiring bronchodilator therapy

You would, at the very least, expect a public service broadcaster to address the risk benefit analysis of the nasal spray flu vaccine for children. Why would any parent subject their child to the risk of these side-effects if the spray was only 3% effective? Why didn’t Byrne challenge O’Connell on her assertion that children tend to be “reservoirs of disease”. No they’re not. That’s an outrageous thing to say without any scientific basis. Surely you can’t promote a vaccine without discussing its side-effects? It is immoral and wrong, utterly unjustifiable, unethical and downright dangerous. 

Here’s an excerpt from a Health Service Executive (HSE) press release dated October 17, 2022: 

HSE encourages parents to protect children from flu this winter with the free nasal spray flu vaccine

Today the HSE is asking parents of all children aged 2 to 17 years to get the free nasal spray flu vaccine. The nasal spray flu vaccine gives children the best protection from flu. The flu vaccine will also help protect others, like siblings, parents, grandparents and those who are vulnerable.

All children aged 2 to 17 years can get the free nasal spray flu vaccine from participating GPs and pharmacies. The GP or pharmacist will give the nasal vaccine by spraying it once into each of the child’s nostrils. Getting the nasal spray flu vaccine is a safe, effective and a pain free way to protect your child from flu this winter.

Surely the HSE can’t describe the nasal spray flu vaccine as safe and effective given the long list of side-effects?  The press release goes on to make the outrageous claim that it is safe for children to get the Covid-19 vaccine at the same time as the flu vaccine. Safe? Don’t they mean high risk? No child requires either so-called vaccine. The risks outweigh the benefits.

Another potential side-effect linked to the nasal spray flu vaccine is Strep A.  An NIH study from February 2014 reports: 

Following infection with an influenza virus, infected or recently recovered individuals become transiently susceptible to excess bacterial infections, particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus…

Here we show, in mice, that vaccination with a live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) primes the upper respiratory tract for increased bacterial growth and persistence of bacterial carriage, in a manner nearly identical to that seen following wild-type influenza virus infections.

The WHO VigiAccess also included Streptococcal infection on its list of FluMist ‘potential side-effects’ although it seems to have been removed or harder to find in more recent searches. Here’s a screenshot from a previous search.

Over to Ireland’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre for an update on Group A streptococcus published on March 16, 2023:

There has been an increase in notified invasive Group A Streptococcus (iGAS) infections in Ireland since October 2022.

In a normal year, iGAS infections typically peak during the first six months. The increase observed towards the end of 2022 is the first time a peak has been reported outside this usual peak period...

Since October 2022, there have been six deaths in children: four deaths in children aged under 10 years old and two deaths in children aged 10-17 years and 10 in adults (age range, 50-96 years).

Might this increase in infections have anything to do with the nasal spray flu vaccine? It is worth discussing on our national airwaves to explore one way or the other. The public has a right to know about any possible links to Strep A or any of the other potential adverse reactions. In the UK approximately 30 children have died from Strep A in the span of four months, between September 2022 and January 2023. At least 10 more children have died since then up to last month. Australia is also seeing an uptick in Strep A putting it down to a mutant, invasive strain.

Why aren’t we discussing this in detail? We hear the reports about Strep A but no mention of whether or not the children received the nasal spray flu vaccine. It is not the job of the state broadcaster to promote vaccines, especially without informing the public of their safety concerns, the risks involved or their limited efficacy. Something very wrong has happened here. The public has been put in danger. Worse still, the lives of innocent children who don’t have the capacity to research these topics, have been put in harm’s way. RTÉ has become the shopping channel for vaccines. No reasonable debate, no discussion, just a hard, shameless sell. Who cares about the collateral damage? Does the viewing public even notice? Keep pushing the ‘safe and effective’ guff and let them queue up for more. As long as the big bucks keep rolling, who cares?

Thank you for your support at this critical time, between a captured mainstream media and ever-increasing censorship online. Please click HERE to support independent journalism.