Suzanne Burdick

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) this week demanded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) turn over documents related to the agency’s contract with a New York-based public relations firm that also represented Pfizer and Moderna.

The demand followed revelations that the CDC contracted with Weber Shandwick to provide marketing services to the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) — the division of the CDC responsible for providing management and support to the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which issues recommendations to the CDC on vaccines including the COVID-19 vaccine.

… Citing the work of investigative reporter Paul D. Thacker, Paul said Weber “embedded staff ” within the CDC to “promote vaccines and provide communications services” related to COVID-19 — while “simultaneously representing the interest of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.”