BRATISLAVA – Prime Minister Robert Fico ordered a halt to COVID-19 vaccine deliveries yesterday until the Academy of Sciences evaluates the findings of a controversial anti-mRNA report.
The report was commissioned by Peter Kotlár, a trained orthopaedist and MP, who was originally tasked with reviewing pandemic-era vaccine and test purchases under the previous government.
But instead of auditing public spending, he used his post to promote fringe theories about mRNA vaccines that “cause the human body to produce toxins.”
Though the report has not been made public, it later emerged, he commissioned it from a Czech laboratory run by well-known conspiracy theorist and molecular biologist Soňa Peková.
“Moderna and Pfizer turned the vaccinated into genetically modified organisms, treating people like corn without their knowledge,” Kotlár stated, adding that the integrity of “Slovak gene pool has been compromised.”
His comments sparked backlash among doctors, political opposition, and even some coalition politicians.
Kotlár’s claims have been repeatedly refuted by numerous leading Slovak doctors, scientists, and experts affiliated with these institutions, who assert that his assertions are starkly at odds with current scientific data.
But Prime Minister Fico, himself a self-declared vaccination sceptic, has consistently stood by Kotlár.
Following fresh pressure from the MP to stop “the madness” of mRNA vaccinations, Fico formally acknowledged the report and tasked the Slovak Academy of Sciences with reviewing its findings – a separate step from an earlier government-formed task force in March.
This has likely to do with politics rather than scientific rigour. Backing his crusade may help Fico keep him in line on other key issues.
Kotlár was elected as an independent on the ticket of the Slovak National Party, a junior coalition partner, and in a razor-thin majority, every vote counts.
Under the previous government, Kotlár had already pushed Bratislava into isolation on the international stage, to persuade his government to reject the World Health Organisation’s updated international health regulations.
His efforts earned him praise from US anti-vaccine figure Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who even sent a letter to Fico and Kotlár congratulating them on their rejection of the IHR.
Slovakia remains contractually bound to receive nearly 300,000 vaccine doses through next year, worth more than €5 million.
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