SAV Chemistry Institute: Allegations in Kotlar's Article on Vaccines Unfounded

Bratislava, May 14 (TASR) - The allegations in the article on mRNA vaccines against COVID, co-authored by Government Proxy for Investigating COVID-19 Pandemic Management Peter Kotlar, are unsubstantiated, the Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) has posted on social media, citing expert sources and the opinions of regulatory agencies. The institute pointed out that the study was published in a predatory journal. "These types of journals masquerade as scientific but don't provide a proper peer-review process, transparency or ethical standards," said the institute, explaining that the journal was placed on a list of open-access publishers that don't conduct a genuine peer-review process and would publish any article as long as the authors paid a processing fee. The SAV Institute of Chemistry also pointed out that the authors of the article are not vaccine experts and that several of them are known for their anti-vaccine stances and political backgrounds. According to the institute, this raises doubts about impartiality. They also question the transparency of the study, explaining that the authors didn't provide sufficient information on the methods used, the laboratory conditions or the validation of their results. The experts also pointed to misleading interpretations in the article. "The authors claimed that mRNA over-expression implies risk, but ignore regulatory limits that allow for tolerance within certain boundaries," they stated. Kotlar informed the media on Tuesday (May 13) about the publication of an analysis of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, in which he is listed as an author along with Sona Pekova and Richard M. Fleming. The analysis was published by the Herald Scholarly Open Access Journal of Angiology & Vascular Surgery. "Peer-reviewed, published, international. No scientist can argue anything," wrote Kotlar, urging SAV, physicians and scientists to respect rules and procedures and not spread disinformation and misinformation. am/df