Sen. Rand Paul slams Moderna CEO Bancel for not accepting negative vaccine side effects

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. slammed Modern CEO St phane Bancel during a Wednesday hearing when the CEO refused to concede to studies showing negative vaccine side effects on adolescent boys.

Paul asked Bancel if there was a higher incidence of myocarditis, a type of rare heart inflammation in boys ages 16 -- 24 after taking the Moderna vaccine. Bancel responded by saying that those who took the vaccine were at a smaller risk of myocarditis than those who contracted coronaviruses.

Paul stated that is not true. The Senator entered into evidence six peer-reviewed papers that say the complete opposite of Bancel's statements.

I spoke with your president last week and he readily acknowledged in private that there is an increased risk of myocarditis, Paul said. It is quite disturbing that you can't say it in public. Paul asked Bancel if it was scientifically sound to mandate three vaccines for adolescent boys, to which Bancel replied that it was up to public health leaders to decide. After the second shot, previous studies showed that adolescent and young adult males developed myocarditis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC suggested that there be a wait for more than one dose between each dose to reduce the risk of developing myocarditis.

You sit here and act as if you've never heard of myocarditis and you don't think it's an increased risk for young adolescent males when all the studies have shown that there is an increased risk after taking your vaccine, Paul said.

The Senate hearing on the plan to increase the Moderna vaccine, with a single dose expected to cost about $130 once the U.S. government stops buying the shots, said Wednesday.

The public health emergency is expected to end in mid-May, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The government will no longer buy and distribute the shots and price negotiations will then shift to insurers and government health programs.