Conservative MP apologizes for comments on COVID-19 vaccines, virus risk

OTTAWA —
Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu is apologizing for comments she made about COVID-19 vaccination and the risk associated with the virus.

Gladu said the remarks she made on CTV’s Question Period on Sunday, opposing vaccination status disclosure and calling into question the severity of the virus, were “inappropriate.”

“Upon reflection, I recognize how dangerous it is to share misinformation about the severity of COVID-19 and the safety and efficacy of vaccines. I retract these comments in full,” a statement reads.

“I apologize unreservedly to Canadians. I also apologize to my caucus colleagues and Leader for the distraction my comments have created.”

Gladu has been the face of the new intra-party caucus to defend the rights of those unvaccinated.

“Vaccines are a safe and effective way to limit the spread of COVID-19 and prevent serious illness. I encourage every Canadian, who is able, to get vaccinated. When it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines, it should be physicians and public health experts who advise Canadians, not politicians,” she said.

In the CTV Question Period interview, she compared COVID-19 to the polio disease that spread in the first half of the 20th century, but said the novel coronavirus doesn’t pose the same “frequency of risk.”

“In terms of the risk, people that got polio, many of them died and many of them were crippled, and that is not the same frequency of risk that we see with COVID-19…I’m just receiving the information from medical experts that talk about the relative risk. I’m not a doctor myself.”

At the peak of the polio epidemic in Canada, in 1953, there were nearly 9,000 cases and 500 deaths from coast to coast. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic there have been 1.74 million cases and 29,192 deaths in Canada.

She also took issue with vaccine mandates and disclosure of vaccination status.

“People are being forced to disclose this. And that is another issue that we need to talk about because what’s next? What next, will you be forced to disclose about your medical history?” she told Question Period.

More details to come…