Families failed by COVID-19 vaccine tell inquiry of pain

Canadian lawmakers have heard controversial claims linking COVID-19 vaccination and pandemic-era government policies to increases in excess mortality, including among infants, children and people diagnosed with cancer.

Denis Rancourt, Ph.D., an excess-mortality researcher, made the claims Tuesday while testifying before the Allison Inquiry, a four-day hearing chaired by Canadian MP Dean Allison. The inquiry is examining experiences of Canadians who reported injuries following COVID-19 vaccination, alongside testimony from physicians, scientists and other witnesses.

Rancourt said his conclusions were based on analyses of official mortality data from Statistics Canada and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He argued that the data contained what he described as “screaming safety signals” that warranted further investigation.

According to Rancourt, U.S. infant mortality reversed its pre-pandemic downward trend in 2022, about nine months after COVID-19 vaccination was recommended for pregnant women. He estimated approximately 4,000 excess infant deaths in the U.S. between 2022 and 2024.

He also estimated more than 2,000 excess deaths among U.S. children aged one to four between 2021 and 2024, saying mortality increases coincided with the rollout of vaccines for young children. For Canada, he estimated about 410 excess deaths among children aged one to 14.

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Rancourt further claimed that mortality data showed unusual increases in cancer deaths following vaccine rollouts. He estimated more than 4,000 excess cancer deaths among Americans aged five to 44, including about 960 among those aged five to 24.

The researcher also attributed part of the pandemic-era excess mortality to government interventions, including lockdowns, isolation of elderly people, economic restrictions and reductions in financial support.

He said mortality peaks corresponded with periods of intensified measures aimed at protecting elderly people, arguing that prolonged isolation and social stress could have contributed to deaths among vulnerable populations.

Rancourt also challenged the interpretation that a respiratory virus alone explained the observed mortality patterns, citing geographic differences in mortality between regions that he said had similar demographic and transportation characteristics.

However, he acknowledged that excess-mortality statistics alone cannot conclusively establish the cause of individual deaths.

Rancourt called for unusual population-level mortality patterns to be investigated rather than dismissed, arguing that uncertainty over causation should not prevent authorities from responding to potential safety signals.

His testimony and conclusions remain contested, and the presentation did not by itself establish that COVID-19 vaccines caused the deaths he identified.