Asheville – Bringing up the vaccine subject is like drawing a line in the sand. People have very strong feelings, and it’s no suprise. COVID has changed the face of our community, our nation, and the world. We’ve lost some very good people, and although things are more relaxed now, it’s not entirely over. We still don’t know what the long-term effects of having Covid will be, nor the long-term effects of the vaccines.
Coronaviruses have been around for a long time. According to Wikipedia, “Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the common cold, while more lethal varieties can cause SARS, MERS and COVID-19.”
We’ve been told many things: that the vaccines are “safe and effective,” that they would stop or slow the rate of transmission, and that two shots should be enough. Here we are, over two years later, and that has not been our reality. Many people who have had both shots and the boosters are still getting COVID.
There is so much information, and what some call disinformation and conspiracy theories, that it’s nearly impossible to discern what is best.
New studies are coming out, and we will share that information as we learn about it.
Most recently the U. S. Food and Drug Administraiton restricted the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for the second time, due to the ongoing risk of rare but serious blood clots.
A new Danish study shows that immunity against the Omicron coronavirus variant fades rapidly, “Our study found a rapid decline in Omicron-specific serum neutralizing antibody titers only a few weeks after the second and third doses of BNT162b2,” the Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine. This means more boosters in our future.
Earlier this year a federal judge ordered the FDA “to make public the data it relied on to license Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine,” after a group of doctors and scientists submitted a Freedom of Information Act. They requested for information that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used in licensing the Phizer COVID-19 vaccine. When a response was not forthcoming a lawsuit was filed requesting the data. According to MSN journalist Rudy Takala, “The agency…told a court that it had found about 329,000 pages of responsive information, but that it would like to release just 500 pages each month—giving it until 2076 to complete the request. The FDA took just more than 10 weeks, by contrast, to review the data before it approved the vaccine.” The court “concludes that this FOIA request is of paramount public importance,” wrote U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth.
According to the report, the new Pfizer vaccine was approved by the FDA for a vaccine that would provide “Active immunization to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in individuals 16 years of age and older.” Active immunization means not contracting the virus. That is why it was approved. It has not done that.
The report also includes nine full pages presenting a gamut of mild to severe adverse reactions. When these adverse reactions are reported to VAERS and their European counterparts, it doesn’t mean that they are confirmed being because of the vaccine, it is so follow-up research can be done. However, Pfizer’s Package leaflet under Information for the Recipient states under it’s Warnings and Precautions section, “There is an increased risk of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the lining outside the heart) after vaccination with COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 (see section 4). These conditions can develop within just a few days after vaccination and have primarily occurred within 14 days. They have been observed more often after the second vaccination, and more often in younger males. Following vaccination, you should be alert to signs of myocarditis and pericarditis.” Myocarditis and pericarditis are two of the adverse reactions listed among the 1200 in the Pfizer report.
Moderna’s Patient Information Leaflet includes the same warning.
Captain Robert Snow, an American Airlines pilot blamed a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine for a massive heart attack he suffered just minutes after landing a passenger aircraft with 200 people on board. Snow said, “I was told if I did not receive the vaccination, I would be fired. This was from our director of flight. So, under duress, I received the vaccine.” These mandates go against FAA regulations. On the FAA website under the title, “FDA drugs less than 12 months”, it clearly states that the regulation “generally requires at least one-year of post-marketing experience with a new drug before consideration for aeromedical certification purposes. This observation period allows time for uncommon, but aeromedically significant, adverse effects to manifest themselves.”
This information would have been good to know prior to vaccinating, but the fear of COVID is a great motivator. Which is safer? It may be awhile before we know the answer to that.