Why Vaccines Are Not Safe

What’s The Difference Between A Live Or Killed Vaccine

Live and killed vaccine comparison

Why Vaccines Are Safe

All vaccines are thoroughly tested to make sure they will not harm you or your child.

It often takes many years for a vaccine to make it through the trials and tests it needs to pass for approval.

Once a vaccine is being used in the UK it’s also monitored for any rare side effects by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency .

Anyone can report a suspected side effect of vaccination to the MHRA through the Yellow Card Scheme.

There are very few people who cannot have vaccines.

Generally, vaccines are only not suitable for:

• people who’ve ad a serious allergic reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine
• people who’ve had a serious allergic reaction to ingredients in the vaccine

People with weakened immune systems may also not be able to have some vaccines.

If you’re not sure if you or your child can be vaccinated, check with a GP, practice nurse, health visitor or pharmacist.

What Dosing Regimens Are Pfizer And Moderna Testing Now

Pfizer and BioNTech are now evaluating a third three-microgram dose administered at least two months after the second dose. That regimen reflects the companies commitment to carefully select the right dose to maximize the risk-benefit profile, they said in a statement.

The companies did not say why theyre testing a third dose rather than conducting another dose-finding study to determine whether there might be an even sweeter spot between three and 10 micrograms. Lloyd says it might have been in the interest of getting data back faster or it could have been related to recent discussion about whether three doses is in fact the right regimen for the mRNA vaccines.

Moderna, meanwhile, is testing higher doses of its vaccine for kids in this age group. Last March, the company said it would first test two doses of either 50 or 100 micrograms given 28 days apart to kids ages two to 12. For babies and infants ages six months to two, the company would also test a 25-microgram dose. After an interim analysis, the company would select the best dosage and expand the study. But its unclear where those trials stand right now.

Were all eager to hear more, Moffitt says. She points out that Moderna has slowed its efforts to seek authorization for older children after safety signals pointed to a higher risk of heart inflammation in young men ages 18 to 29. I think that has subsequently held up all the age groups, she says.

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Why Scientists Worldwide Are Watching Uk Covid Infections

The countrys relaxation of measures such as masking especially in England is showing the limits of relying on vaccines alone.

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom has often foreshadowed what came later elsewhere. The highly contagious Alpha variant was first detected there, and the country then reported high caseloads of the more-contagious Delta strain before this variant dispersed around the rest of the world. The United Kingdom also saw a wave of infections that seems to have preceded a similar glut now sweeping Western Europe.

Furthermore, England was among the first regions in Western Europe to lift almost all of its COVID-19 restrictions, following one of the worlds fastest vaccine roll-outs. It ended the legal requirements for social distancing and mask use on 19 July, with Wales and Scotland which set their own public-health policies lifting most of their restrictions on 7 and 9 August, respectively. Northern Ireland followed on 31 October.

As one of the first countries to trust high vaccine coverage and public responsibility alone to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the United Kingdom has become a control experiment that scientists across the world are studying. We are watching the increase in cases closely, trying to dissect what is going on and how that might influence our situation right now, says Rafael Radi, a biochemist and coordinator of Uruguays COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Group.

Pathways To Develop And Produce A Covid

Global health authorities and vaccine developers are currently partnering to support the technology needed to produce vaccines. Some approaches have been used before to create vaccines, but some are still quite new.

Live vaccines

Live vaccines use a weakened form of the germ that causes a disease. This kind of vaccine prompts an immune response without causing disease. The term attenuated means that the vaccines ability to cause disease has been reduced.

Live vaccines are used to protect against measles, mumps, rubella, smallpox and chickenpox. As a result, the infrastructure is in place to develop these kinds of vaccines.

However, live virus vaccines often need extensive safety testing. Some live viruses can be transmitted to a person who isnt immunized. This is a concern for people who have weakened immune systems.

Inactivated vaccines

Inactivated vaccines use a killed version of the germ that causes a disease. This kind of vaccine causes an immune response but not infection. Inactivated vaccines are used to prevent the flu, hepatitis A and rabies.

However, inactivated vaccines may not provide protection thats as strong as that produced by live vaccines. This type of vaccine often requires multiple doses, followed by booster doses, to provide long-term immunity. Producing these types of vaccines might require the handling of large amounts of the infectious virus.

Genetically engineered vaccines

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Will The Kids Vaccine Take Omicron Into Account

In short, no. Although there has been discussion about adjusting the mRNA vaccines specifically to target the Omicron variant, Moffitt says the clinical trial data that the FDA and CDC will be assessing are the same formulations as the vaccines that older populations have receivedjust lower doses. And because the clinical trials began before the Omicron variant emerged, there likely wont be any clear data on how well the vaccine works against the variant.

How Do We Know The Covid

One of the reasons some people havent signed up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is that theyre worried there might be unknown side effects that will show up months or years later.

Although its true there are still a lot of things were learning about the vaccines like how effective they are against variants and how long their protection lasts there are plenty of things we do know that give experts confidence in the long-term safety of the vaccines.

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What Every Parent Should Know About Immunizations

Watching your child get a shot isn’t easy. It’s even harder if you have fears or concerns about the safety or necessity of the vaccine.

Millions of parents immunize their kids each year without concern. Yet some parents have heard rumors that vaccines can cause serious health problems.

So, how can parents get the facts about vaccine safety? Your child’s healthcare provider is your first source of reliable information. Healthcare providers are bound by law to give you written information on the benefits and risks of each vaccine suggested for your child. Reading this material can help you make a well-informed decision.

Another source of in-depth information on vaccine safety is the CDC.

What Full Fda Approval Of Pfizers Vaccine Means For The Course Of The Pandemic

Update 9/10/2021

Scientists say this decision is a huge milestone that clears the way for vaccine mandates and booster dosesand may persuade more unvaccinated people to get a shot.

By granting full regulatory approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, scientists say the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has provided a critical tool to help the nation stem a worrisome rise in new infections driven by the Delta variant.

The FDAs decision, announced on August 23, could lead to a substantial increase in vaccination rates, says Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University. Not only is full approval expected to ease the concerns of the hesitant, but it also paves the way for more vaccine mandates, and it provides doctors more latitude in prescribing booster doses.

Its a huge milestone, Wen says. Acting FDA commissioner Janet Woodcock also described the decision in a statement as one that puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.

In December, the FDA made an exception to its typical approval process when it granted emergency use authorization to Pfizers vaccine based on two months of safety data. At the time, the regulatory agency emphasized that the benefits of having a vaccine during a global pandemic outweighed the potential costs.

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The Claim: Cdc Director Says Vaccines Cant Prevent Transmission Of Covid

As the omicron variant surges across the world and the United States logs case numbers near and over 1 million per day, the virus is prompting scientists to develop new treatments and government officials to fight to curb the spread.

While the Biden administration continues to urge Americans to get vaccinated, a claims that Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said vaccines cant prevent COVID-19 transmission. Other sites have shared the same claim, linking Walenskys words back to an interview with CNN in August 2021.

Our vaccines are working exceptionally well,” Walensky said to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in the interview. “They continue to work well for delta, with regard to severe illness and death they prevent it. But what they can’t do anymore is prevent transmission.”

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Though Walensky did say these words on CNN, the original interview was aired in early August, not recently. And while it’s true vaccines can’t entirely halt transmission, experts say they do reduce it and reduce the chances of hospitalization and death as USA TODAY previously reported.

USA TODAY reached out to the original poster of the claim for comment.

Variouswebsites have written about the same claim, amassing thousands of interactions on Facebook.

What Is The Fast

Scientists hope to tweak coronavirus vaccines to ensure they continue to offer high protection as new variants of the disease emerge.

The UK’s drug regulator says new vaccines can be fast-tracked for approval if needed.

No corners will be cut, with safety paramount.

But lengthy clinical trials with thousands of volunteers will not be needed.

Instead, data from existing studies and ongoing real-world use could be used.

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The Challenges Of Testing Vaccines In Kids

Children are not just tiny grown-upsand their immune systems work differently, too. While kids are still maturing, their immune systems are unpredictable. They might mount a different immune response to the COVID-19 vaccines, and they could have side effects that arent seen in adults.

They might respond better or worse, James Campbell, professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicines Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, told National Geographic earlier this year. Until you do the study with the vaccine, you dont know what will happen.

Typically, however, new drugs and vaccines are tested in healthy adults before launching clinical trials among riskier populations like kids and pregnant women.

Adolescents are a different story. By September 2020, Pfizer had accumulated enough safety data in its clinical trials to expand them to include teenagers as young as 16. In October, the company expanded its trials to include kids as young as 12.

you pretty much were confident that you had the dosing, says Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. So that was easy. Its not so easy when you go down to five or six years of age.

Social Media Is Fueling Vaccine Scepticism

Anti-vaxxers were able to advocate before the internet The U.K.-based Leicester Anti-vaccination League formed in 1869 but social media has made it easier to spread erroneous claims and hard to debunk them . “Most online media don’t benefit from the quality control of journalists and editors that shapes the content of traditional mass media,” write researchers Marina Joubert and Francois van Schalkwyk. “Consequently, content is generated by experts and quacks alike, and opinion and facts become blurred. This makes it hard to judge if information is credible or not.”

Without fact-checking, Facebook groups become echo chambers that amplify a single perspective, one often lacking rigorous scientific evidence.

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Was The Behaviour Of Individuals Responsible For The Recent Surge

The surge in infections is not the result of the public suddenly abandoning caution, researchers say. We have not seen a continuous rise , but rather a small increase and then fluctuations driven by whether schools are open and how many people are attending work, says Christopher Jarvis, a statistician who heads the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicines CoMix Social Contact Survey.

The average adult now has contact with three to four other people per day, compared with more than ten before the pandemic. For children, the numbers are much higher now that schools have reopened. Mask use dropped once the mandate was lifted, but this is harder to measure.

The gradual pace of behaviour readjustment could explain why the country has experienced a sustained high level of infections rather than the spike that models predicted in August or September. Ongoing high transmission suggests that measures such as free rapid COVID-19 testing will not contain infections while high-risk events in crowded indoor environments are permitted, says William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.

What The Data Doesnt Show

While the existing data does offer reassurance that the vaccines remain protectiveand booster shots arent neededscientists and regulators alike point to the need for more academic studies to untangle exactly how the immune system is responding to the COVID-19 vaccines.

I think what were going to see, over the next six months or so, a lot of studies outlining what those other components of the immune response look like in both healthy people and in some of our vulnerable populations, Wherry says. We really just need a lot more information on multiple layers of the immune response to vaccination.

Its also important to keep an eye on public-health data, particularly the rate of hospitalizations and deaths among vaccinated people. Wherry says that, ideally, states will be able to pinpoint when those who are infected were first vaccinated to help identify when immunity seems to be waning.

The HHS spokesperson says regulators are monitoring all this new data as well. The administration is prepared for booster doses if and when the science demonstrates that they are needed, and any recommendation by CDC and FDA would come after their thorough review process.

All the same, Wherry says it cant hurt to be prepared for the time when boosters are needed. Right now you can have confidence that, if youre fully vaccinated, your chances of getting severely ill from COVID are extremely low in the U.S.

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Natural Immunity And Disease Prevention

Vaccines help your immune system get ready to protect against a disease without making you sick.

You may become naturally immune after being exposed to a disease. However, the risks of severe complications or even death are much greater than the risks of a severe reaction after getting a vaccine.

For example, if your child gets meningitis naturally, they have a 1 in 10 chance of dying. Those that survive have a 1 in 5 chance of:

• deafness
• loss of limbs
• brain damage

An infected person can also spread the disease to others in the community before they show symptoms. Groups at risk include:

• older adults
• those with underlying health conditions

A Slow Startand Quick Acceleration

Still, some scientists were disappointed last fall when those trials were slow to materialize. Even though the FDA had granted emergency use authorization to Pfizer and Modernas vaccines in December, the companies didnt launch their clinical trials among kids ages 11 and younger until March.

It didnt seem from early on that these trials in kids were happening with the same urgency that they were with adults, says Sean OLeary, a professor at the University of Colorado and vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatricians Committee on Infectious Diseases.

Once the trials got underway, however, they moved quickly. Completed within two months, the first phase of Pfizers clinical trials demonstrated that the vaccine was safe and effective in a small group of 144 children. In June, Pfizer launched its combined phase two and three clinical trials to assess the efficacy of the vaccines among up to 4,500 children ages six months to 11 years.

Ive never seen anything like it, says Domachowske, who is supervising the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric trials at SUNY Upstate Medical University. If we could run clinical trials like this all the time, we would improve public health in an astonishing way.

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‘he Appears To Be A Very Concerning Individual’

Trozzi, who didnt show up on Jan. 7 along with Phillips, was barred from issuing medical exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines, masking requirements and testing at the same time as Kilian. His licence, however, is still active.

According to court documents, Trozzi who is not affiliated with any hospital and is on sabbatical granted medical exemptions to patients in which he described vaccines as injectable COVID-19 experimental genetic therapies.

Trozzi operates a website on which he blogs alongside Paul Elias Alexander a Canadian health researcher and former Trump administration official. According to CPSO lawyer Peter Wardle, Trozzi has described the pandemic as a planned exercise in population control.

He appears to be a very concerning individual with some very dangerous views, Wardle said during the hearing.

Questions to Trozzi were answered by Alexander, who said Trozzi had not issued any fake medical exemptions and stood by claims the vaccines are not safe and effective.

When asked why he and his clients did not show up to the hearing, Alexander said they determined that it wasnt in our interests to appear and other actions are underway to address the allegations.

The CPSO said Phillips was incompetent in his communications.

Wardle said Phillips ultimately took the documents down but he is now threatening to repost them.

Phillips Twitter account has since been suspended. His medical licence is restricted.