https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/how-the-unvaccinated-got-it-right_5238208.html?utm_campaign=socialshare_emailI am disturbed by how every commentator on the political right has turned anti-COVID-vaccine to one degree or enough. While most are against the vaccine, some think it should only be given to the most vulnerable population because of reported vaccine risk.
The article cherry-picks its data and makes a number of false claims. It hits every anti-vaccine point that has come up over the last three years and relies on emotional language to make its points.
1. It is not true that the vaccinated die at a higher rate than the unvaccinated. The data shows so much the opposite that it takes extreme mental gymnastics to come to this conclusion.
The article points to data from the vaccine trial. The problem with this is that the vaccine trial was given to a wide range of people, including nursing home patients who might have died anyway, so any discussion of the death rate from the initial trial is not proof of anything.
https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2021/08/no-more-vaccinated-people-didnt-die-from-covid-in-pfizers-vaccine-trial.htmlThere has been a ton of research after the initial trial. I have read a number of papers that support the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
I saw one study that indicated that 1 out of a million people might die from the vaccine, usually people with comorbidities. This is roughly the same risk of death every time you get in a car. However, the disease
has killed 1 out of 92
infected people in the United States, usually people with comorbidities. Young healthy people have also died from COVID. Nobody claims that the vaccine is perfectly safe, or effective, but the relative risk is much lower. One out of every 285 Americans has died from COVID. I lost a cousin to COVID.
The efficacy of the vaccine has changed as the disease has evolved. Because of this, many people claim that the government lied to us about
the efficacy of the vaccine. Although the vaccine is now less effective
at preventing the disease, the data shows that it is
still 97% effective at preventing hospitalization and death.
2. It is not true that the vaccine is untested.
3. The vaccine was not tested for stopping the spread of the virus.
Although initially true, there wasn't time before the Emergency Use Authorization to determine whether the vaccine stopped the spread of the virus. Most commentators take this to mean that it doesn't. However, I have read
more recent scientific studies that show that vaccinated people are much less likely to spread the disease.
If a member of your family has COVID, wouldn't you prefer that they be vaccinated?
According to at least one study, the vaccinated are less likely to spread the disease to a family member.4. The article claims that the vaccine mRNA might not be eliminated inside the body, without offering any proof, further making the unsupported claim that this could harm our health.
It is a well-known medical fact that mRNA is destroyed in less than a second after it is used. Your body is making and disposing of mRNA every microsecond.
Even if some of the vaccine mRNA stays around, there is no vehicle for the mRNA to enter other cells. The vaccine needs a lipid delivery mechanism to work. Once the mRNA enters the cell, it loses this mechanism.
5. The article claims that there are no long-term vaccine risk studies.
This is most likely true, although it depends upon what you mean by long-term. There have been more studies on the COVID disease and vaccination than any other disease.
"no long-term side effects have been detected. "
https://portal.ct.gov/vaccine-portal/Vaccine-Knowledge-Base/Articles/Long-Term-Effects?language=en_USHowever, the long-term effects of the COVID disease have been severe, with about 11% of the infected getting "long covid". This can be life-threatening or completely debilitating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpjGLLbWZJ06. The article claims that the government violated people's civil liberties and engaged in censorship, and this is a good reason to not get vaccinated.
The first part of this statement is true, but it would be like saying that because you live in communist China you should not get vaccinated. The efficacy and safety of the vaccine is a completely different issue from the oppressive nature of governments.
