And Just because someone does well as a result of vaccination does not mean that everyone does well.
It really helps to understand the concept of relative risk here.
I have found no reports of verifiable deaths caused by Covid vaccines. To be honest, others who are scientific-minded like me have found up to a couple of dozen deaths attributable to vaccination.
However, one way to see if there are excess deaths is to compare the death rate between two similar populations, one which received the intervention, the other which has not. When I did my own calculations, I found that the death rate DROPPED in the vaccinated population. Now, since I am retired and have no lab, research staff, or medical library access*, my own calculations remain unpublished. Other researchers who have done the same analysis with the same result have published their data.
For context, the death rate of Covid remains at 1%. It would be higher, but the most at-risk population (the elderly) is highly vaccinated.
A safety study evaluating non-COVID-19 mortality risk following COVID-19 vaccination
Tl;dr version: you are less likely to die if you have received Covid vaccines.
Serious adverse effects:
Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). This is a rare autoimmune disorder of uncertain etiology which follows most frequently after viral (including Covid) or bacterial infections. A study did find that the J&J adenovirus-based Covid vaccine caused a higher than expected incidence of GBS. However, the rate of GBS among recipients of the mRNA based vaccines was the same as the background rate. The FDA has pulled the authorization for the J&J vaccine for this and other concerns.
Myocarditis and Pericarditis. The professional antivaxxers have really hyped this one because the rate of myo- and pericarditis following vaccination actually is higher than background in certain groups. So an analysis of relative risk is very necessary to understand this.
The highest rate of peri- or myocarditis in the group at highest risk following vaccination was "1 in 30 000 doses after second dose of the primary series."
However, the rate of peri- and myocarditis in Covid patients was at least 15 fold higher than background levels. The incidence of myo- and pericarditis among Covid patients is between one in 25 and one in 667 cases. This is clearly a far higher rate than in vaccinees.
For further context, the myo- or pericarditis following vaccination is most likely due to an inflammatory response and is mild and self-limiting.
Q&A: What Causes Rare Instances of Myocarditis After mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines?
The peri- or myocarditis following Covid disease results from physical virus-caused heart damage which, in some cases, might even necessitate a heart transplant for the patient to survive.
COVID-19, Myocarditis and Pericarditis.
I am not going to discuss the other severe adverse events which follow vaccination, but if you are interested, you can peruse the CDC vaccine safety page that summarizes the data and provides links to the relevant studies:
Selected Adverse Events Reported after COVID-19 Vaccination.
I will point out that severe adverse events occur after any vaccine. The context in which to analyze vaccine safety is, what is the risk following vaccination versus the risk from catching the disease?
Uh Huh, and you are assuing that vaccination helps prevent long Covid. Again. not true. See here:
The article you linked is not so much a discussion of long Covid, but a discussion of what is commonly called "brain fog," which is a serious manifestation of long Covid. The study referred to in that article apparently is a comparison of brain fog between vaccinees and Covid patients. I cannot read the study article as it is behind a paywall. The abstract suggests that at least some of the vaccinees experiencing brain fog are experiencing psychosomatic symptoms (that is, their symptoms arise from anxiety and are not physically caused by vaccination). Furthermore, the brain fog of vaccinees was clinically different than the brain fog of Covid survivors.
Vaccination does decrease the incidence of long Covid, as well as the chance of catching Covid in the first place, of developing serious disease in a breakthrough infection, or of dying.
I think that professional antivaxxers try to instill the belief that a vaccine is an impervious shield that protects the vaccinee against pathogenic assault. This is a belief that they have promoted for centuries which they are now employing in their campaign against Covid vaccine.
The truth is that a vaccine is not a shield. A vaccine is an immune system training aid. An antigen is presented to the immune system, which studies the antigen and forms a defense against it. The defense is in the form of specialized T-cells, B-cells, and antibodies. But, in much the same way as people have varying levels of intelligence (some get Fs on the test, some get As, and most are in the middle), individual immune systems have variable levels of "intelligence." There are a lot of reasons for this, which I have mentioned in previous posts.
Basically, if your immune system has little to no function, no vaccine in the world can restore that function. So, if you are unfortunate like Colin Powell whose immune system was completely destroyed by cancer, getting vaccinated against Covid is completely useless. He died because his immune system didn't work, not because of any shortcoming or flaw of the vaccines.
Well, the question you ask can also be asked of those who are vaccinated. The effectivenes of the vaccine wanes in a few months as well. Whenever your immunity fades in a few months, you have to get boosted again. So how does continous MRNA vaccination become good for your health?
This statement indicates to me that you have (consciously or not) absorbed the professional antivaxxer trope that immunity is a primary health goal in itself, independent of disease protection. It is not. Being immune to, e.g., yellow fever is completely useless if you never travel to a place where yellow fever is endemic.
How long immunity lasts against a pathogen is a function of how the immune system interacts with that pathogen. It has nothing to do with vaccine quality. The immune system typically does not retain memory of coronaviruses for more than a few months. This includes coronaviruses that cause the common cold as well as the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It doesn't remember other respiratory pathogens very well, either (why do you think people keep catching colds over and over). On the other hand, the immune system (at least in some people) is apparently able to remember some viruses forever. My medical record states that I am medically exempt from receiving any further measles vaccinations because a titer test in 2015 showed that I still had protective levels of antibody against measles after a single dose of vaccine that I received in 1984. But I recently had a cold, which I keep getting every 5-6 years despite the fact that I've had many colds before.
It is unrealistic to expect a vaccine to change how the immune system responds to different species of virus. The reality is that most vaccines require boosters to remind the immune system to maintain immunity. In fact, it's about time for my family (human and pet members) to get our annual round of immunizations. Yes, we will get the newest Covid booster.
Due to the length of this post, the volume of information contained within it, and the time required to properly research each response, I have elected not to address at this time some of the other misunderstandings you have expressed.
*The significance of medical library access is that it allows me to read articles for free that are behind a paywall for the general public.
RE: How long immunity lasts against a pathogen is a function of how the immune system interacts with that pathogen. It has nothing to do with vaccine quality. The immune system typically does not retain memory of coronaviruses for more than a few months. This includes coronaviruses that cause the common cold as well as the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It doesn’t remember other respiratory pathogens very well, either ...
____________________________
Since the Athenian plague of 430 B.C. it has been known that prior infection is protective against severe disease.
Natural immunity works for nearly every other virus. The CDC website tells you not to get the chickenpox vaccine if you had chickenpox. And the only 2 other coronaviruses that cause severe disease in humans other than Covid (SARS & MERS) both resulted in long-term immunity. Oddly, public health oligarchs hypothesized that COVID-19 would break the rule. They got it terribly wrong.
A recent Lancet review studied the top 65 studies from 9 countries and concluded that natural immunity is at least as effective as vaccinated immunity, and probably better. The evidence was there all along. But health officials never talked about it. SEE HERE:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-power-of-natural-immunity-11623171303
TITLE:
The Power of Natural Immunity: Studies show it’s durable and widespread. If you’ve had Covid, you can get by with one shot of vaccine.
The author was Dr. Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H.
See his bio here:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/martin-makary
Instead they dismissed it by dangling uncertainty about it, saying we don’t know how long it lasts. They bizarrely assumed that vaccinated immunity was durable and natural immunity was not. Not so.
A 2022 study that Dr. Makaryand his Johns Hopkins colleagues and conducted found that antibodies were present up to nearly 2 years after infection and follow-up studies showed this was protective. The JAMA website listed their study as their 3rd most discussed study of 2022.
See here:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2788894
TITLE:
Prevalence and Durability of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies Among Unvaccinated US Adults by History of COVID-19
QUOTE:
“In this cross-sectional study of unvaccinated US adults, antibodies were detected in 99% of individuals who reported a positive COVID-19 test result, in 55% who believed they had COVID-19 but were never tested, and in 11% who believed they had never had COVID-19 infection. Anti-RBD levels were observed after a positive COVID-19 test result for up to 20 months, extending previous 6-month durability data.”
As I said, I am not against Covid vaccination, I am against COERCING people to take it without at least 5 YEARS of observing its effects and wothout considering the opinions of many other experts who are reluctant to recommend it to certyain age groups ( especially among the young and healthy ) without years of observation like the traditional vaccines.
Why? Because Though it is hard to assess precisely the actual severity and breadth of vaccine-related adverse events, it is very clear that vaccination against COVID-19 isn’t as harmless as pharmaceutical companies, mainstream media, academia, health authorities and the medical community have been saying. And, in contrast to high risk individuals who are still susceptible, recovered people have no real benefit to balance the additional risks of vaccination.
SEE for instance, a Norwegian study published in May 2021:
https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1372
TITLE: Covid-19: Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is “likely” responsible for deaths of some elderly patients, Norwegian review finds
For over a year, mainstream media, health authorities as well as many “experts” have been downplaying the power of the immune system, dismissing natural immunity and proclaiming that immunity to COVID-19 was short-lived. Simultaneously, vaccines have been portrayed as the silver bullet to this crisis, an incidental procedure with no risk whatsoever. The data shows a different picture and many are coming forward, to challenge the official narrative.
See here:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/are-covid-vaccines-riskier-than-advertised-11624381749
and here:
This is from a group of scientists ( not conspiracy theorists mind you ):
The human immune system is one of the most sophisticated achievements of evolution. The survival of our species has depended on it for millennia. Today, we still very much rely on it. For the record, 99% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 recover without treatment. Only 1% of SARS-CoV-2 patients, who did not receive early home-based treatment, end up hospitalised. In other words, the immune system overwhelmingly protects.
Even vaccines are entirely dependent on the immune system: vaccines essentially teach our immune systems what viral markers to be prepared for, they are not cures per se. Without a functional immune system, there can be no effective vaccine. SEE HERE:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/05/18/immunocompromised-coronavirus-vaccines-response/
I agree that Once recovered, the immune response recedes, notably via a decrease in antibodies. But It is not only natural; it is indispensable to restore the body to a normal, balanced state.
Just as a permanent state of fever is harmful, a high number of target-less antibodies or T-cells constantly circulating throughout the body could create serious complications, such as autoimmune diseases. Taking an evolutionary perspective, only those whose antibody and T-cell count waned post-infection survived. So, a decreasing number of antibodies and T-cells is reassuring, even healthy.
But this decrease in T-cells and antibodies doesn’t mean that immunity is lost . It means the immune system has adapted to the new situation, and is now just on sentinel mode: Memory B- and T-cells, circulating in the blood and resident in tissues, act as vigilant and effective sentinels for decades:
SEE HERE:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23333-3
and HERE:
Notice:
* survivors of the Spanish Flu epidemic were tested for their immunity to the 1918 influenza virus 90 years later -, and still demonstrated immunity;
SEE HERE:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/flu-survivors-still-immune-after-90-years
TITLE: Flu survivors still immune after 90 years ( that’s the Spanish Flu for you )
and here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07231
TITLE : Neutralizing antibodies derived from the B cells of 1918 influenza pandemic survivors
* people who had recovered from the 2003 SARS infection demonstrated robust T-Cell responses seventeen years later.
SEE HERE:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2550-z
TITLE: SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell immunity in cases of COVID-19 and SARS, and uninfected controls
* the wide-spread prevalence of high cross-immunity— gained from past common cold infections—further demonstrates the resilience of natural immunity for coronaviruses.
SEE HERE:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867420306103
TITLE: Targets of T Cell Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus in Humans with COVID-19 Disease and Unexposed Individuals
and here:
https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/146316
TITLE: A majority of uninfected adults show preexisting antibody reactivity against SARS-CoV-2
Indeed, all recent studies show that specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunity remains effective, possibly for a lifetime. Our immune system is a modular platform, it can combine in an infinite number of ways to address a multitude of threats in a variety of contexts. As such it is neutral to the viral threats it faces. In other words, there is absolutely no reason to believe that those recovered from Covid-19 would lose their immunity over the years, or even the decades to come.
See HERE:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-021-00902-8
TITLE: Naturally enhanced neutralizing breadth against SARS-CoV-2 one year after infection
and here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03647-4
TITLE: SARS-CoV-2 infection induces long-lived bone marrow plasma cells in humans
and here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/health/coronavirus-immunity.html
TITLE: Immunity to the Coronavirus May Last Years, New Data Hint: Blood samples from recovered patients suggest a powerful, long-lasting immune response, researchers reported.
We all have also heard of people becoming reinfected by SARS-CoV-2. Indeed, immunity, natural or vaccine-induced, isn’t the impenetrable shield described by many. Essentially harmless and asymptomatic reinfections do take place. That is, in fact, the very mechanism by which adaptive immunity is triggered. SEE HERE:
However, SYMPTOMATIC reinfections are very rare. Like an army that adapts its response to the size and the progression of its enemy forces, adaptive immunity provides a specific, rapid and resource-optimized response. As such reinfections are mostly asymptomatic and recovered patients are protected from severe disease.
SEE HERE:
https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(20)30781-7/abstract
TITLE: Prior SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with protection against symptomatic reinfection
and here: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2034545
TITLE: Antibody Status and Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Health Care Workers
[QUOTE]
CONCLUSIONS:
The presence of anti-spike or anti-nucleocapsid IgG antibodies was associated with a substantially reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in the ensuing 6 months.
In fact, innocuous reinfections can play a positive public health role by acting as continuous immune updates for the population. They can help form a seamless and progressive adaptation to emerging variants and strains.
And indeed a recent study showed that couples with children were more frequently asymptomatic than couples without, most likely because children act as natural and harmless immunisation vehicles.
The most likely reason why high density countries mostly have very low death tolls is that they have asymptomatic reinfections that regularly and widely update the population’s immunity .
SEE HERE:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.07.434227v1
TITLE: Development of potency, breadth and resilience to viral escape mutations in SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies
In my personal case, I tested Covid positive during the spring of 2022 when it transitioned from winter and the fast spreading Omicron was the major circulating variant. I NEVER FELT A THING. How did I know I was infected? Well I got a free test kit from the government and because I usually have slight coughs during transition from winter to spring, I decided to test myself instead of wasting something given for free. Lo and behold, I was POSITIVE !! I isolated myself for 6 days and re-tested. I came out negative.
I haven’t tested myself since Spring of 2022, but I suspect that if I did, it could just be possible that I might have tested positive again sometime between then and now. I have been circulating among crowded places many times. But I never felt sick anytime since.
There is ample evidence of the sophistication and breadth of the human immune system, and it is clear that a few minor gene changes in the virus cannot evade its arsenal.
The vaccine should be encouraged for very vulnerable people — the elderly, the already sick with morbid conditions, etc.
But I do not believe it should be FORCED on the young and health, especially those under 40 years old. It should be VOLUNTARY. But of course, you want to force it on these group. What’s worse, you approve of government threatening them with lost of livelihood if they don’t.