You are so focused on that mRNA technology. Without the efforts of professional antivaxxers to turn people against it, you would have no idea how the vaccines are even produced.
mRNA technology has been in development since the 1990s. That constitutes thirty years of research, so not new.
Other new vaccine technologies have resulted in FDA-approved vaccines after a shorter R&D timeline than the mRNA platform.
There is, right now, an approved influenza vaccine that uses antigens grown in cell-culture. No chicken eggs or virus is involved. Why haven't the professional antivaxxers turned out in force to scare people about those? They've certainly attacked influenza vaccines (they aren't "real" vaccines because they don't prevent everyone from catching influenza). But they've left the cell-culture platform alone, despite the fact that there is plenty of material related to cell-culture with which to scare people.
The J&J Covid vaccine was built on an adenovirus platform. This means that part of its mechanism of action was identical to the mRNA vaccines: it caused cells to produce spike protein. However, the method of delivery to the cells is different. The adenovirus vaccine vector literally infects cells and takes over their function, but instead of forcing them to make all of the proteins and nucleic acids needed to make new viruses, it just forces them to make spike mRNA and protein. Once the cells make the spike mRNA, the events following vaccination are the same as with the mRNA vaccines.
Adenovirus is a double-stranded DNA virus which is a common cause of infection in humans. Because our genome consists of double-stranded DNA, wild-type adenovirus can and does integrate into the human genome. This makes adenovirus a potential oncovirus, since the location of insertion of the virus DNA into the genome can disrupt cell-cycle control, leading to oncogenesis.
The adenoviruses used in vaccines are modified so that they cannot produce virus DNA or integrate into the genome. But they are infective.
Medical Microbiology. 4th edition. Chapter 67 Adenoviruses.
The Johnson & Johnson adenovirus vaccine explained.
There are currently a number of adenovirus vaccines in clinical and pre-clinical trials.
What are Adenovirus-Based Vaccines?
It is rather ironic that the professional antivaxxers chose to attack the mRNA platform rather than the adenovirus platform. There is actually a lot more material regarding the adenovirus platform with which to fear-monger than there is with mRNA vaccines. I mean, a double-stranded DNA that can actually integrate directly into a chromosome? Wow. (mRNA cannot do that.)
One reason the mRNA was selected as a vaccine platform is that it is extremely straightforward to make DNA in a lab. (The DNA is the template for the mRNA.) You don't need any actual virus, you only need the sequence. Then you synthesize the DNA, put it into a plasmid for production (of both the plasmid and the mRNA) in bacteria, and do the quality control testing.
This method goes far more rapidly than other methods of vaccine development, since nucleic acids can be synthesized fairly rapidly in the lab. The production of mRNA is also much safer than working with viruses to produce vaccines. You only have to grow E. coli bacteria (what I call laboratory workhorses), which is rapid and safe.
Another advantage of mRNA is that it is a ubiquitous molecule that exists in all living organisms no matter how simple or complex. All cells contain mRNA. Because of the ubiquity of mRNA and all RNA in general, we have evolved quite a few enzymes for the metabolism of RNA. We make and destroy RNA constantly. When the mRNA of the vaccine enters a cell, that cell "sees" it as just like any other mRNA and treats it the same way. Everything about the process is completely natural.
I suspect that the reasons professional antivaxxers focused on the mRNA platform are similar to the reasons that the medical community focused on it: the rapidity of development and ease of manufacture makes mRNA technology a very attractive choice for vaccine development in a situation where rapid vaccine development is needed, as for the Covid pandemic. The goal of professional antivaxxers is to make as many people as possible refuse to get vaccinated (and, therefore to die or have serious health issues). So they have to target the very properties of the vaccine that make the scientific community consider it almost a wonder drug. (There is a reason the developers of mRNA vaccines got Nobel Prizes this year.)
Oh, and don't let the professional antivaxxers tell you that development was rushed. Besides the 30 years of research into the technology, there were extensive clinical trials. Because of the concern about the pandemic and people's desire to help, those clinical trials were able to recruit tens of thousands of participants in record time. Other clinical trials sometimes take years to recruit participants. In addition, certain red tape was circumvented, allowing different types of clinical trials to run concurrently. In the typical clinical trial process, those trials would have run sequentially. So, between the ability to recruit volunteers rapidly and running the trials concurrently, several years were shaved off the clinical trial process without in any way limiting the quantity or quality of data collected. By now, of course, over 81% of the US population has been vaccinated, giving a HUGE source of post-market data.
I will not participate in a clinical trial because they always require blood draws. I absolutely hate blood draws. But when I got vaccinated, I agreed to participate in a CDC post-vaccination study (no blood draws required). The CDC has now published their findings of the study:
The v-safe after vaccination health checker: Active vaccine safety monitoring during CDC’s COVID-19 pandemic response. And references therein.
Do you see a huge outbreak of Covid n these colleges compared to those that require the jab?
I can find no publications that describe and compare rates of Covid on different college or university campuses. I also do not have the resources to conduct such a study on my own.
However, I could find this: Excess Death Rates for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The authors found that Republicans are more likely to die than Democrats from Covid. Before the vaccines became available, the excess death rate of Republicans was 15% higher than the excess death rate of Democrats. After vaccines became available the excess death rate of Republicans grew to 43% higher than the excess death rate of Democrats.
This makes sense. Although antivax/anti-science rhetoric was more apolitical prior to the pandemic, it was aimed primarily at Republicans when the pandemic hit. This misinformation effort started at least a month before the WHO even called Covid a pandemic. Faster than warp speed: early attention to COVD-19 by anti-vaccine groups on Facebook.
I think the reason why they hit Republicans so hard was political: at the time, the left was hysterical about the horrors of Trump, so this was one more way to undermine and discredit Trump. (And it worked.) And the effort, as the reference just above shows, was incredibly successful. The increased deaths of Republicans means there are fewer of us to vote in elections. (The left loves this fact, but I will not link to websites where they gloat about all the dead Republican antivaxxers.) Trump was discredited and blamed for all of the antivax rhetoric, despite his overall excellent response to the pandemic and his initiative to make a vaccine available in a few months. Trump should have been reelected in a landslide for his economic measures alone, but voters chose Biden instead--despite Biden's promise to destroy the economy--purely because they wanted someone that they perceived was taking the pandemic more seriously than Trump.
I think you are looking at this all wrong. Antivaxxism(tm) has nothing to do with the decline in Covid jabs. Free thinking people decided the juice doesn't work as advertised and have figured out their risk factors over time. There is nothing worse than getting lied to. Fauci and Walensky pushing similar edicts that people don't get sick and don't spread the virus if they take the jab finally wore thin.
RE: However, I could find this: Excess Death Rates for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
I took the liberty of posting the above article in another FR thread for discussion. SEE HERE:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4193039/posts
You might want to participate in that thread.
RE: The J&J Covid vaccine was built on an adenovirus platform. This means that part of its mechanism of action was identical to the mRNA vaccines: it caused cells to produce spike protein.
Personally, if worse comes to worst and I hit a birck wall and find that I have no choice but to take the Covid vaccine because the USA has turned totalitarian, I would probably have chosen the J&J vaccine BECAUSE the technology it uses, unlike mRNA, has had several approval histories for vaccines after LONG YEARS OF THOROUGH TESTING.
Thankfully, even in my state with its almost dictatorial governor, there are numerous counties that REFUSE to bow to his and federal dictats and allow people like me to freely choose what we want to do for ourselves. My county and the neighboring one( which voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016 and 2020 ) is one such country.
Thank God for Federalism.
Now Adenovirus vector vaccines are different from mRNA ones in that they have LONGER histories of vaccine development.
Many of these vaccines are approved for use in some countries, while others are still in development. ALL of them have had YEARS of several testing phases before approval.
Here are some examples:
* Ebola: There are currently two adenovirus vector vaccines for Ebola that are approved for use in some countries by my understanding: Ervebo and Zabdeno. Both vaccines have been shown to be highly effective in preventing Ebola infection.
It took over 5 years for Everbo to be approved for Ebola.
The Zabdeno vaccine was approved for Ebola in May 2020, which took about 6 years from the start of development in 2014.
* HIV: There are a number of adenovirus vector vaccines for HIV that are currently in clinical trials. These vaccines are designed to stimulate the body to produce immune cells that can attack and destroy HIV-infected cells. HOWEVER, unlike the J&J Covid vaccine, I know of NONE that have been approved yet. Which means that unlike J&J’s Covid vaccine, they are TAKING TIME to develop, which is a it should be.
* Malaria: There is also an adenovirus vector vaccine for malaria that is currently in clinical trials. This vaccine is designed to protect against infection with the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which causes the most deadly form of malaria.
And yes, there is ONE adenovirus vector vaccine for malaria that has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is called R21/Matrix-M and was approved in October 2023. It is a four-dose vaccine that is given to children under the age of 5.
And NOTE: It took approximately 20 years to develop the vaccine from the initial concept to approval.
The vaccine was developed by the University of Oxford and the Jenner Institute, and it was manufactured and scaled up by the Serum Institute of India. It was first tested in humans in 2013, and it entered Phase 3 clinical trials in 2019.
The Phase 3 clinical trials were conducted in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, and Tanzania. The trials enrolled over 15,000 children aged 6 weeks to 17 months.
The results of the Phase 3 clinical trials were published in the journal Nature Medicine in September 2023. The study found that the vaccine was safe and effective, reducing the risk of malaria infection by 77% in children aged 6 weeks to 17 months.
The WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) reviewed the data from the Phase 3 clinical trials and recommended the vaccine for widespread use in October 2023. The WHO Director-General accepted SAGE’s recommendation and approved the vaccine for use in children under the age of 5 in malaria-endemic regions.
Did the J&J vaccine go through a similar process before being approved ( actually given EUA )?
* Cancer: Adenovirus vectors are also being used to develop vaccines against cancer. These vaccines are designed to stimulate the body to produce immune cells that can attack and destroy cancer cells.
I know of ONE adenovirus vector vaccine for cancer that has been approved: nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg (Adstiladrin). It was approved by the FDA in December 2022 for the treatment of high-risk Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with carcinoma in situ (CIS) with or without papillary tumors.
Nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg is a gene therapy vaccine that delivers a gene for a protein called interferon-alpha 2b directly into the bladder tumors. Interferon-alpha 2b is a protein that has anti-tumor and immune-stimulating effects. The vaccine works by stimulating the body’s own immune system to attack and destroy the cancer cells.
It took approximately 15 years to develop nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg (Adstiladrin) from the initial concept to approval by the FDA in December 2022.
The vaccine was developed by the biotech company Ferring Pharmaceuticals. It entered Phase 1 clinical trials in 2011, Phase 2 clinical trials in 2015, and Phase 3 clinical trials in 2018.
The Phase 3 clinical trial was a randomized, double-blind trial that enrolled 157 participants with high-risk BCG-unresponsive NMIBC. Participants were randomized to receive either nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg or a placebo.
The results of the Phase 3 clinical trial were published in the journal The Lancet Oncology in October 2022. The study found that nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg was significantly more effective than placebo at achieving a complete response (73% vs. 17%). The median duration of response was 17.6 months.
The FDA approved nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg based on the results of the Phase 3 clinical trial. The agency found that the vaccine was safe and effective in treating patients with high-risk BCG-unresponsive NMIBC.
15 FREAKING YEARS !!
How long again did it take J&J to develop their Covid Adenovirus Vector Vaccine for Covid?
And what happen to the J&J Vaccine? Also known as Janssen Coronavirus vaccine.
Well, the Janssen Coronavirus vaccine was suspended in the United States on April 13, 2021, due to concerns about a rare blood clotting side effect. It was resumed on April 23, 2021, with a warning label about the potential risk. It was voluntarily withdrawn in May 2023.
Last I heard, J&J did not plan to update it to address emerging variants.
So, I can’t take this Addenovirus Vector vaccine even if I wanted to. Maybe if J&J had given it a thorough testing like the other Adenovirus Vector vaccines I mentioned above, it might not have encountered the problems that it did.
But hey, what vaccine are they going to develop for an ever changing Covid-19 variant?
Had these current vaccines gone through the thorough years of testing that the vaccines outlined above have gone through, people would have been more accepting of it.
The resistance you see from many people is PRECISELY because of COERCION, instead of allowing people the freedom to choose for themselves.
It is like forcing people to buy and drive an Electric Vehicle by a certain date. This might work in North Korea, but it’s not going to work here.