SARS-CoV-2

CDC proposes possible cause of COVID-19 vaccine allergic reactions

After the recent launch of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, some severe COVID-19 vaccine allergic reactions were observed in patients who received them. Allergic reactions are observed with all vaccines, with a rate of around 1 in 1 million. As of 19 December 2020, there have been six reported severe allergic reactions in 272,000 people who have received one of the vaccines.

In the Pfizer clinical trial data, the researchers observed that around 0.63% of the vaccinated group in phase II/III trials experienced a significant allergic reaction.

So does this mean that COVID-19 vaccine allergic reactions are a major concern about the safety of these vaccines? And do we know why we’re seeing them, even if very rarely? I think we can answer both questions in this article.Read More »CDC proposes possible cause of COVID-19 vaccine allergic reactions

UK COVID-19 mutation – what does this mean for the new vaccines

Many of you have heard about the new mutation seen in the UK to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Of course, once we hear a story about a mutation to the novel coronavirus, our first thought “does that mean the vaccines won’t work?”

It is a legitimate concern for any of us, so I wanted to give you a quick article that should allay our fears, for now. However, as with anything during this pandemic, what we know today may be out-of-date in a week.

So should we worry about the UK COVID-19 mutation? Let’s see.

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine facts – scientific evidence to deal with misinformation

Because the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is ready to launch in many countries, it is time that we provide the facts about the vaccine. This will be different than my myth debunking article (which will be constantly updated as the anti-vaxxers get going with their lies and disinformation), as this article will try to make sure that everyone is on the same page with what this vaccine is.

Almost all of the information will come from the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine documents that were submitted for review by the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) in advance of an emergency use authorization (EUA) that was issued by the FDA on the evening of 11 December 2020. I read through most of the material to save you all time during this holiday season (so please like this article and share it across the planet).

I’m going to just hit what I think will be the most important points about the vaccine’s safety, effectiveness, ingredients, and other related information. Because these Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine facts will be most useful in debunking wild claims that you might read on the internet. I am planning to do the same with the Moderna vaccine, so stay tuned once VRBPAC reviews their data and the FDA issues an EUA.

mRNA vaccines will harm your DNA!!! Nope, more anti-vaxxer nonsense

Once the new COVID-19 mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were both announced to have very high safety and effectiveness, the anti-vaccine religion began its disinformation campaign using fear, uncertainty, and doubt. I won’t link to any of those ignoramuses who are posting this garbage, because I don’t want them to have any traffic that comes from this article. But I am sure if you’re following the world of COVID-19 vaccines, you have heard some of it.

I’m going to delve into the world of mRNA vaccines while trying to refrain from giving a cell biology lecture. Unfortunately, it’s going to take a cell biology lecture to explain how mRNA vaccines work, and how there are no biologically plausible reasons to hypothesize that mRNA vaccines can harm your DNA. None. Nada. Nichts.

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine – more good news that requires skepticism

Like Pfizer announced recently, Moderna Therapeutics has released preliminary results for its COVID-19 vaccine. And like Pfizer, Moderna’s data is very exciting but, and there’s always a but, the data has not been peer-reviewed or analyzed independently.

To be fair, I’ve been highly critical of Moderna because of their lack of transparency and the overreliance on press releases to boost their stock prices. For many pharmaceutical companies, like Merck or Pfizer, vaccines make up only a tiny portion of their revenue and profits. For Moderna, their whole reason for existence is vaccines. So if they have a blockbuster vaccine, their stock prices skyrocket.

That being said, there are some reasons to get somewhat more excited about the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine over the Pfizer one. So, let’s take a look.

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine news – should we pump the brakes just a bit?

Recently, we saw a lot of news about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine – it seemed to show about a 90% effectiveness in preventing the disease. This is potentially good news in preventing the spread of this disease because alternatives like herd immunity is a disastrous form of genocide.

But, what does this news actually mean? Does it imply that the world is saved, and soon we can eschew masks and social distancing? Does that mean the pandemic will come to an end?

We need to know if the COVID-19 vaccine actually does what Pfizer claims. We need to know if it is safe. And we need to know when the vast majority of people can receive the vaccine. When we know all of that, we can then see the light at the end of the tunnel for this deadly pandemic.

Let’s take a skeptical look at the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine along with what it may mean to the world. I’m writing this in the form of several questions that I have with the answers as I know them.

FDA approved remdesivir for coronavirus – what this means for a vaccine

On 22 October 2020, the FDA approved remdesivir from Gilead Sciences to treat COVID-19. Remdesivir is a broad-spectrum antiviral that has shown some effect in treating the novel coronavirus.

However, does this mean that the FDA approval of the drug is supported by good science? As I’ve written previously regarding rushed approvals of a potential COVID-19 vaccine, we should be concerned that the FDA has become politicized to approve COVID-19 drugs to make Donald Trump look good.

I think there’s evidence that the FDA-approved remdesivir was rushed and that the evidence supporting its use in COVID-19 treatment may be vastly overstated.Read More »FDA approved remdesivir for coronavirus – what this means for a vaccine

Flu vaccine and COVID 19 – are they actually associated?

If you’ve been watching recent claims of the anti-vaccine world, you may have noticed a belief that the flu vaccine and COVID-19 are related. This new trope is based on a recent article that is making the rounds with both COVID-19 and flu vaccine deniers (a special subset of anti-vaxxers).

Let’s see if this paper about an association between the flu vaccine and COVID-19 mortality has any merit. To save you some reading time, it has none, except to give me something to write about.Read More »Flu vaccine and COVID 19 – are they actually associated?

COVID19 vaccine clinical trials – over 30 candidates being tested on humans

by Michael Simpson
2021-01-27
AstraZeneca, COVID-19, Janssen, Merck, Moderna, Vaccines

This article about COVID19 vaccine trials will be regularly updated as new clinical trials are registered or early results are published about an ongoing trial. Again, this article will focus on COVID19 vaccine trials – treatments and diagnostic tests are outside of the scope of this article.

Keeping up with COVID19 vaccine candidates has gotten out of hand, so for brevity, I’ve created a separate list of coronavirus vaccine trials. The interest in clinical trials for a new COVID19 vaccine is unprecedented, so I thought this might be the best way to keep loyal readers up-to-date.

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has listed over 140 COVID19 vaccine candidates, which is amazing, but it is way too difficult to tell which ones have any chance of actually becoming a real product.

Right now, there are at least 30 COVID19 vaccine candidates in clinical trials – this article will analyze these coronavirus vaccine trials. Every single day, a new COVID19 vaccine candidate enters clinical trials, so this may be out of date within a few hours!

Moderna vaccine update – are we too excited about it for COVID-19

If you have been paying attention to the news, you’ve probably seen reports of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine candidate that is getting a lot of people very excited. I’ve even seen so-called pro-vaccine people, who ostensibly should be following science, breathlessly cheer them on.

Recently, Moderna had released some results in a press release, and you know what I think about press releases. Unfortunately, many vaccine researchers stated that that data was not sufficient to draw any conclusions about the safety or effectiveness of the Moderna vaccine.

However, the phase 1 clinical trial results have been published, and the hype has started again. We’ll take a brief look at those results below.

I know that people want “hope,” as opposed to possibly endless cycles of bouncing between opening up and closing down everything in response to the pandemic, especially in the USA, where the coronavirus pandemic has just gotten worse.

But hope isn’t something that interests me at all.

As anyone who reads my blog knows that the only thing that matters to me is published scientific evidence. And by published, I mean in a respected, peer-reviewed journal. Sure, I don’t need scientific evidence to support my belief that the New York Mets should be thrown out of baseball, because I hate the team – that’s just an opinion. It’s not based on evidence of any type.

On the other hand, when it comes to vaccines, we have built an amazing system of bringing the most effective and safest medical advances to humanity. Despite the misinformation and FUD of the anti-vaccine zealots, the safety and effectiveness of modern vaccines are settled science.

I’m not willing to sacrifice that for a vaccine that may not be effective or safe. That’s why I want to take a very critical look at the Moderna vaccine. And I think there are some reasons to be very concerned about their vaccine, although there might be some reasons to be somewhat optimistic.Read More »Moderna vaccine update – are we too excited about it for COVID-19