Anti-Vaxx II

In my last post, Death to the Heroes, I opined that first responders were the most important group to take advantage of the FDA emergency use approval of Covid19 vaccinations. And I truly believe that.  When those in the public trust cannot be trusted to put the well being of others ahead of their political bias, they should not be serving the public. It's sad that some of these 'heroes' will undoubtedly die for their political beliefs.

But the issues for the rest of the public is not as cut and dried.  

Take for instance the real fact that none of the Covid19 vaccines were out of the FDA ‘emergency use authorization’ (EUA) phase, until November 2021, and you have a problem. At this writing (Nov 13, 2021) only one Covid19 vaccine is Fully FDA Approved: The Pfizer mRNA vaccine. However, it is only fully approved for adults.  It’s still in EUA status for children of all ages and booster applications.

Government regulation is almost always a double edged sword. And key governing agencies are always in a damned if you do; damned if you don’t paradox. The FDA, NIH, and independent organizations such as the CDC, are always walking a tightrope when it comes to medical evolution, drugs, treatments, approvals, and recommendations.

As I mention in my post Death to the Heroes – vaccines, inoculations, and treatments for various diseases in early years was anything but ‘scientific’ or safe.

In 1901, diphtheria patients were routinely treated with antitoxin derived from the blood serum of infected horses. After 13 children died of tetanus because of contaminated antitoxin, Congress passed the 1902 Biologics Control Act, giving the government its first regulation of vaccine and antitoxin production. That power moved to the FDA when it was formed in 1906.

The caution with which the FDA moves to fully approve a vaccine or treatment outside of EUA has been, historically, set in stone. It takes years. Many people think the FDA is moving too slowly to fully approve all available vaccines. But in reality – the recent approval of the Pfizer vaccine is one of the fastest since the FDA was formed.

FDA policy requires the long term effects of a drug, vaccine, or treatment to be reasonably understood before being fully approved. Included in ‘long term’ effects are the effects on children born to the patients, complications, or interactions with other drugs, or treatments later in life.

The mRNA vaccines offer a couple mitigating factors. 1) mRNA vaccines are not developed using a weakened strain of the virus or a serum derived from an infected person/animal; 2) mRNA vaccines use your own body’s immune process to create antibodies to Covid; 3) Numbers mean a lot. The total number of people vaccinated using mRNA under the EUA exceeds 150 million in the U.S. alone. Millions more worldwide. This includes all adult age groups, male & female, pregnant women, every race & culture, and those with major heath conditions. This enormous sample size is rare – and it clears a lot of doubt.

Being anti-vaccination is like being anti-health. It makes no sense. But being vaccine-cautious is another thing altogether.  I especially relate to those with young children. Even at reduced dosage, taking a wait and see approach is not, in my view, being anti-vaxx.

I wish the left wing media and the self-righteous influencers in this country would stop judging, name calling and cancelling others for using caution.  

I do not think, however, those that use political ‘personal liberty’ concerns as rationale for refusing a vaccine are not being honest. They are just being self-important, entitled, ignorant attention getters. They deserve whatever they get. Hopefully not a fatal case of Covid.

JB