Researching Covid Vaccines

As someone who received every childhood vaccine, and someone who ensured her kids got every necessary childhood vaccine, I find myself at odds with the newest vaccines in the world. 

For several reasons ... I have allergies to several types of medications, and I have (currently) 4 autoimmune diseases. 

Either of those things would give me pause when it comes to a new vaccine, but with both of those things, my hesitancy outweighs my desire to have myself injected with a vaccine that (by most governmental statements) is "safe", yet ... some doctors have disagreed with.  The doctors in disagreement are often labelled as anti-vaxxers, but not all of them are. That makes me wonder about the huge push for this vaccine ... yes, I know, covid is a very real disease that has some very dire outcomes for some people, like many other diseases do.

 So, to appease both myself and family and friends, I've taken the last few weeks to research (on government approved news and websites) the vaccines being used to try and stem the flow of transmission.

I am still of the opinion that I will not offer myself up, given my already apparent health issues, as what amounts to a test subject.

In Ontario, where I live, the most prevalent vaccine seems to be the Oxford AstraZeneca, which has had more than enough problems, and has a fairly low confidence rating right now. Here, they have halted it's use for people under 55 (I am 65) which means those vaccines will likely be the one given to those in my age range. 

The reason of course is the fact that in some European countries, there have been at least a couple of deaths from blood clots and/or their complications, but also that the majority of blood clot issues (that did not cause deaths) appeared in people mostly under the age of 50, and most often in women. Sweden, Denmark, and Norway still has not resumed use of that vaccine in any person of any age (as of Mar. 29th) until they complete further investigation.

Checking in on the CDC's own website's VAERS system, the reports for severe side effects of several vaccines show that none of the current vaccines are free of some possibly serious side effects (note: nearly all vaccines, including the old ones, can have some serious side effects for small numbers of people).  The very first search I did was an enormous page of details - many of which aren't that severe, but the numbers of severe ones are enough to make you at least think about your own possible reaction to a vaccine.

To be fair about this, the CDC results pages do say that not all of these reports have been verified by health professionals or doctors. The reports are voluntary and can come from those experiencing the side effects, or doctors, or from the vaccine providers.  From the CDC website disclaimer:

Key considerations and limitations of VAERS data:

• Vaccine providers are encouraged to report any clinically significant health problem following vaccination to VAERS, whether or not they believe the vaccine was the cause.
• Reports may include incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental and unverified information.
• The number of reports alone cannot be interpreted or used to reach conclusions about the existence, severity, frequency, or rates of problems associated with vaccines.
• VAERS data are limited to vaccine adverse event reports received between 1990 and the most recent date for which data are available.
• VAERS data do not represent all known safety information for a vaccine and should be interpreted in the context of other scientific information.

VAERS staff at CDC and the FDA follow up on all serious adverse event reports to obtain additional medical, laboratory, death certificates and/or autopsy records to help understand the circumstances. However, VAERS public data do not generally change based on the information obtained during the follow-up process.

 https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html

A copy of the first report I ever ran, which overwhelmed me:

(you can run your own reports here: https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/datarequest/D8)

This morning, I ran another report, this time asking only for fairly severe reactions, including death, life threatening, permanent disability, and hospitalization. I also didn't ask for individual details/reports, just the totals.

In the research, I read information provided directly from Oxford AstraZeneca, including this .pdf provided by them. 

I'd take time to read this very carefully. If you are getting this vaccine, or it's likely you would be given it, you should be certain to check with your family doctor first. An excerpt from the .pdf states:

Check with your healthcare provider before vaccination if:

You have ever had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) after any other vaccine injection;
Your immune system does not work properly (immunodeficiency) or are taking medicines that weaken the immune system (such as high-dose corticosteroids, immunosuppressants or cancer medicines);
You currently have a severe infection with a high temperature (over 38°C);
You have a problem with bleeding or bruising, or if you are taking a blood thinning medicine (anticoagulant);
You have any other medical conditions;
You take any medicines for any other condition including any recent or planned vaccines;

After vaccination you may be at risk of developing certain side effects. It is important you understand these risks and how to monitor for them.

It also says:

COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca3Medicines(including other vaccines)that may impact whether you should be given this vaccine or not include the following (see also Section 2 above):

- medicines that weaken the immune system (such as high-dose - corticosteroids, immunosuppressants or cancer medicines);
blood thinning medicines (anticoagulant)
- any other vaccine including any other COVID-19 vaccines

Check with your healthcare provider if you are not sure about what vaccines, medicines, vitamins or supplements you are taking or have recently taken and if these may affect this COVID-19 Vaccine.

Near the end of the .pdf is a list of ingredients in this vaccine. I would guess, having looked up some of the ingredients (not all, but some) that some of those things are used in the production of food, except for the ethanol absolute, which isn't usually considered safe to drink (safe to inject apparently in controlled treatments, not safe to drink --->  DO NOT inject yourself with this stuff). (see: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/3609/smpc)

To finish up, this morning I read a sad article about a 56 year old male doctor (in Florida) who died after getting his covid shot  (see this article in the Lakeland Times). That isn't to say, of course, that he died because of the shot, but there are other similar reports of people experiencing similar issues, and apparently there consensus is mixed. His COD was reported as a hemorrhagic stroke, which was indicated as not related to the vaccine?

The Moderna Vaccine (see this .pdf) indicates

Tell your vaccination provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:

•have any allergies•have a fever•have a bleeding disorder or are on a blood thinner
•are immunocompr omised or are on a medicine that affects your immune system
•are pregnant or plan to become pregnant
•are breastfeeding
•have received another COVID-19 vaccine

Also stated in Moderna's .pdf (hosted on the fda.gov website):

The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine is an unapproved vaccine. In clinical trials, approximately 15,400 individua ls 18 years of age and older have received at least 1 dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine.

So, although it isn't an approved vaccine, the fda has issued an emergency authorization for it's use. mmmm, I'm not all that sure personally that's a good idea, but the clinical trials involved over 15,000 people ... still, the global population amounts to almost 8 billion people, so the test amounts to a minuscule percentage of people in the world (0.00019%).

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (see the Pfizer fact sheet), which is nearly identical to Moderna's) also has not been approved by the fda, but as with Moderna, has been given emergency use authorization.  Pfizer has a larger trial base than Moderna, but not by much: 20,000 for Pfizer.

At this moment, those are the three we have in Canada - note that the US still is not using the AstraZeneca vaccine.

I'll leave it to each individual to make what they wish of these notes. There is far more to consider than just these facts, but understanding and knowing the facts will help you decide for yourself.

Me ... it's a no go for now. Probably forever given that autoimmune issues just don't "go away".  There could be hope on the horizon though, for people like me.

Innotech Nutrition, a Canadian manufacturer of natural health products, is excited to release the results of a Penn State College of Medicine research study that showed the company's COLFLEX Oral Spray inactivated 99 to 99.9 per cent of infectious human coronavirus 229E.

 

You can read the article here: Covid Throat Spray

And, a similar nasal spray: Nasal Covid Spray

I'm pleased to note that both of these are Canadian!