Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

A team of nine experts from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and other top universities has published paradigm-shifting research about the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines and why mandating vaccines for college students is unethical.

This 50-page study, which was published on The Social Science Research Network at the end of August, analyzed CDC and industry-sponsored data on vaccine adverse events, and concluded that mandates for COVID-19 boosters for young people may cause 18 to 98 actual serious adverse events for each COVID-19 infection-related hospitalization theoretically prevented.

The paper is co-authored by Dr. Stefan Baral, an epidemiology professor at Johns Hopkins University; surgeon Martin Adel Makary, M.D., a professor at Johns Hopkins known for his books exposing medical malfeasance, including Unaccountable: What Hospitals Wont Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Heath Care; and Dr. Vinayak Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist, who is a professor in the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, as well as the author of over 350 academic and peer-reviewed articles.

But among this team of high-profile international experts who authored this paper, perhaps the most notable is Salmaan Keshavjee, M.D., Ph.D., current Director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Global Health Delivery, and professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Keshavjee has also worked extensively with Partners In Health, a Boston-based non-profit co-founded by the late Dr. Paul Farmer, on treating drug-resistant tuberculosis, according to his online biography.

As the study pointed out, students at universities in America, Canada, and Mexico are being told they must have a third dose of the vaccines against COVID-19 or be disenrolled. Unvaccinated high school students who are just starting college are also being told the COVID-19 vaccines are mandatory for attendance.

These mandates are widespread. There are currently 15 states which continue to honor philosophical (personal belief) exemptions, and 44 states and Washington, D.C. allow religious exemptions to vaccines. But even in these states, private universities are telling parents they will not accept state-recognized vaccine exemptions.

Based on personal interviews with some half a dozen families, The Epoch Times has learned that administrators at some colleges and universities are informing students that they have their own university-employed medical teams to scrutinize the medical exemptions submitted by students and signed by private doctors. These doctors, families are being told, will decide whether the health reasons given are medically valid.

Though rarely reported on in the mainstream media, COVID-19 vaccine boosters have been generating a lot of controversy.

While some countries are quietly compensating people for devastating vaccine injuries, and other countries are limiting COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, the United States is now recommending children 12 and older get Pfizer-BioNTechs Omicron-specific booster, and young adults over the age of 18 get Modernas updated shot.

At the same time, public health authorities in Canada are suggesting Canadians will need COVID-19 vaccines every 90 days.

Against a backdrop of confusing and often changing public health recommendations and booster fatigue, the authors of this new paper argue that university booster mandates are unethical. They give five specific reasons for this bold claim:

1) Lack of policymaking transparency. The scientists pointed out that no formal and scientifically rigorous risk-benefit analysis of whether boosters are helpful in preventing severe infections and hospitalizations exists for young adults.

2) Expected harm. A look at the currently available data shows that mandates will result in what the authors call a net expected harm to young people. This expected harm will exceed the potential benefit from the boosters.

3) Lack of efficacy. The vaccines have not effectively prevented transmission of COVID-19. Given how poorly they workthe authors call this modest and transient effectivenessthe expected harms caused by the boosters likely outweigh any benefits to public health.

4) No recourse for vaccine-injured young adults. Forcing vaccination as a prerequisite to attend college is especially problematic because young people injured by these vaccines will likely not be able to receive compensation for these injuries.

5) Harm to society. Mandates, the authors insisted, ostracize unvaccinated young adults, excluding them from education and university employment opportunities. Coerced vaccination entails major infringements to free choice of occupation and freedom of association, the scientists wrote, especially when mandates are not supported by compelling public health justification.

The consequences of non-compliance include being unenrolled, losing internet privileges, losing access to the gym and other athletic facilities, and being kicked out of campus housing, among other things. These punitive approaches, according to the authors, have resulted in unnecessary psychosocial stress, reputation damage, loss of income, and fear of being deported, to name just a few.

The lack of effectiveness of the vaccines is a major concern to these researchers. Based on their analysis of the public data provided to the CDC, they estimated that between 22,000 and 30,000 previously uninfected young adults would need to be boosted with an mRNA vaccine to prevent just a single hospitalization.

However, this estimate does not take into account the protection conferred by a previous infection. So, the authors insisted, this should be considered a conservative and optimistic assessment of benefit.

In other words, the mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 are essentially useless.

But the documented lack of efficacy is only part of the problem. The researchers further found that per every one COVID-19 hospitalization prevented in young adults who had not previously been infected with COVID-19, the data show that 18 to 98 serious adverse events will be caused by the vaccinations themselves.

These events include up to three times as many booster-associated myocarditis in young men than hospitalizations prevented, and as many as 3,234 cases of other side effects so serious that they interfere with normal daily activities.

At a regional hospital in South Carolina, the desk clerk sported a button that read: Im Vaccinated Against COVID-19 with a big black check mark on it.

What about the boosters? a hospital visitor asked. Its starting to seem like we need too many shots.

It does seem like a lot, the clerk agreed. Its hard to know what to do. But she did have some advice for the visitor: Just keep reading and educating yourself, so you can make an informed decision.

This new paper is essential reading for anyone trying to decide if they need more vaccines. The authors concluded their study with a call to action. Policymakers must stop mandates for young adults immediately, be sure that those who have already been injured by these vaccines are compensated for the suffering caused by mandates, and openly conduct and share the results of risk-benefit analyses of the vaccines for various age groups.

These measures are necessary, the authors argued, to begin what will be a long process of rebuilding trust in public health.

The two co-first authors, Dr. Kevin Bardosh and Dr. Allison Krug, both thanked their families for supporting them to publicly debate Covid-19 vaccine mandates in the acknowledgments section of the paper.

As we wrote in May, an increasing number of scientists and medical doctors are speaking out about the dubious efficacy and disturbing safety issues surrounding theses fast-tracked COVID-19 vaccines. They do so fully aware of the personal and professional risks involved. They deserve our encouragement and support.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.

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'Unethical' and up to 98 Times Worse Than the Disease: Top Scientists Publish Paradigm-Shifting Study About COVID-19 Vaccines - The Epoch Times

Over the years, PolitiFact has debunked several death hoaxes about Queen Elizabeth II, but on Sept. 8, Buckingham Palace announced that she had died at age 96.

The royal family has not specified a cause of death, but on Twitter, unfounded claims that her passing is connected to the COVID-19 vaccine proliferated.

"The Covid vaccines target old people, look at the queen," one tweet said.

"The queen was poisoned with vaccine," another said.

Heres what we know.

The palace said "the queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon." Elizabeth spent several weeks each summer at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and the palace announced hours before her death that she was under medical supervision there.

Her son, now King Charles III, said in a statement posted on Twitter that he and his family "mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother." He didnt mention the COVID-19 vaccine.

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Elizabeth and her late husband, Prince Philip, were first vaccinated against COVID-19 in January 2021. She tested positive for COVID-19 about a year later. News reports then noted that she had been fully vaccinated and received a booster shot by the time of her diagnosis.

In the months since, media reported on health issues affecting the queen especially COVID-19 but there was nothing about a vaccine endangering her life.

Older adults are more likely to get severely sick from COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and people 65 and older who received both doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines showed a 94% reduced risk of being hospitalized because of the disease. Studies have shown that the vaccines are safe and that severe side effects, including death, are rare.

Claims that the queen died because of the COVID-19 vaccine lack evidence. We rate them False.

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Claims Queen Elizabeth died because of the COVID-19 vaccine spread without evidence - PolitiFact

Politics | News

(PAP) mf/mrb September 09, 2022

Health Minister Adam Niedzielski announced on Twitter that the first batch of over 450,000 targeted vaccines against Covid-19 had arrived in Poland on Friday.

"The first shipment of #OmikronBA.1 targeted vaccines has just arrived at @RARS_GOV_PL warehouses - over 450,000 doses. Another, larger shipment in a week. Next week we will inform about the rules for taking the 4th dose in the 12 plus group," the health minister tweeted.

The European Commission on September 2 approved two vaccines adapted to provide wider protection against Covid-19 - Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.1 and Spikevax Bivalent Original/Omicron BA.1, intended for use for people aged 12 years and older who have already received at least primary vaccination against Covid-19.

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First shipment of latest targeted Covid-19 vaccines reach Poland - health min - The First News

What happened

COVID-19 vaccine stocks came under enormous pressure last month. Over the course of August, Moderna's (MRNA 0.71%) shares dipped by a hefty 19.3%, Pfizer's (PFE 1.61%) stock ticked lower by a notable 10.4%, and Novavax's (NVAX 4.76%) equity lost an eye-catching 39.4% of its value, according to data fromS&P Global Market Intelligence.

What caused investors to hit the exits on these top three coronavirus vaccine stocks? The central theme across these three healthcare stocks is the potential for a major drop in COVID-19 vaccine sales heading into 2023 and beyond.

The U.S. government has already said that it will stop funding public programs covering the costs of coronavirus vaccines and therapies. What's more, U.S. health authorities recently stated that booster shots for healthy individuals will probably only be required once a year.

Previously, Wall Street believed that booster shots would be required every few months as new variants arose. As a result of these changing vaccine booster guidelines, this market might tumble in value over the next two years.

That's not great news for Pfizer, Moderna, or Novavax from a revenue standpoint. Almost all of Pfizer's recent growth has stemmed from the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and therapy Paxlovid.

Moderna and Novavax's near-term fortunes are also closely linked to their COVID-19 vaccines, Spikevax and Nuvaxovid, respectively. Novavax, in fact, cut its 2022 annual revenue guidance in half during its recent second-quarter earnings report -- a strong sign that demand for these vaccines is indeed starting to wane.

On an important side note, Pfizer's stock was also stung last month by the ongoing litigation over the heartburn drug Zantac. That being said, the bigger threat to Pfizer's near-term outlook is clearly the future of its blockbuster COVID-19 product franchise.

Are any of these beaten-down biotech stocks worth buying right now? Among the three, Pfizer comes across as the most compelling buy. Pfizer sports a rock-solid balance sheet, tons of deep value via its recent acquisition frenzy, an above-average dividend yield, and a well-rounded product portfolio outside of COVID-19. Pfizer's shares are also attractively priced at under 10 times forward-looking earnings right now.

In addition, Novavax's stock might also be a worthwhile value play at these levels. After all, the biotech's shares are currently trading at less than twice Wall Street's most conservative estimate for 2023 sales. In other words, Novavax's dramatic sell-off this year might be a tad overdone at this point.

See more here:

Here's Why These Top 3 COVID-19 Vaccine Stocks Broke Down in August - The Motley Fool

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Mass, state-run vaccination sites have returned to Colorado, that includes in El Paso and Pueblo County. This time, the sites will distribute COVID-19 vaccines specific to the omicron sub-variant.

On opening day for two vaccine sites in Southern Colorado, 13 Investigates asked the state why these sites are necessary after they closed on March 31 and Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced his "Roadmap to Moving Forward" campaign on February 25.

"Our goal here is to increase access to the new Pfizer and Moderna omicron vaccine," Heather Roth, CDPHE Immunization Branch Chief, explained.

Roth said each of the ten sites will stay open throughout September and into October to help with a potential omicron surge in the winter months.

While there are currently more than 200 provider locations at local drug stores, Roth said the state wanted to streamline that approach by opening the mass vaccination sites again.

"We wanted to make it quick, easy, and convenient for people to find these omicron vaccine doses," Roth said.

13 Investigates asked if there has been a demand from the public to reopen the sites. Roth said there hasn't been, but she believes people prefer the accessibility of the vaccine sites compared to the local providers.

Roth said receiving the omicron shot is just as important as receiving the initial vaccine dose or any of the recommended boosters. She went on to say that vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself from COVID-19 infection.

Roth also stressed the importance of getting a flu shot in addition to COVID-19 as the coming months are usual high months for flu cases in our region.

In the last 14 days, El Paso County Public Health has recorded zero COVID-19 deaths and 29 hospitalizations. There have been 1,290 positive cases.

At the height of the pandemic, there were double that amount of cases in a single day.

The two vaccine clinics that opened Friday at the Citadel and Pueblo Mall both open at 8 a.m., Monday through Friday, and are free.

For more information, click here.

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Why mass COVID-19 vaccination sites have returned to Colorado - KRDO

Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Joseph Casassa, assigned to USS Gerald R. Fords (CVN 78) dental department, administers a COVID-19 vaccine at the McCormick Gym onboard Naval Station Norfolk, April 8, 2021. The Defense Department is now authorizing the use of Novavax COVID-19 vaccinations for service members. U.S. NAVY / Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jackson Adkins

ARLINGTON, Va. Seven cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy who refused to comply with the militarys COVID-19 vaccination mandate were disenrolled and ordered off the schools New London, Connecticut, campus in late August.

While the seven cadets have been disenrolled, they have not been separated from the Coast Guard Academy and are continuing to receive cadet pay and entitlements until their separation is processed, the Coast Guard said in a statement sent to Seapower Sept. 8.

Two days after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins Aug. 24, 2021, mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccine for all service members to protect the force and maintain readiness, the Coast Guard announced a vaccination requirement.

Fifteen cadets filed medical exemption or religious accommodation requests in September 2021. They were evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the Coast Guards Office of Military Personnel Policy and denied. The 15 cadets were notified March 14, 2022, and given 10 business days to file an appeal. The appeals were denied by Coast Guard Headquarters and all 15 were directed to report to the Academy clinic for their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Four chose vaccination, four others resigned from the Academy, the Coast Guard said.

On June 13, the remaining seven cadets were told they were in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 90, Willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, and Article 92, Failure to obey [an] order or regulation, according to the statement. They were given an additional five days to comply. On June 22, they were notified of their disenrollment and give a chance to appeal to Coast Guard Headquarters. The cadets were notified Aug. 15 their disenrollment appeals were denied and were directed to proceed to an alternate worksite status beginning on August 19th, 2022.

All seven departed the Academy at their own convenience on August 19based on their individual travel arrangements assisted by Academy staff. All seven cadets are currently residing at a safe location, having either returned to their families or are being hosted by the families of fellow cadets, according to the Coast Guard statement.

Several federal lawsuits are challenging the militarys process for granting religious exemptions from the vaccination mandate, including two in South Carolina and Texas involving some of the dismissed Coast Guard cadets.

Almost 5,000 Sailors and Marines have been separated from the sea services since late 2021 for vaccination refusal. The Navy has received 4,251 for religious accommodation, the Marines 3,733. Only a handful have been approved. However, a federal judge in Texas certified a class action by Sailors, including several Navy SEALS, seeking a religious exemption and issued a preliminary injunction March 30, halting separation for members of the class. A similar injunction was issued against the Marine Corps Aug. 18 by a federal judge in Florida.

A coalition of more than 20 state attorneys general has filed an amicus brief before the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals, supporting the religious liberty claims of Navy SEALs seeking exemptions from the mandatory vaccination requirement in the Texas case. While lower courts have blocked separation of vaccine refusers, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the Navy could consider a Sailors vaccination status in making deployment and other operational decisions while court challenges move through the system.

As of Aug. 31, the latest Defense Department COVID-19 statistics, 1.99 million service members have been fully vaccinated, including 387,477 in the Navy and 200,435 in the Marine Corps.

Nevertheless, as of Aug. 24, 3,000 active duty Sailors and 3,376 in the Ready Reserve remain unvaccinated. The Marine Corps latest COVID update doesnt give specific figures, only stating that as of Aug. 4, just 5% of both the active duty and the reserve force were not vaccinated.

Novavax Arrives

In a related development, the Defense Department announced Aug. 29 a new COVID-19 vaccine, Novavax, will be available as an option at military clinics. Officials hope Novavax, which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration under an emergency use authorization for individuals 12 years of age and older, may be more acceptable to the thousands of troops who have refused the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for religious or moral reasons.

Novavax uses technology that has been used in other vaccines required by the military, like hepatitis B vaccine. Novavax is not made with, or tested on, cells from fetal tissue. It does not use mRNA or DNA technology and does not enter the nucleus of cells, Pentagon officials said.

We now have a range of COVID-19 vaccines available at our military medical treatment facilities and they all provide strong protection against hospitalization, severe illness and death, Dr. Michael Malanoski, deputy director of the Defense Health Agency, said in a statement. However, as in the early days of the three other vaccines, the FDAs emergency use authorization approval means service members cannot be compelled to take Novavax.

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COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate Still an Issue Across the Sea Services - Seapower - SEAPOWER Magazine Online

PT Bio Farma, the holding company for state-owned pharmaceutical companies in Indonesia, announced a new milestone in the manufacturing of IndoVac, a Covid-19 vaccine brand it has developed since November 2021.

Honesti Baasyir, president director of PT BioFarma, said the company collaborated with the USAs Baylor College of Medicine, a private, independent health sciences center in Houston, Texas, to develop IndoVac, a recombinant protein subunit

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Indonesia's PT BioFarma ready to produce IndoVac Covid-19 vaccine - The Pharma Letter

A pediatric cardiologist says that its now clear from all of the available evidence that the spike proteins the COVID-19 vaccines tell the body to make are toxic to the heart, and that myocarditis in young people is not as rare as the CDC and FDA have led Americans to believe.

In a lecture on Aug. 26, Dr. Kirk Milhoan said the harm to the heart caused by the spike proteins is an inconvenient truth.

We know that the spike protein is cardio-toxic. [Its] very clear that it is cardio-toxic, he said.

Milhoan, a board-certified pediatric cardiologist, based his conclusion on data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and several recently published studies on myocarditis.He believes thatmyocarditis caused by the COVID-19 vaccines is not as rare as the government has led Americans to believe.

Were seeing something that we havent seen before, he said on Aug. 26 at the Gateway to Freedom Conference in Collinsville, Ill. We havent seen a vaccine cause this level of myocarditis. Its not one here or one there. It is a large number of people getting myocarditis from this vaccine.

Myocarditis, defined as inflammation of the heart muscle, is one of the only serious vaccine side effects that has been recognized publicly by the FDA and CDC, with the most recent guidance from the CDC repeating what the agency has said since 2021, that there is only a rare risk of myocarditis and pericarditis that has been observed after one of the mRNA vaccines.

Pericarditis is inflammation of the lining of the heart.

Rare cases of myocarditis and pericarditis have occurred most frequently, although not exclusively, in adolescent and young adult males within the first week after receiving the second dose or a booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, a CDC advisory dating back to May 2021 states.

In his Aug. 26talk, Milhoan said the evidence shows that infection with SARS-CoV-2 likely results in the smallest exposure to the spike protein. In contrast, the mRNA vaccines cause the body to produce spike proteins for an unknown period, perhaps indefinitely.

The damage to the heart from myocarditis can be overlooked, he said, pointing toa studypublished in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study looked at Big Ten college athletes with a recent COVID-19 diagnosis and found that 37 out of 1,597 of the athletes studied were shown to have myocarditis when cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging was done. Only half showed any heart issues with other testing methods, including electrocardiograms and measuring troponin levels.

Looking at heart issues related to the vaccines, he cited a recentpeer-reviewed study of 301 adolescents aged 13-18 from two schools in Thailand who got a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Baseline echocardiography and cardiac enzyme data were collected before the second dose of the vaccine was administered and collected again on the third, seventh, and 14th day after the teens received the second dose of the vaccine.

Of the 301 teenagers, almost 8 percent had tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) after the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine; 7 percent had shortness of breath, 4 percent had heart palpitations, 4 percent had chest pains, and 4 percent had hypertension.

Altogether, cardiovascular issues were found in 29 percent of the teenagers. Two had suspected pericarditis, and four had suspected subclinical myocarditis. One had a confirmed case of myopericarditis.

In a third study Milhoan cited, from Denmark, a second dose of the Moderna vaccine appeared to result in a dramatically higher rate of myocarditis and pericarditis than the first doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines or a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The study involved 4,931,771 people aged 12 and up who were monitored for 28 days after vaccination. During the follow-up, 269 participants developed myocarditis or myopericarditis, 73 percent of them males.

Of the 3,482,295 people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, 48 developed myocarditis or myopericarditis within 28 days, 1.4 per every 100,000 people, when compared to a baseline rate of unvaccinated people.

Of the 498,814 people who received the Moderna vaccine, 21 developed myocarditis or myopericarditis, a rate of 4.2 per every 100,000 people.

Thats a very interesting story because the Pfizer product has about one-third of the mRNA that the body uses to produce the spike protein, said Milhoan. The Moderna has about three times as much.

He said this suggests a causation, not just a correlation.

On Aug. 31, the FDA announced that it had authorized for emergency use the new bivalent booster vaccines (targeting the latest omicron subvariants and also the original virus) for people ages 12 and up for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 18 and up for the Moderna vaccine.

The CDC approved the vaccines on Sept. 1 following a presentation reviewing safety data from VAERS, V-SAFE, a smartphone-based reporting tool, and the Vaccine Safety Data Link (VSD),which includes data from several large health maintenance organizations in the United States.

While the FDA and CDC have often referred to many myocarditis cases after vaccination as mild, Milhoan said this word is often taken out of context by government regulators.

Is there such a thing as mild myocarditis? Yes, there is, he said. When a patient gets admitted to the ICU, we do an echocardiogram, we look at labs, we look at additional studies, and we say, Does this look like a mild case, a moderate case, or a severe case?

The mild category, he said, is a term that doctors use for comparison with more severe cases where a heart transplant might be needed.

What I explain to families, though, he said, if your child needs to go to the pediatric ICU (intensive care unit), that does not seem mild to you, even though I might call it mild.

According to the website OpenVAERS, there were 8,756 reports from the United States of myocarditis and pericarditis following a COVID-19 vaccination as of Aug. 26.

At a Sept. 1 meeting of the CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, CDC employee Tom Shimabukuro said that there have been 188.2 confirmed myocarditis cases per 1 million doses of the vaccines administered to males aged 12-39.

The age group with the highest number of cases confirmed by the CDC was males aged 16-17, with 78.7 cases of myocarditis per every 1 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.

Its not ethical to give a vaccine to a child and give them myocarditis if they may not have gotten myocarditis from a natural infection or if they have already been infected, Milhoan told the audience on Aug. 26, referring to the Hippocratic Oath: First, do no harm.

The question is, why would we be putting children at risk if their risk from COVID is very low? he asked.

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Cardiologist: Spike Proteins Generated by COVID-19 Vaccines Are 'Toxic' to Heart - The Epoch Times

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A major milestone in the fight against COVID-19. A new kind of vaccine will soon be available.

It's the first new formula since the shots came out in 2020.

The White House COVID response team says the virus is still a danger. This week, new COVID vaccines are being rolled out and they'll be available in the Philly region.

Federal officials say by the end of this week, 90% of Americans will be within a five-mile radius of being able to get the reformulated shots, which contain parts of the original vaccine with components that target omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

Those strains account for 99% of the circulating virus.

These offer better protection and have been authorized for use as a single booster dose at least two months after primary or booster vaccination.

Health officials say current trends show this is necessary.

"The seven-day average daily deaths are still too high, about 375 per day, well above the around 200 deaths a day we saw earlier this spring," Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, said. "And in my mind, far too high for a vaccine-preventable disease."

"We know that the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are safe," Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said. "We know that receiving the recommended vaccine dose is critical to maintaining optimal protection against severe COVID-19."

The vaccines will be offered at various CVS and Walgreens locations.

Experts say COVID vaccines will be like the flu reformulated yearly to match the strains.

Jasmine Payoute joined CBS3 Eyewitness News as a reporter in June 2021.

Read more from the original source:

New COVID-19 vaccine expected to be available soon in the Philly region - CBS Philly

Introduction: In response to the disease, multiple companies created coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations. These vaccines were developed utilizing a variety of technologies and at an unprecedented rate, leading many people to question their efficacy and safety, as well as what they thought about how well the vaccination may protect them. As a result, the goal of this study was to evaluate the factors and motivators that may affect the Saudi Arabian population's decision to get COVID-19 vaccination.

Methods: A sample of Saudi citizens from the Central Region completed an electronic questionnaire. This questionnaire assessed a variety of factors, including why people choose to get or not have the COVID-19 vaccination.

Results: In total, 526 Saudis responded to the survey, with the average age being 3511 years. Of the participants, 408 (77.6%) had receivedCOVID-19 vaccination (one or two doses), and 118 (22.4%) had not been vaccinated. Females (n=233, 73%, P=0.002) and the group less than 35 years (n=223, 54.7%, P=0.017) were more likely than the males to get vaccinated. Married(n=256, 80.5%) andemployed(n=261, 81.1%) participants had higher vaccination rates than unmarried and unemployed. Major reasons for not being vaccinated were a lack of knowledge about the adverse effects (n=74, 62.7%), concerns about possible side effects (n=70, 59.3%), and a lack of faith in the vaccination (n=45, 38.1%). Receiving flu vaccinationwas significantly associated with being vaccinated againstCOVID-19 (P=0.020).

Conclusion: Lack of knowledge about the vaccine's side effects and uncertainty were the major deterrents to vaccination, whereas faith in the Ministry of Health's instructions was the key motivator.

Within a month of its onset, the latest coronavirus disseminating a global challenge, as there is no specific antiviral treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In the absence of a vaccine, countries contained the spread of COVID-19 through quarantine and lockdown, social distancing measures, community-wide use of facemasks at all times, and travel bans. These measures caused significant impairment to people's physical and psychosocial well-being, as well as a massive reduction in the global economy [1,2]. Vaccination was important to reduce the spread of the infection. Several global studies reported the importance of vaccination in preventing many different diseases, and the production of a vaccine against COVID-19 accelerated at an exponential rate to minimize and control the pandemic [3,4].

In an effort to combat the prevalence of COVID-19, many governments granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to FDAs that allowed using COVID-19 vaccines prior to being approved [5,6]. In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) provided an Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of additional vaccines after the declaration of the public health emergency. Because of the EUA and EUL, multiple COVID-19 vaccines have become authorized and recommended for distribution and utilization [7]. The COVID-19 vaccines include the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnsons Janssen, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sinopharm, and Serum Institute of India Pty Ltd [8,9]. These vaccines were developed in several countries, each with a different efficacy rate. Preliminary studies indicated that the efficacy rate of the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine technology, produced by Pfizer and Moderna, is more than 90%, whereas Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnsons Janssen have efficacy rates of 76% and 72%, respectively [10].

Vaccine hesitancy is a serious public health concern, and the vaccination uptake rates in Middle Eastern countries vary greatly, depending on region and time of the year [1,11]. Three major causes are ascribed to vaccine hesitancy: (i) individuals' lack of confidence in and fear of vaccines, especially if they believe that the vaccines pose a risk of infection; (ii) individuals not experiencing the need for a vaccine or do not trust the vaccine source; and (iii) individuals or communities have difficulty receiving the vaccine [12]. Several studies identified a number of factors that influence the acceptance of a new vaccine. These factors are related to individuals beliefs about the vaccine's protection and effectiveness, negative health effects, myths regarding the need for vaccination, a lack of interest in the health system, and a lack of community awareness about vaccine-preventable diseases [13].

In Saudi Arabia, the vaccine against COVID-19 was available soon after it was released. The Saudi Ministry of Health accredited only two COVID-19 vaccines, namely Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca [14]. The recommended vaccine dose, for both vaccines, is two doses. The Ministry of Health conducted large media campaigns to increase awareness of the importance of the vaccine in order to safeguard the Saudi population and help people get back to theirnormal life. As of August 31, 2021, 62% of the population received at least one dose, and 41% of the population is fully vaccinated [15]. Yet, COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy are a concern for many people, and this was the main driver to conduct the current study, which aimed to investigate the factors and motivators that would affect the decision of the Saudi Arabian population regarding vaccination.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of the general public in the Central Region of Saudi Arabia. Adult Saudi nationals (18 years or older) were eligible for participation. Using a snowball technique, the survey link and initiation were disseminated to the public electronically, and those who received it were asked to share it with their network of contacts. In Saudi Arabia, social media is a key medium for communication and discussion, and it is regarded as a potent instrument for effective recruitment, as the invitation to participate may reach a large number of individuals in a short period. The letter of invitation, describing theobjectives and potential outcomes,and the participants can choose to refuse or participate through completing the form.

As the primary objective of the study was toidentify the factors influencing the publics decision to be vaccinated, we assumed the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy as 0.5 (as no information is available on proportion), the expected sample size was 385. This estimation had a 95% confidence level (z=1.96), and a margin of error (precision) of 0.05. in order to account for the possibility of a low response rate, we oversampled by 40% of the expected sample size resulting in a final sample size of 532.

The data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire measuring several variables, such as the reasons that supported the decision to be vaccinated or not be vaccinated.The questionnaire was comprised of three sections. The first section covered the socio-demographic characteristics, including age, gender, marital status, work status, area of residence, and education level. The second section, which contained 15 items, focused on the factors that influenced a positive decision to be vaccinated and the third section was about myths and concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine. These items were developed, following an extensive literature review [2,16,17], and consultation with a number of public health experts. The responses were yes and no options. The questionnaire was translated to Arabic by the research team and then back-translated to English to ensure accuracy.

The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Descriptive statistics such as the mean score and standard deviation, as well as frequency and percentage were used to present the data. All the items were tabulated and compared between the groups in terms of the demographic variables, for example age, gender, working specialty, and marital status using the Chi-square test. Significance was considered at a p-value <0.05.

The Institutional Review Board of the Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs provided ethical clearance and approval for this study (RC16/09). The questionnaire had no self-identifiers, and participation was optional and anonymous.

The sample size was realized as 526 participants. The majority were female (n=319, 60.6%) in different age groups, and the mean age was 3511 years. More than half of the sample (n=322, 61.2%) were employed, of which 162 (30.8%) were working in healthcare. The majority (63.5%, n=334) had an undergraduate degree or school level education, with 19.8% having a postgraduate degree. The majority (82.3%, n=433) were non-smokers, and 85 (16.2%) reported having a chronic disease. A high proportion (77.6%, n=408) received one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and 121 (23%) were previously infected. Of the sample, 421 (80%) said they knew someone who had the COVID-19 infection who was a family or close friend. Table 1 presents more details on the socio-demographic profile of the study subjects.

All the statements used were negative beliefs about the vaccine. The results were divided into a non-vaccinated group (n=118, 22.4%) and a vaccinated group (n=408, 77.6%). For the non-vaccinated group, 49 (41.5%) reported not believing that the vaccine is safe, 34 (28.8%) thought the virus was developed to make money, a small proportion (15, 12.7%) thought that the vaccine will alter their genetic background, and 17 (14.4%) believed that the vaccination aimed to introduce nano-chips in their body. The majority of the vaccine group disagreed with all the statements related to myths regarding the COVID-19 vaccine; 385 (94.4%) disagreed that the vaccine will introduce nano-chips in their body and 378 (92.6%) disagreed that the vaccine will infect them with COVID-19. However, 86 (21.1%) agreed that the virus was developed for financial gain. Table 2 illustrates the myth and concerns that might influence the decision to be vaccinated.

Lack of knowledge about the adverse effects (62.7%, n=74), worry about possible side effects (59.3%, n=70), and lack of faith in the vaccination (38.1%, n=45) were the main three reasons given for not getting the vaccine. In the vaccinated group, the major reason for being vaccinated was related to the fear of infecting their family members (n=345, 84.6%), followed by the Ministry of Health recommendations (n=325, 79.7%), travel requirements (n=245, 60%), fear of being infected with COVID19 (n=236, 57.8%), as well as family/friends recommendations (n=203, 49.8%). The lowest scoring statements were related to feeling embarrassed if they were not vaccinated (n=33, 8.1%), and job requirements (n=131, 32.1%). Table 3 presents more details regarding the reasons for taking the vaccine.

In terms of the factors associated with receiving a COVID-19 or flu vaccine, the study findings showed that the males were more likely than the females to receive the vaccine (84.5%, n=175), with a significant gender difference (P=0.002), other factors included age over 35 years old (82.6%, n=185, P=0.017),being married (80.5%, n=256, P=0.046), employed (81.1%, n=261, P=0.016), smoker (87.1%, n=81, P=0.015), and never infected with COVID-19 (82.5%, n=334, P<0.001). The group with a postgraduate degree had the highest proportion of being vaccinated (82.7%, n=86, P=0.012), of which 32.7% (n=34, P=0.012) also received a flu vaccine, 91 (28.3%, P<0.001) were employed and 62 (38.3%, P<0.001) were a healthcare worker. Being vaccinated with a flu vaccine was significantly associated with vaccination with COVID-19 (P=0.020) (Table 4).

Fear of vaccines is an obstacle in the global attempt to control the current pandemic, which has negatively affected individuals health and the economy. Understanding the factors that prevent or encourage people to be vaccinated, is critical for planning and accelerating the vaccination process. This study identified several factors associated with the decision regarding vaccination, including that males were more likely than females to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. This finding is consistent with the studies from Egypt and Portugal, which illustrated that females had lower compliance with vaccination [2,18].

The current study indicated that 38% of the non-vaccinated groupdid not trust the vaccines and 41.5% did not believe that the vaccine is safe, despite the fact that the majority disagreed with the statement of lacking information about the vaccine (91.9%) and its side effects (73.3%). An explanation for this inconsistency is that individuals believe they have sufficient understanding of the new vaccinations, which is compounded by media misinformation. Many studies also indicated that anti-vaccination messages posted by very active vaccine-hesitant groups [19] might influence people negatively to decline the vaccine and increase their hesitancy, as well as the widespread misinformation during the pandemic [19]. As a result, to persuade populations to adopt vaccination, solid proof of vaccine safety and efficacy, supported by clinical trial findings, is required.

The current study identified several factors associated with the willingness to be vaccinated, including gender, age, and educational level. This result is consistent with a study about vaccine acceptance, in which older people and males were more compliant with vaccination [20]. Vaccination rates were higher in the group with a higher educational level, this might be explained by their lower proclivity to believe in conspiracies [20]. The married group was more likely to take the COVID-19 vaccine, possibly due to their fear of infecting their beloved family members. This point was supported by our study which indicated that 81.7% who received the vaccine were due to their fear of infecting their families. The employed group was also more likely to be vaccinated, a mandatory job requirement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Being a smoker was associated with higher rate of being vaccinated, possibly due to the proportion of male smokers, which is higher than female smokers in Saudi Arabia [21].

Participants who reported that they were previously infected with COVID-19 had a higher rate of vaccination which might be explained by their level of knowledge regarding the seriousness of the disease itself, as well as their experience with the disease. Our findings also revealed that participants who received the flu vaccine were more likely to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. This finding could be explained by the fact thatindividuals who are more protectiveagainst the general flu are also more protective against other types of respiratory disease; however, no study was found to support this theory. A study conducted in Saudi Arabia with healthcare workers [22] indicated that76.76% of the group who accepted the COVID-19 vaccination had previously received the seasonal influenza vaccine, which might explain the association between the two vaccines.

Our study also assessed the factors that could positively influence a person's decision to get the flu vaccine, with the goal of determining the intensity of the impact and to compare the impact of same factors regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. We found that the education level and employment status influenced the decision to have the flu and the COVID-19 vaccine. These two variables may be the main influencing factors affecting vaccination against respiratory diseases. The comparison in our study is weak due to the difference in the severity of the consequences if the individual was not vaccinated. We believe that an additional study is required to establish the strength of these factors and their influence on public vaccination acceptability, which might aid decision-makers in determining which group should be given priority.

This study has a number of limitations. The study sample is limited to the perspectives of the people who are living in the Central Region of Saudi Arabia, which may affect the generalizability elsewhere. In addition, the survey was limited to individuals who are able to use social media and access the link to the electronic questionnaire. The sample size was relatively smalland this might be due to the online sampling within a short time, as well as the frequent exposure of individuals to a great number of studies during the pandemic. This could have affected their interest to participate in a new study. Additional studies are recommended, with qualitative methods, to explore the reasons and motives of people to be vaccinated, and provide a deep understanding of their concerns.

The study findings are important as they highlight the major reasons for not being vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as the motivators for vaccination in Saudi Arabia's central region. The main reason for not being vaccinated was lack of information about the side effects of the vaccine and uncertainty, and the major positive reason for vaccination was the trust in the Ministry of Health recommendations. However, the study also revealed a lack of trust about the vaccine's efficacy and safety. The factorsthat were significantly linked with a higher rate of COVID-19 vaccination were being male,35 years of age or older, having a postgraduate degree, being employed and prior COVID-19 infection. Factors that influence the decision to have the flu vaccine do not necessarily affect the decision to have the COVID-19 vaccine, however, the educational level and employment status are factors related to a positive decision for both vaccines. It is important to design effective strategies to promote the COVID-19 vaccine uptake in females, young individuals, and less educated or unemployed individuals.

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Factors Affecting the Decision Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination in the Saudi Public in the Central Region - Cureus