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COVID Corruption News Stories

Below are key excerpts of revealing news articles on COVID corruption from reliable news media sources. If any link fails to function, a paywall blocks full access, or the article is no longer available, try these digital tools.

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Sort articles by: Article Date | Date Posted on WantToKnow.info | Importance

Covid vaccine profits mint 9 new pharma billionaires
2021-05-21, CNN News
Posted: 2022-02-21 19:05:36
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/21/business/covid-vaccine-billionaires/index.html

Covid-19 vaccines have created at least nine new billionaires after shares in companies producing the shots soared. Topping the list of new billionaires are Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel and Ugur Sahin, the CEO of BioNTech, which has produced a vaccine with Pfizer (PFE). Both CEOs are now worth around $4 billion, according to an analysis by the People's Vaccine Alliance, a campaign group that includes Oxfam, UNAIDS, Global Justice Now and Amnesty International. Senior executives from China's CanSino Biologics and early investors in Moderna have also become billionaires on paper as shares skyrocketed, partly in expectation of profits earned from Covid vaccines, which also bode well for the companies' future prospects. Moderna's share price has gained more than 700% since February 2020, while BioNTech has surged 600%. CanSino Biologics' stock is up about 440% over the same period. The company's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine was approved for use in China in February. Activists said the wealth generation highlighted the stark inequality that has resulted from the pandemic. The nine new billionaires are worth a combined $19.3 billion. According to the World Health Organization, 87% of vaccine doses have gone to high- or upper middle-income countries, while low income countries have received just 0.2%. In a paper published Friday, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said that vaccinating 60% of the global population by mid-2022 would cost just $50 billion.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines and income inequality from reliable major media sources.


COVID vaccines are set to be among the most lucrative pharmaceutical products ever
2021-11-24, NPR
Posted: 2022-02-21 19:04:19
https://www.npr.org/2021/11/24/1059041725/covid-vaccines-are-set-to-be-among-...

This year, Pfizer expects to bring in $36 billion from worldwide sales of its COVID-19 vaccine. That would shatter the previous record in annual sales for a single pharmaceutical product - about $20 billion for the anti-inflammatory drug Humira - and make the Pfizer vaccine the bestselling pharmaceutical product ever. Moderna will deliver fewer doses but is still expecting up to $18 billion in sales for the year for its COVID-19 vaccine. Humira, has been ... churning out tens of billions of dollars a year for multiple years on end. And it's not entirely clear that the mRNA vaccines will do that. Just because Pfizer and Moderna are selling billions of doses now doesn't mean that will last forever. The vaccines could work so well they eliminate the need for further boosters, though it's also possible COVID shots could become routine, like flu shots. The uncertainty puts a premium on maximizing sales now. Any vaccine manufacturer is going to realize that there's a risk that they're going to have a very short lifecycle. Moderna got a lot of government funding, offsetting costs and minimizing risks. But the COVID-19 vaccine is its only product on the market. Pfizer, on the other hand, didn't accept early government investment and took on a lot of those upfront costs itself. But it has dozens of other products in its portfolio that it makes and will continue to make once the pandemic ends.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines and Big Pharma profiteering from reliable major media sources.


Post-infection immunity was very protective against Delta, the C.D.C. reports, but vaccines still offer the best defense.
2022-01-19, New York Times
Posted: 2022-02-17 02:08:30
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/19/world/omicron-covid-vaccine-tests#pos...

Previous infection with the coronavirus appeared to provide stronger protection against the Delta variant than did vaccination in a large sample of patients, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Scientists analyzed testing, surveillance and immunization data from the [New York and California] to gauge the level of protection offered by vaccines and previous infection. During the week beginning May 30, 2021, vaccinated people who had not experienced Covid had the lowest risk of coronavirus infection and hospitalization, followed by unvaccinated people who had been previously diagnosed with Covid. By the week beginning Oct. 3, however, vaccinated people with a prior diagnosis fared best against the Delta variant. Unvaccinated people with a history of Covid also had lower rates of infection and hospitalization than those protected by vaccines alone. Waning of vaccine-derived immunity may explain why vaccinated people were less protected from infection with the Delta variant than those who had a prior diagnosis. A recent study of employees at the Cleveland Clinic suggested that ... vaccination does not add much benefit to a prior bout for the first many months.

Note: The full article is strongly biased towards vaccination, yet the data shows that prior exposure to COVID often provides better protection than the vaccines, whose protection clearly wanes over time. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


The COVID generation: how is the pandemic affecting kids’ brains?
2022-01-12, Nature
Posted: 2022-02-14 13:52:45
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00027-4

Like many paediatricians, Dani Dumitriu braced herself for the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus when it first surged in her wards. She was relieved when most newborn babies at her hospital who had been exposed to COVID-19 seemed to do just fine. But hints of a more subtle and insidious trend followed close behind. Dumitriu and her team ... had more than two years of data on infant development — since late 2017, they had been analysing the communication and motor skills of babies up to six months old. Dumitriu thought it would be interesting to compare the results from babies born before and during the pandemic. The infants born during the pandemic scored lower, on average, on tests of gross motor, fine motor and communication skills compared with those born before it. It didn’t matter whether their birth parent had been infected with the virus or not; there seemed to be something about the environment of the pandemic itself. Lockdowns ... have isolated many young families, robbing them of playtime and social interactions. Stressed out and stretched thin, many carers also haven’t been able to provide the one-to-one time that babies and toddlers need. Worryingly, [biophysicist Sean] Deoni has found that the longer the pandemic has continued, the more deficits children have accumulated. “The magnitude is massive — it’s just astonishing,” Deoni says of the findings, which are now under revision in JAMA Pediatrics.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on the coronavirus and health from reliable major media sources.


Military campaign to influence public opinion continued after defence chief shut it down
2021-06-24, CBC (Canada's public broadcasting system)
Posted: 2022-02-14 13:48:47
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/psychological-warfare-influence-campaign-can...

Portions of a military information campaign meant to influence the Canadian public during the COVID-19 pandemic continued to operate months after the chief of the defence staff at the time ordered it shut down in the spring of 2020. The Canadian military recently conducted four reviews of controversial initiatives. A copy of one of those reviews was obtained by CBC News under access to information legislation. That review shows that even after the then-chief of the defence staff, Jonathan Vance, verbally called off the overall influence campaign in April 2020, some influence activities aimed at Canadians carried on for another six months — until Vance issued a written edict in November 2020. The military deployed propaganda techniques in Canada without approval during the pandemic and gathered information about Canadians' online activities without permission from authorities. DND denies it has used psychological warfare techniques, honed during the Afghan war, on Canadians. But the line between psychological warfare and information operation campaigns has become increasingly blurry over the last few years. The review document obtained by CBC News says the Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC) ... "liberally interpreted" department policy. The unit decided it had the authority to conduct information operations on Canadians without government approval because it was asked by the government to help with the response to the pandemic.

Note: Learn more in this article titled, “Military leaders saw pandemic as unique opportunity to test propaganda techniques on Canadians, Forces report says.” For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on military corruption from reliable major media sources.


We're pro-vaccine but can't support California lawmaker's school COVID vaccine mandate
2022-02-08, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
Posted: 2022-02-14 13:46:57
https://www.sfgate.com/politics-op-eds/article/California-vaccine-mandate-sch...

Two weeks ago, state Sen. Richard Pan introduced a new bill which would require all children K-12 to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to attend school in person after Jan. 1, 2023. Unvaccinated children would be forced into remote learning. Pan said, “We need to make sure schools are safe so that all parents are comfortable sending their children to school.” Every parent wants safe schools. But our children deserve medical care driven by facts, not politics. As physician epidemiologists, we have analyzed the data and found that this mandate is not supported by the scientific evidence — which is why no European countries or other U.S. states have implemented their own. California already has a mandate for children over 12, which will be triggered once the vaccines receive full approval. Pan’s bill would go much further, requiring every child in K-12 to be vaccinated while the shots are still under emergency use authorization. Excluding unvaccinated children from in-person learning would come at an enormous cost, at a time when they should be catching up on critical academic and social experiences. In December, when the Los Angeles Unified School District tried to implement a K-12 COVID-19 vaccine mandate, they found that 30,000 students ages 12 and older hadn’t met the mandate requirements. If we extrapolate those numbers to the entire state, and take into account lower vaccination rates among children ages 5-11, over a million California children could be forced into remote learning.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


We want all COVID restrictions in schools lifted. No, that’s not radical.
2022-02-01, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)
Posted: 2022-02-14 13:45:15
https://www.sfgate.com/politics-op-eds/article/COVID-restrictions-schools-Cal...

Here in California, our children continue to navigate the most restrictive policies in the country, in many cases not even allowing them to remove their masks while outdoors at school. There are now calls ... to exchange their cloth masks for thicker, larger and tighter N95/KN95 masks. The World Health Organization does not recommend the routine masking of young children at all, let alone the proposition that tight-fitting respirators should be donned by children for multiple hours a day. Yet we have come to view this as appropriate and necessary in California, despite our high levels of protection from serious COVID-19 illness given widespread vaccine uptake. Our government leaders made an implicit promise that the vaccination of adults and children would be the conduit by which our society would return to pre-pandemic freedoms. Despite a highly successful vaccination campaign in the Bay Area, most COVID-19 restrictions have remained in place for two years and counting. And despite widespread access to vaccines, we continue to prioritize the prevention of COVID-19 transmission, even in the absence of severe illness, above most other health considerations. Last week, we began an online petition asking California officials to immediately shift our public dialogue toward defining a path for removing all remaining COVID-19 restrictions in public schools. Despite the pushback we have received, normalizing our school environment is not a radical concept.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on the coronavirus from reliable major media sources.


A small island nation has cooked up not 1, not 2, but 5 COVID vaccines. It's Cuba!
2022-02-01, NPR
Posted: 2022-02-14 13:43:05
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/02/01/1056952488/a-small-islan...

In the early days of the COVID pandemic, Cuba decided it was going to make its own vaccine. It didn't want to rely on the whims of foreign governments or international pharmaceutical companies to immunize its people. Cuba didn't even sign up for the COVAX program, backed by the World Health Organization, that was promising to purchase vaccines in bulk and distribute them equitably around the globe. Cuba's vaccine development effort wasn't just risky from health perspective. Politically if the rest of the world got vaccine far earlier than Cuba, it would be a huge blow to the government. Cuba now has five vaccines in various stages. Three of the vaccines, Soberana 1, Soberana 2 and Soberna Plus, were developed at the Finlay Institute in Havana. The other two, Abdala and Mambisa, came out of Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. Soberana 2, Soberana Plus and Abdala are authorized by the Cuban authorities for use and export while the other two (one of which is a nasal spray) are still in clinical trials. None of them have yet been authorized by the World Health Organization or any other major international regulator. But they've allowed Cuba to boast one of the highest COVID vaccination rates in the world. More than 85% of the island nation is fully immunized against the virus — a far higher vaccination rate than the U.S.. At a time when many other low- and middle-income nations continue to struggle to get enough doses, Cuba is exporting vaccine to Iran, Venezuela, Mexico, Nicaragua and Vietnam.

Note: These vaccines do not rely on the mRNA technology about whose long-term side effects we know little to nothing. In deaths per million from COVID, Cuba is ranked #71 out of 155 countries as of early February 2022. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


Almost 500 Service Members Discharged For Refusing COVID Vaccine
2022-01-27, Newsweek
Posted: 2022-02-14 13:41:21
https://www.newsweek.com/almost-500-service-members-discharged-refusing-covid...

Almost 500 U.S. service members have been discharged so far for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. But that number is likely to climb as the various military branches continue the process of dealing with those who are refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, or have requested exemptions. The Navy said on Tuesday that it has discharged 23 active-duty sailors for refusing the coronavirus vaccine. The Air Force, as of January 21, has discharged 111 active-duty airmen. As of January 20, the Marine Corps had discharged 334 Marines. The Army is the only service that has not yet initiated separations for active-duty personnel for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. But in a news release earlier this month, the Army said it had relieved six active-duty leaders, including two battalion commanders, from their positions for refusing the vaccine. The Army also said it had issued almost 3,000 general officer written reprimands to soldiers for vaccine refusal. The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in December, prohibits service members from being dishonorably discharged for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Last summer, the Department of Defense announced that it would make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all service members—active-duty, National Guard and Reserves. Around 98 percent of active-duty service members are fully vaccinated, according to the Department of Defense.

Note: This 3-minute video features a hearing where data was given by Dept. of Defense whistleblowers reporting on the health of US soldiers. The data clearly shows that neurological problems among troops increased by 10 times (1,000%) over previous years. Other disease also had major increases. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


Therapies to Prevent Progression of COVID-19, Including Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, Zinc, and Vitamin D3 With or Without Intravenous Vitamin C: An International, Multicenter, Randomized Trial
2021-11-25, Cureus (Published on a National Institute of Health website)
Posted: 2022-02-14 13:38:49
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8712288/

COVID-19 is a global pandemic. Treatment with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), zinc, and azithromycin (AZM), also known as the Zelenko protocol, and treatment with intravenous (IV) vitamin C (IVC) have shown encouraging results in a large number of trials worldwide. In addition, vitamin D levels are an important indicator of the severity of symptoms in patients with COVID-19. Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 ... were screened for eligibility and randomly allocated to receive either HCQ, AZM, and zinc (group 1) or HCQ, AZM, zinc plus IV vitamin C treatment (group 2) for 14 days. The patients also received nontherapeutic levels of vitamin D3. A total of 237 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 ... were enrolled in the study. Almost all patients were vitamin D deficient (97%). All but one patient (99.6%; n = 236/237) treated with HCQ, AZM, and zinc with or without high-dose IV vitamin C (IVC) fully recovered. Additional IVC therapy contributed significantly to a quicker recovery (15 days versus 45 days until discharge; p = 0.0069). Low vitamin D levels were significantly correlated with a higher probability of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and longer hospital stay. Our study suggests that the treatment protocol of HCQ, AZM, and zinc with or without vitamin C is safe and effective in the treatment of COVID-19, with high dose IV vitamin C leading to a significantly quicker recovery.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on the coronavirus from reliable major media sources.


Post-infection immunity was very protective against Delta, the C.D.C. reports, but vaccines still offer the best defense.
2022-01-19, New York Times
Posted: 2022-02-14 00:46:22
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/19/world/omicron-covid-vaccine-tests#pos...

Previous infection with the coronavirus appeared to provide stronger protection against the Delta variant than did vaccination in a large sample of patients, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Scientists analyzed testing, surveillance and immunization data from the [New York and California] to gauge the level of protection offered by vaccines and previous infection. During the week beginning May 30, 2021, vaccinated people who had not experienced Covid had the lowest risk of coronavirus infection and hospitalization, followed by unvaccinated people who had been previously diagnosed with Covid. By the week beginning Oct. 3, however, vaccinated people with a prior diagnosis fared best against the Delta variant. Unvaccinated people with a history of Covid also had lower rates of infection and hospitalization than those protected by vaccines alone. Waning of vaccine-derived immunity may explain why vaccinated people were less protected from infection with the Delta variant than those who had a prior diagnosis. A recent study of employees at the Cleveland Clinic suggested that ... vaccination does not add much benefit to a prior bout for the first many months.

Note: The full article is strongly biased towards vaccination, yet the data shows that prior exposure to COVID often provides better protection than the vaccines, whose protection clearly wanes over time. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


Freedom Convoy: Why Canadian truckers are protesting in Ottawa
2022-01-29, BBC News
Posted: 2022-02-07 12:44:00
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60164561

A convoy of big rigs has arrived in the national capital to protest vaccine mandates and Covid-19 measures. It's been dubbed the Freedom Convoy. The movement was sparked by a vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the US-Canada border, implemented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government earlier this month. Upset with the new measure that would require unvaccinated Canadian truckers crossing the two nations' boundary to quarantine once they've returned home, a loose coalition of truckers and conservative groups began to organise the cross-country drive that began in western Canada. It picked up steam and gathered support as it drove east. Many supporters, already opposed to Mr Trudeau and his politics, have grown frustrated with pandemic measures they see as political overreach. Social media and news footage showed trucks and companion vehicles snaking along highways, cheered on by people gathered on roadsides and overpasses, often waving Canadian flags and signs disparaging Mr Trudeau. A GoFundMe campaign has raised, to date, over a whopping C$7m ($5.4m; £4m) from over 99,000 donors. "We want to be free, we want to have our choice again, and we want hope - and the government has taken that away," Harold Jonker, a truck driver and trucking company owner, told the BBC. Mr Trudeau this week denounced the convoy and its supporters as a "small fringe minority". But the convoy has received some support from Conservative politicians.

Note: If you look at MSM reporting, the vast majority of report put a negative spin on this. And you can bet that agent provocateurs have been sent to cause trouble then blamed on the protest. Facebook removed the Freedom Convoy page while GoFundMe stopped donations to the group. What gives them the right to do this? For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


Canadian Truckers Say They Have Enough Money to Keep Protesting for 4 Years
2022-01-31, Newsweek
Posted: 2022-02-07 12:42:39
https://www.newsweek.com/canadian-truckers-vaccine-mandate-protest-raised-eno...

Organizers of a demonstration protesting vaccine mandates outside Canada's Parliament have reportedly said they have enough money to keep trucks there for up to four years. Thousands of protesters converged on Parliament Hill in Ottawa over the weekend, joined by truckers who had traveled across Canada as part of a "Freedom Convoy." Although initially organized to oppose vaccine mandates for truck drivers crossing the Canada-U.S. border, it has grown in recent days into a movement against COVID-19 restrictions in general, and Justin Trudeau's government. The demonstration in Ottawa on Saturday saw truckers block the streets around Canada's parliament building. It comes as a GoFundMe campaign called "Freedom Convoy 2022" surpassed more than $7.1 million ($9.1 million CAD) in donations. Ottawa Police said on Sunday that officers have been "actively and patiently managing a well-funded, major demonstration in the downtown core" and that there had been "multiple cases of disruptive, inappropriate and threatening behavior from demonstrators." Police "are aware that many demonstrators have announced their intention to stay in place," the statement added. "This will continue to cause major traffic, noise and safety issues in the downtown core. We urge all residents to avoid travel to the core." Trudeau and his family left their home in Ottawa over security concerns. The Canadian leader has called the protesters a "small fringe minority."

Note: GoFundMe stopped donations to the group and Facebook removed the Freedom Convoy page. What gives them the right to do this? And if you look at MSM reporting, the vast majority of report put a negative spin on this. And you can bet that agent provocateurs have been sent to cause trouble then blamed on the protest. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


Crowds of demonstrators join rallies across Canada as Covid-19 trucker protests spread
2022-02-06, Newsweek
Posted: 2022-02-07 12:41:09
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/05/americas/canada-trucker-protest-covid-19/index...

From the western province of Alberta, moving east to Quebec City, and in cities and towns in between, thousands of Canadians have hit the streets in trucks, tractors, cars and on foot to protest the nation's Covid-19 restrictions. With persistent and noisy horn honking, protesters are demanding governments at all levels lift their health restrictions, including vaccine and mask mandates, lockdowns and restrictions on businesses and gatherings. "The whole event has gone beyond just vaccines and it is now about the entire ordeal," protester James MacDonald told CNN, adding he's been in Ottawa since last weekend and has no intention of leaving until health measures are dropped. The "Freedom Convoy" was initially started by truckers protesting a recent mandate requiring drivers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements. But others have joined the cause. Demonstrators reached Ottawa, Canada's capital, last weekend, and its organizers said the protests will linger there and elsewhere if necessary. While mostly nonviolent, the protests have been noisy and chaotic. In Toronto, Canada's largest city, thousands took to the streets Saturday. Quebec City similarly reported thousands of protesters and hundreds of trucks clogging streets. While the protests were started by truckers, those who have joined them and donated money include many who said they are vaccinated and have so far complied with public health measures.

Note: Notice how little coverage this is getting in the U.S. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


27,530 New Breakthrough COVID Cases in Mass.
2022-02-01, NBC News (Boston affiliate)
Posted: 2022-02-07 12:37:23
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coronavirus/27530-new-breakthrough-covid-cases...

Massachusetts health officials on Tuesday reported ... 290 more deaths in people with breakthrough cases. In the last week, 27,530 new breakthrough cases - infections in people who have been vaccinated - were reported, with 555 more vaccinated people hospitalized over the period. It's a 40% drop in the rate of new breakthrough cases in Massachusetts - the previous week saw 46,092 new COVID infections in vaccinated people. On Tuesday ... there were 127 new deaths reported -- a statistic that includes three days because of the weekend -- bringing the death toll to 21,546. The seven-day average test positivity stands at 7.13%. In December, Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials released a study that found that 97% of breakthrough cases in the state did not become severely ill and rarely led to deaths, especially among young people. Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, have been trending downward after spiking to heights not seen since previous surges, a peak thought to be driven at least in part by the omicron variant.

Note: As of Jan. 31, 2022, Massachusetts had a total of 21,546 COVID deaths as reported above. Their first COVID death was on Mar. 20, 2020. So over the 97 weeks since the start of the pandemic, they averaged 222 deaths a week. Yet in the last week of January 2022, this NBC article reports 290 breakthrough deaths. So the number of deaths among the vaccinated in that one week was greater than the average weekly number of deaths for the whole pandemic. Weren't these vaccines supposed to be 90% effective or more?


Pfizer CEO says two Covid vaccine doses aren’t ‘enough for omicron’
2022-01-10, CNBC News
Posted: 2022-02-07 12:35:32
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/10/pfizer-ceo-says-two-covid-vaccine-doses-arent...

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Monday said two doses of the company’s vaccine may not provide strong protection against infection from the Covid omicron variant, and the original shots have also lost some of their efficacy at preventing hospitalization. Bourla, in an interview at JPMorgan’s health-care conference, emphasized the importance of a third shot to boost people’s protection against omicron. “The two doses, they’re not enough for omicron,” Bourla said. “The third dose of the current vaccine is providing quite good protection against deaths, and decent protection against hospitalizations.” Bourla said omicron is a more difficult target than previous variants. Omicron, which has dozens of mutations, can evade some of the protection provided by Pfizer’s original two shots. Two-doses of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s vaccines are only about 10% effective at preventing infection from omicron 20 weeks after the second dose. A booster dose ... is up to 75% effective at preventing symptomatic infection and 88% effective at preventing hospitalization. However ... the U.K. Health Security Agency also found that boosters are only 40% to 50% effective against infection 10 weeks after receiving the shot.

Note: What happened to the 95% effectiveness touted highly in the beginning? Why weren't we told that the vaccines could lose most of their efficacy over time? Does this mean we'll need a new vaccine with every new variant? And of course, this means more billions flowing into the pockets of big Pharma. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


Covid-19 vaccines and treatments: we must have raw data, now [By BMJ’s top editors]
2022-01-19, The BMJ (Formerly British Medical Journal)
Posted: 2022-02-07 12:33:46
https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o102

In the pages of The BMJ a decade ago, in the middle of a different pandemic, it came to light that governments around the world had spent billions stockpiling antivirals for influenza that had not been shown to reduce the risk of complications, hospital admissions, or death. The errors of the last pandemic are being repeated. Memories are short. Today, despite the global rollout of covid-19 vaccines and treatments, [the] data underlying the trials for these new products remain inaccessible to doctors, researchers, and the public—and are likely to remain that way for years to come. This is morally indefensible for all trials, but especially for those involving major public health interventions. Pfizer’s pivotal covid vaccine trial was funded by the company and designed, run, analysed, and authored by Pfizer employees. The company and the contract research organisations that carried out the trial hold all the data. And Pfizer has indicated that it will not begin entertaining requests for trial data until May 2025, 24 months after the primary study completion date. The lack of access to data is consistent across vaccine manufacturers. Regulators and public health bodies could release details such as why vaccine trials were not designed to test efficacy against infection and spread of SARS-CoV-2. Had regulators insisted on this outcome, countries would have learnt sooner about the effect of vaccines on transmission and been able to plan accordingly.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


Inside the $250 million effort to convince Americans the coronavirus vaccines are safe
2020-12-23, CBS News
Posted: 2022-02-07 12:31:54
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-safety-250-million-dollar-marketin...

The federal official in charge of a $250 million marketing blitz to build trust in the coronavirus vaccines' safety says the campaign will forego trying to convince so-called "anti-vaxxers." Instead, it will focus on swaying those who are simply unsure about the new coronavirus inoculations. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services calls the campaign's target group the "movable middle," said Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Weber, who is overseeing the initiative. Sixty percent of respondents in a national survey conducted in November by the Pew Research Center said they would definitely or probably get vaccinated, while 39% said they "definitely or probably" would not. However, just under half of that group, 18%, said it's possible they could change their minds. That's the group the campaign needs to sway.

Note: If the government has to spend $250 million to “convince” Americans the vaccines are safe, how can they then issue mandates requiring vaccines? For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on coronavirus vaccines from reliable major media sources.


Number of youth in hospital after suicide attempt tripled over 4-month period under COVID-19
2021-03-18, CBC (Canada's public broadcasting system)
Posted: 2022-01-31 13:47:05
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/pandemic-safety-measures-children-tee...

McMaster Children's Hospital says it has seen a steady increase of youth in crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Youth admitted for medical support after a suicide attempt has tripled over a four-month period, compared to last year. The hospital also said that patients are staying in hospital longer due to more serious attempts. A large number of these youth have reported COVID-related issues such as lack of social interaction, increased conflict at home, and the inability to rely on friends as main contributors. Over the same time period, youth admitted with substance use disorders has doubled compared to last year. In particular, the use of potentially deadly opioids has increased. The number of cases admitted to hospital with predominant symptoms of psychosis has doubled, with the large majority related to substance use. Meanwhile, McMaster Children's Hospital says referrals to its Eating Disorders Program have increased by 90 per cent in a four-month period, compared to last year. Admissions are projected to increase by 33 per cent over the 12-months since the pandemic started. "It's unprecedented," says clinical manager Paul Agar.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on the coronavirus and health from reliable major media sources.


Frequent Boosters Spur Warning on Immune Response
2022-01-11, Bloomberg
Posted: 2022-01-31 13:45:29
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-11/repeat-booster-shots-risk-...

European Union regulators warned that frequent Covid-19 booster shots could adversely affect the immune response and may not be feasible. Repeat booster doses every four months could eventually weaken the immune response and tire out people, according to the European Medicines Agency. Instead, countries should leave more time between booster programs and tie them to the onset of the cold season in each hemisphere, following the blueprint set out by influenza vaccination strategies, the agency said. The advice comes as some countries consider the possibility of offering people second booster shots in a bid to provide further protection against surging omicron infections. Earlier this month Israel became the first nation to start administering a second booster, or fourth shot, to those over 60. The U.K. has said that boosters are providing good levels of protection and there is no need for a second booster shot at the moment, but will review data as it evolves. Boosters “can be done once, or maybe twice, but it’s not something that we can think should be repeated constantly,” Marco Cavaleri, the EMA head of biological health threats and vaccines strategy, said at a press briefing on Tuesday. “We need to think about how we can transition from the current pandemic setting to a more endemic setting.”

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