Re:US agencies call for pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccine
by Verdex on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @01:42PM
(#26796141)
In addition, I'm very concerned that if we call people afraid of the covid vaccines anti-vaxxers that they will decide to join forces with real anti-vaxxers.
I know several people who are not interested in covid vaccines for what as far as I can tell are political reasons (although there are a few concerns about using a new technology before long term studies are performed). Right now they aren't anti-vaxxers. They get vaccines and they get their children vaccinated. It's just the new covid ones that they're hesitant about.
If we just lump them in with anti-vaxxers then they might decide to go make friends with the real anti-vaxxers. And as a big of a problem as covid has been, I'm more concerned about polio making a comeback tour.
Re:US agencies call for pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccine
by tomjen3 on Tuesday April 13, 2021 @02:12PM
(#26796604)
I am not concerned with impossible to predict future events, but all effective vacines[0] will cause cancer in that they prevent people from dying early and so make it more likely they get cancer.
[0] that don't target cancer
I'm sure people will be tempted to jump in here and state their case as to why certain long term effects are not possible, and why this is conspiracy theory misinformation. But that's not the point. The reality is that humans regularly fail to understand infrequent or long-term consequences of new innovations, despite the best of intentions and despite the use of the best science available at the time. This has happened repeatedly in the past - see numerous prescription drugs that were recalled, or the use of phthalates in shampoos, or asbestos, or whatever else.
In the case of J&J, consider that this is happening against a backdrop of a continuously changing story about the AstraZeneca vaccine, increasing reports of COVID vaccines affecting menstruation (https://vajenda.substack.com/p/the-covid-19-vaccine-and-mens...), and a rushed emergency use authorization process that bypasses typical methodology for approvals of vaccines. The comparison isn't between the IFR of COVID-19 and the fatality rate associated with this vaccine. It's between the IFR of COVID-19, which is known to be very low, and the unbounded potential of near-term or long-term fatality or other side effects from the vaccine.