The Russian invasion of Ukraine is impacting the distribution of Covid vaccines. Countries that failed to support the majority of countries across the globe in condemning the Russian aggression will not be getting vaccines. Let's take a look at Bangladesh. Bangladesh will pay for its “support” of Russia in canceled vaccine donations https://qz.com/2139368/lithuania-cancelled-its-vaccine-donation-to-bangladesh/ Covid-19 vaccines have been a tool of diplomacy since they were developed, shaping and strengthening allegiances between countries, as well as creating rifts. One of the tensions that might have precipitated the situation between Russia and Ukraine, for instance, was Ukraine’s refusal to accept the Russia-made vaccine Sputnik as sufficient protection against the virus. Now, with the world taking sides in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, vaccine access is being used to retaliate against countries that aren’t expressing full opposition to Russia’s actions. This is what happened in the case of Lithuania, which decided to cancel its donation of nearly half a million Pfizer covid-19 vaccine doses to Bangladesh, after Bangladesh abstained in the UN General Assembly’s vote condemning the invasion. Another form of sanctions Lithuania had decided to send the donation only last week, but backtracked once Bangladesh joined the 35 countries that abstained from voting on the UN resolution against Russia (while Eritrea, Syria, North Korea, Belarus, and of course Russia itself, were the only countries to vote against it). So far, about half the Bangladeshi population (a total of 165 million people) has received a full initial course of a covid-19 vaccine, whether from a western manufacturer (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson) or a Chinese one (Sinopharm and CoronaVac). Lithuania’s move, announced by Rasa Jakilaitienė, a representative of the country’s prime minister, amounts to a sanction of sorts—and like many sanctions, it ends up harming the civil population far more than the government it is meant to target. The many facets of vaccine inequity While some have celebrated Lithuania’s decision as a means of holding Bangladesh accountable for its actions (or lack thereof, as this was an abstention), others have noted that withholding a vaccine from a vulnerable population isn’t an action to praise. “I do not celebrate the cancellation of life saving vaccines to people,” tweeted Alexandra Phelan, an assistant professor at the Center for Global Health Science & Security at Georgetown University. The action also highlights the less obvious vulnerabilities created by vaccine equity. Indeed, Bangladesh wouldn’t have found itself in the position of depending on vaccine donations had the doses been distributed more fairly. The United Nations hasn’t expressed an official position on the issue. Officials in Lithuania and Bangladesh didn’t respond to Quartz’s request for comment.
Doesn't Russia have some of their own Covid Vaccines ? If so, they'll probably compensate those countries with vaccines from Russia that voted against the sanctions. Yet, with the growing number of transportation companies joining in on the sanctions...Russia will have more difficulty in getting their vaccines to the countries that supported them. wrbtrader
Large German Insurance Company Estimates 2.5-3 Million People in Germany ‘Under Treatment for Side Effects of Vaccination After Covid Shot’ An analysis of millions of insured persons’ data from the BKK company health insurance company comes to significantly higher figures for side effects than the Paul Ehrlich Institute. The new data is an “alarm signal,” says BKK board member Andreas Schöfbeck.” reports German news outlet Welt.de. “For the first time, the figures from a large German health insurance association are available on the side effects of Covid vaccines. The board of directors of BKK ProVita, Andreas Schöfbeck, had the data of millions of insured persons of the BKK group analyzed.“ Using the company’s nearly 11 million insured participants, they ran a query using International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for vaccine side effects. Looking at just the first half of 2021 and “about half for the third quarter of 2021” found that 216,695 people had already been treated for vaccine side effects from Covid vaccination. BKK board member Schöfbeck sent a letter detailing this “alarm signal” to the Paul Ehrlich Institute – the agency of the German Federal Ministry of Health responsible for vaccines and medicines regulation. The letter continues, “…with regard to the number of vaccinated people in Germany, this means that about 4-5% of the vaccinated people were under medical treatment for side effects of vaccination.” This event marks the first time that a private insurance company has audited its data to challenge a governmental heath agency on the widespread underreporting of vaccine side effects. https://www.cryptogon.com/?p=63545
It’s amusing to see you recirculating stuff that has already been debunked. Note this was merely an estimate in a report by the German insurance industry— not a proven number. It was used in an attempt to make insurance companies not responsible for anything related to Covid or vaccines. The government laughed them all — after everyone called out their false nonsense and poor methods.
1 2 3 4 5 . . . Pfizer CEO says fourth COVID-19 shot ‘necessary’ due to waning immunity Most people will need to get a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose to be protected from the virus, the head of Pfizer said on Sunday. “It is necessary for most” people, CEO Albert Bourla said during an interview on CBS’s “Face The Nation” when asked if Americans can expect to get annual COVID booster shots every fall. The regimen of two initial doses plus a booster is not able to protect against variants and wanes too quickly in strength, Bourla conceded — making additional shots inevitable. “Right now, the protection that you’re getting from the third [shot], it is good enough — actually quite good for hospitalizations and deaths — it’s not that good against infections, but doesn’t last very long,” he said. https://nypost.com/2022/03/13/pfizer-ceo-fourth-covid-shot-necessary-due-to-waning-immunity/
Canada Vaccination Adverse Stats The percentage numbers about the Adverse Effects from Covid vaccinations has remained the same. Latest report is below as of March 4th, 2022. Children between 5 to 11 years old still have the lowest adverse events while 40 - 49 years old age group has the highest. Overall, excellent vaccination statistics: 0.050% adverse events with a population of 84.94% fully vaccinated. Yet, 0.011% were considered to be serious adverse events. In comparison (not shown below)...the Covid vaccines are performing better than the FLU vaccines and better than many other vaccines. wrbtrader
Pfizer's Covid vaccine safe in people with prior myocarditis, study says https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...people-prior-myocarditis-study-says-rcna20312 The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine appears to be safe in people previously diagnosed with myocarditis, according to a small study presented Thursday at a European medical conference. The findings, experts say, should help reassure people who previously experienced myocarditis that Covid vaccination is safe. Myocarditis is an inflammatory heart condition with a number of causes, including viral and bacterial infections. The mRNA Covid vaccines, from both Pfizer and Moderna, have also been linked to a small but increased risk of the condition. The new study was presented virtually at the European Society of Cardiology Acute CardioVascular Care conference. It has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, though it is undergoing peer review. Researchers from France studied 55 patients, most of them young men, who had been hospitalized with myocarditis within the last five years and were later inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine. Patients were contacted by the researchers by phone and asked if they had been vaccinated, with which vaccine, how many times and whether they experienced any side effects. They found that none of the patients experienced myocarditis, or any other serious adverse event after vaccination, suggesting that the Pfizer vaccine is not associated with a risk of recurrence of the condition. Because the vast majority of the patients in the study were vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, the findings cannot be applied to other currently available Covid shots, such as Moderna’s, the authors noted. The results may be reassuring to those with a history of myocarditis who are reluctant to get vaccinated. "One of causes pushing us to conduct this study was a patient with a history of prior myocarditis refusing to be vaccinated against Covid, fearing a recurrence," lead study author Dr. Abou Saleh, a researcher at Hospices Civils de Lyon, a hospital in France, told NBC News in an email. The findings, he said, may "incite patients with prior history of myocarditis to get vaccinated." The study comes less than two weeks after Florida's surgeon general formally recommended against Covid vaccinations for healthy children, citing in part the rare risk of myocarditis in young men and teenage boys. The state softened its stance a day later, however. Both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s Covid vaccines have been linked to a slightly elevated risk of myocarditis, particularly in men ages 18 to 29 following their second dose. In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended people over the age of 12 and young men wait as long as eight weeks before receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine as a possible means of reducing myocarditis risk. Still, health experts note that the risk from vaccination remains very low, and most patients recover from the condition within a few days. "It tends to be much milder than what we typically see with traditional myocarditis, and there is a much more rapid recovery," said Dr. Katherine Poehling, a vaccine expert and pediatrician at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in North Carolina. She noted that the risk of severe complications from Covid is much greater than the risk of vaccine-induced myocarditis. "I don't think many people realize that Covid is a top 10 cause of death for children, which highlights this is something that is not benign in some children," Poehling said. The study adds to overwhelming evidence that the Covid vaccines are safe, said Dr. Leslie Cooper, chair of the department of cardiology at Mayo Clinic. Patients in the study reported common symptoms, such as fatigue and headache, after vaccination, according to the authors. Cooper also said the findings could mean that the mechanisms that cause traditional myocarditis in people are different than those that can cause vaccine-induced myocarditis, though more research is needed. “We do have lots of data on older forms of myocarditis, but very, very little data on vaccinated-associated myocarditis mechanisms,” he said.
CDC study: 3 shots 94 percent effective against death or ventilation during omicron https://thehill.com/policy/healthca...effective-against-death-or-ventilation-during Three doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines were 94 percent effective in preventing death or the need for a ventilator during the omicron surge, according to a new study. The study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released Friday adds to the evidence showing the importance of getting a booster shot. Effectiveness against death or ventilation was significantly lower for people who only had two shots, at 79 percent, during the period that omicron was the dominant variant circulating. “These findings reinforce the highly protective effects of up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination against severe illness and death among adults, including against current SARS-CoV-2 variants,” the study states. The findings were based on results from 21 medical centers in 18 states. Another CDC study released Friday found that in January 2022, unvaccinated adults were 12 times more likely to be hospitalized than people who were boosted, and people with just two shots were three times more likely to be hospitalized than those who were boosted. The findings on the benefits of receiving a booster vaccine come as many Americans still have not received their booster shots. Among adults aged 18 to 64, just 30 percent have received a booster shot, according to a New York Times tracker. The rate is somewhat higher among the most vulnerable group, those 65 and up, at 59 percent. There is now discussion of a fourth dose, given the waning of vaccine protection over time. Pfizer has asked the Food and Drug Administration for authorization for a second booster for those 65 and older, while Moderna did so for all adults. Moderna said its broader request was “to provide flexibility for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and healthcare providers to determine the appropriate use of an additional booster dose of mRNA-1273, including for those at higher risk of COVID-19 due to age or comorbidities.”