“So it's an absolute lie that has killed thousands of kids. Because the mothers who heard that lie, many of them didn't have their kids take either pertussis or measles vaccine, and their children are dead today. And so the people who go and engage in those anti-vaccine efforts -- you know, they, they kill children. It's a very sad thing, because these vaccines are important.”
― Bill Gates
“My contribution is that if the pharmaceutical companies with the help of our federal government, legislative and judicial branches has “locked up”, "bound", placed under martial law, our rights and freedoms to not be experimented on, to suffer treatment of unsafe medical practices and then also limit the freedom for independent thinkers and scientific research into examining the events around health disease, vaccines and medicine, then how are we going to become unbound, freed from the medically tyrant? Is it already too late?”
― Patricia Jordan, Mark of the Beast: Hidden in Plain Sight
We live in an interesting time where getting a vaccine is a little like winning the lottery. As I mentioned in a previous post, I received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine just before Christmas. I thought I would share what happened with my second dose yesterday.
I suppose an explanation is in order. Even though I have been retired from full time medical practice for over 3 years now, I still work a couple of ER shifts a month at a large hospital. Because of this part time job I was offered an early place in line to receive the vaccine and I jumped at it.
I have been dealing with vaccines in one way or another for my entire career. As an OB/Gyn I mostly advised patients on vaccines that are safe in pregnancy. Most are advisable and even encouraged. Some, like Human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine, Measles, mumps, and rubella, (MMR) vaccine, Live influenza vaccine (nasal flu vaccine), Varicella (chicken pox) vaccine and certain travel vaccines: yellow fever, typhoid fever, and Japanese encephalitis are not recommended.
If you are curious, the Covid vaccine use in pregnancy is uncertain at this time due to insufficient data. Most likely it is fine, but we don’t have enough information to recommend it to patients.
The vaccines, Moderna and Pfizer are unique. They are what are known as mRNA vaccines. This is a new concept.
Vaccines work by introduction into the body mimicking the pathogen you are trying to avoid, like the flu, but they do not actually cause the illness. Instead they cause the body’s immune system to develop antibodies, soldiers if you will, that protect you from the actual disease. So , when you are exposed to the pathogen, the body already has antibodies (soldiers) ready to combat the invader and you do not get sick.
Some vaccines, like polio, confer life long protection. Others, like the flu vaccine require regular updates due to mutations in the pathogen that make it hard for the antibodies to defeat it. At this time, we do not know if the Covid vaccine will need to be repeated
Traditionally, vaccines contain a weakened or inactivated pathogen or a piece of a protein from the virus called an antigen. These agents act to stimulate your immune system leading to protection.
The difficulty lies with this approach is that the weakened pathogens have to be grown in eggs or mammal cells. It takes a long time and there is a risk of contamination.
The new vaccines are made of RNA. RNA is what decodes your DNA, or genes, and makes proteins to do a myriad of actions that sustain life. These vaccines are encoded RNA that tell the cell to make the antigen, or piece of the antigen. This action in turn stimulates your immune system to make antibodies similar to traditional vaccines.
This new technique is a revolutionary idea and I would not be surprised if it leads to a Nobel Prize one day. With this technique, you can greatly reduce the time needed to make vaccines, there is less contamination, and you can scale it up to make millions of doses much faster. The difficulty with them is they require intense refrigeration so that makes distribution more difficult.
Due to the current political environment and the proliferation of disinformation there are plenty of myths about the Covid vaccine. Here are some with supporting documentation
(1). Myth: The vaccines aren’t safe because they were developed quickly. This is FALSE.
(2). Myth: The vaccines can lead to long-term effects. This is FALSE.
(3). Myth: You can get COVID-19 from the vaccines. This is FALSE.
(4). Myth: I’ve already had COVID-19, so I don’t need to get vaccinated. This is FALSE.
(5). Myth: People with underlying conditions shouldn’t get vaccinated. This is FALSE.
(6). Myth: The COVID-19 vaccines will alter your DNA. This is FALSE.
(7). Myth: If you get vaccinated, it could make you infertile. This is FALSE.
(8). Myth: Once I get vaccinated, I don’t have to wear masks or practice social distancing. This is FALSE.
Number 8 bothered me a bit. I already purchased a t shirt that said “Free hugs”
So yesterday morning I returned to the same clinic for my second dose. Neither injection hurt and I felt nothing after the first shot. I was warned after the second shot that I would likely have some side effects. These symptoms were the body’s way of telling me that the immune system was working.
For about 12 hours I felt nothing and continued working. Then, as the evening wore on I began to develop soreness at the injection site and some generalized body aches. I also developed a low grade headache. All of these symptoms were easily dealt with using ibuprofen and some rest. While the symptoms are transient you are mildly uncomfortable. So if you can time your second shot so that you can rest for awhile afterwards that would be ideal.
As I left work this morning and met with my replacement who would take over for me. He is a pleasant man some ten years or more older than me.
Since I was sore this morning, I asked him what his experience was like.
“Oh I refuse to take it.”
“Really?”, I said.
“I do not trust it. I don’t trust anything the government recommends and I don’t get vaccinated for anything”
I wanted to point out that every drug that he administers today had to be approved by the government. I wanted to point out he was a physician and has great influence over what patients decide. I wanted to point out he took an oath and has a duty to help patients with solid peer reviewed science.
He looked at me a moment.
I just shrugged.
“Have a good shift", I said, and left.
This pandemic is only going to end one of three ways.
The first and preferred method is 70-80% of the world gets vaccinated generating “Herd Immunity”. To do this we will have to work with authorities and each of us sacrifice for the greater good. Americans are very bad at such cooperation.
The second method is continued fitful isolation, lock downs, and random vaccine acceptance that will prolong the misery for months or years.
Or, we allow the virus to run rampant and go about our lives. When it has fed upon enough bodies it will run out of prey and hopefully die off. As of today two people die of Covid every minute in the United States. There is a lot of food left for the virus to feast upon.
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