Vaccine Safety Update

This is the sixth of the weekly round-ups of Covid vaccine safety reports and news compiled by a group of medical doctors who are monitoring developments but prefer to remain anonymous in the current climate (find the fifth one here). By no means is this part of an effort to generate alarm about the vaccines or dissuade anyone from getting inoculated. It should be read in conjunction with Lockdown Sceptics‘ other posts on vaccines, which include both encouraging and not so encouraging developments. At Lockdown Sceptics we report all news about the vaccines whether positive or negative and give no one advice about whether they should or should not take them. Unlike with lockdowns, we are neither pro-vaccine nor anti-vaccine; we see our job as to report the facts, not advocate for or against a particular policy. The vaccine technology is novel and the vaccines have not yet fully completed their trials, which is why they’re in use under temporary and not full market authorisation. This has been done on account of the emergency situation and the trial data was largely encouraging on both efficacy and safety. For a summary of that data, see this preamble to the Government’s page on the Yellow Card reporting system. (Dr Tess Lawrie recently wrote an open letter to Dr June Raine, head of the MHRA, arguing that: “The MHRA now has more than enough evidence on the Yellow Card system to declare the COVID-19 vaccines unsafe for use in humans“, a claim that has been “fact checked” here.) We publish information and opinion to inform public debate and help readers reach their own conclusions about what is best for them, based on the available data.

• Dr Robert Malone, the inventor of mRNA and DNA vaccine technology, has expressed concern about the safety profile of the current Covid vaccines and the censorship of discussing the issues, and called for them to be properly investigated as a matter of urgency. See also his appearance on Bret Weinstein’s podcast (deleted from YouTube) along with Steve Kirsch, who has written of his concerns about the vaccines here.
• The UKMFA has written an open letter objecting to a report on BBC Newsround (a children’s television news programme) by Professor Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, about vaccine efficacy and safety.
• Researchers at RCSI have published a study in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis in which they show that COVID-19 patients had higher levels of pro-clotting VWF molecules and lower levels of the anti-clotting ADAMTS13. This has yet to be applied to clots in vaccinated patients but may have implications.
• A study in the British Journal of Ophthalmology noted the occurrence of corneal transplant rejection after vaccination with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.  
• In Public Health England’s latest Variants of Concern Technical Briefing, the fully vaccinated have a 0.64% chance of death after testing positive for the Delta Variant whereas unvaccinated individuals have a 0.096% chance of death – a seventh of the risk. However, this is likely to be primarily a result of the much younger age profile of the unvaccinated.
• Dr. Diego Rubinowicz, a Urologist in Palm Beach County Hospital, has observed increased PSA levels in vaccinated men, leading to possible misdiagnosis of prostate cancers.
• EudraVigilance – the equivalent of the Yellow Card reporting system in the EU – has logged reports claiming 15,472 people have died and 1,654,407 have suffered injuries following receipt of the Covid vaccines in the EU.
• VAERS – the American version of the Yellow Card reporting system – released new data on June 11th bringing the total to 358,379 reports of adverse events following Covid vaccines, including 5,993 deaths and 29,871 serious injuries between December 14th 2020 and June 11th 2021.
• Suspected adverse events in the U.K. as reported in the media: Vanessa Newton (45); Lucy Taberer (47); Sophia Gomes (43).

Summary of Adverse Events UK

According to an updated report published on June 17th (covering the period up to June 9th), the MHRA Yellow Card reporting system has recorded a total of 949,287 events, based on 276,867 reports. The total number of fatalities reported is 1,332.

• Pfizer (15.6 million first doses, 10.8 million second doses) now has one Yellow Card in 372 doses, 2.9 adverse reactions (i.e., symptoms) per card. 
• AstraZeneca (24.6 million first doses, 17.7 million second doses) has one Yellow Card in 211 doses, 3.6 adverse reactions per card.
• Moderna (0.56 million first doses) has one Yellow Card in 130 doses, 2.8 adverse reactions per card.

Key events analysis:

• Acute Cardiac Events = 10,370
• Anaphylaxis = 1,130
• Herpes  = 3,276
• Headaches = 95,316
• Migraine = 8,803
• Blindness – 46 (Pfizer) + 229 (AZ) + 1 (Moderna) + 3 (Unknown) = 279 
• Spontaneous Abortions = 201 + 10 (still birth)
• Vomiting = 13,102
• Facial Paralysis incl. Bell’s Palsy = 1,157
• Face Swelling = 1,439
• Disturbances in Consciousness = 12,726
• Strokes and CNS haemorrhages = 2,006
• Guillain Barre Syndrome = 336
• Dizziness = 28,349
• Tremor = 10,180
• Thrombosis & Embolism (All types) = 5,146
• Pulmonary Embolism – 246 (Pfizer), 1236 (AZ), 3 (Moderna), 5 (Unknown)
• Deep Vein Thrombosis – 156 (Pfizer), 928 (AZ), 1 (Moderna), 6 (Unknown)
• Nosebleeds = 2,455
• Seizures = 2,214
• Paralysis = 804
• Haemorrhage (All types) = 4,229
• Reproductive/Breast = 10,931