Vaccine Safety Update

This is the fourth 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 third 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. 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.

A new study from the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice on adverse events among Japanese women receiving the Pfizer vaccine (known in the study as tozinameran), in particular cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and intracranial haemorrhage (ICH), finds a “disproportionately high incidence of death by ICH in Japanese women who received tozinameran, suggesting a potential association of ICH with the vaccine”.
Dr Andreas Greinacher, Head of the Institute of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine at University Hospital Greifswald in Germany, has proposed a mechanism to explain the blood clotting adverse events connected with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Scottish physician Dr Malcolm Kendrick has published an article exploring the connection between the spike protein in SARS-CoV-2 and blood clotting. The UK Medical Freedom Alliance has produced a document looking into the relationship between the spike protein, cellular fusion and tissue damage.
The Sun highlights the emerging link between the Pfizer vaccine and heart condition symptoms, advising people on five key symptoms to look out for post-vaccination.
The journal Paediatrics has an article entitled “Symptomatic Acute Myocarditis in Seven Adolescents Following Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccination“.
The MHRA has cleared the use of the Pfizer vaccine for 12-15 year-olds in the UK. The regulator says the benefits outweigh the risks, though its analysis supporting this is awaited. In the U.S., the FDA has released its guidance on using the Pfizer vaccine in this age group. There is a petition on the Parliament website asking the U.K. Government to stop Covid vaccination in children for reasons discussed by HART’s Dr Ros Jones on the TalkRadio Mark Dolan Show (1hr 10 mins). Further petitions started this week: “Reform the VDPA 1979 to improve support for those harmed by COVID-19 vaccines“; “Do not mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for British soldiers under 25“.
Dr Byram Bridle, a Viral Immunologist and Associate Professor at the University of Guelph, Ontario has drawn attention to the findings of a Japanese study on the biodistribution of the Pfizer vaccine in the body, highlighting the presence of the spike protein in several organs, including the brain, liver and ovaries. (More information on this here.)
International Vaccine Injury Awareness Day was marked on June 3rd with a peaceful vigil in London (close to BBC Broadcasting House) remembering the victims of all vaccine injury, including those damaged by COVID-19 vaccinations.
VAERS – the American version of the Yellow Card reporting system – released new data on June 4th bringing the total to 294,801 reports of adverse events following Covid vaccines, including 5,165 deaths and 25,359 serious injuries between December 14th 2020 and May 28th 2021.
Suspected adverse events in the U.K. as reported in the media: Tanya Smith (43).

Summary of Adverse Events UK

According to an updated report published on June 3rd (covering the period up to May 26th), the MHRA Yellow Card reporting system has recorded a total of 888,196 events, based on 256,224 reports. The total number of fatalities reported is 1,253.

Pfizer (14 million first doses, 10.6 million second doses) now has one Yellow Card in 382 doses, 2.9 adverse reactions (i.e., symptoms) per card, one fatal reaction in 62,121 doses.
AstraZeneca (24.3 million first doses, 13.4 million second doses) has one Yellow Card in 200 doses, 3.7 adverse reactions per card, one fatal reaction in 45,637 doses.
Moderna (0.4 million first doses) has one Yellow Card in 162 doses, 2.8 adverse reactions per card, one fatal reaction in 100,000 doses.

Key events analysis: