FSSPX.News: Practical Considerations on Vaccination Against COVID-19 - Part 3 - Vaccine Decision Factors Safety and Efficacy (Summary)

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JMJ

 

In part 1 of this series (link)  I mentioned that we need to consider 3 factors in considering a vaccine. 

The first and most important is the morality. The second is the safety.

In Canada we have a couple of resources to assess the 'adverse reactions' from a vaccine.

At the high level we have a chart that shows the relative number of adverse reactions to the vaccines available in Canada (link). 

From a serious vs non-serious adverse reaction, the graph is self explanatory. What is not apparent is that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines not only have fewer adverse events but they are also 'less' tainted.

To put this in context, there have been 4675 reported adverse events (aka reactions) our of 56,151,862 administered doses.  Which means about 8 adverse reactions per 100,000 shots in the arm.

Looking at the Canada vigilance adverse reaction online database (link A) / (Search Page link B) I found that:

There is a lag in the data, Vigilance has data up to June, whereas the table above is current.  

That said, the database provides more information on what happened in adverse events and shows that 42 people have died whose deaths are related to a vaccine. 

Here's a key point, we know people that have witnessed adverse reactions that contributed to the death of at least one person.  However, we haven't. In our town's care home all the residents were vaccinated and no one had an adverse reaction.  

So which perspective is right?  The answer is neither because our experience is too small.  That's why we need to step back and look at the bigger picture in the data of all adverse reactions.

So the number, like Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Universe, is 42.  Yes there are other adverse reactions, but comparing the adverse reactions to catching covid versus getting a vaccine. The risk analysis would be 0.008% chance of a serious adverse reaction compared with the 1% chance of catching COVID and dying.

This doesn't even take into account the hospitalization rate etc.

So from safety point of view, the vaccines meet my threshold of concern and offer a counter balance to the risk of catching and dying of COVID-19.  

I am drafting a more detailed analysis in part 4 where I'll delve into why I am comfortable using the publicly available data to make the assessment. 

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But for now this quick assessment gives you an idea of my 'first pass' risk assessment and hints to how I selected the vaccine that I wanted to take.

P^3