It has been a few weeks since both the Pfizer and the ModernaTX vaccine have been released. As of December 31, 2020, according to the Department of Health and Human Service’s vaccine adverse reporting system, there have been 16,054 adverse events from the Covid-19 vaccinations in the United States (to access this data you need to be login.
Some of the most serious and common side effects listed are:
- 10 reported deaths
- 841 headaches
- 557 cases of nausea
- 511 cases of chills
- 464 cases of pyrexia
- 472 cases of paraesthesia
- 397 rashes
- 233 cases of chest pain and discomfort
- 212 cases of palpitations
- 2,014 cases of tachycardia
- 151 cases of vomiting
- 167 cases of urticaria
- 253 cases of throat irritation
- 86 cases of tremors
- 107 “unevaluable events”
There are hundreds of other side effects listed including 2 autoimmune disorders. However, it is difficult to assess how accurate these numbers are or if they are related to the vaccine. VAERS allows anyone who has been vaccinated to submit a report. However, rather than there being an overflow of reports, injuries are vastly under-reported. If you read my post about vaccine liability you know that a CDC commissioned study by Harvard Pilgram found that less than one percent of adverse events are ever reported.
The COVID-19 Vaccine Reporting
It seems that this vaccine is following a similar route. Although there appears to be a significant increase in reporting on adverse events than there has been with other vaccines, adverse events are still being under-reported. According to the CDC’s first report on COVID-19 surveillance and anaphylactic reactions noted that a substantial number of adverse reactions had not been reported and it appears that less than 40% of people are taking a reporting survey after vaccination.
From this same report, we do know that as of December 18, 2020, at least 3,150 of these events were significant enough that people could not work or perform regular daily tasks or duties. Now that we are midway through January, it is very likely, (judging by the jump in the numbers per day), that number has more than quadrupled.
However, because of the lack of reporting it is impossible to know the exact number or the real impact adverse events are having on those who are vaccinated.
Understanding Adverse Events on a Deeper Level
Although we don’t know the full impact of adverse events, we have recently gotten further light into the scale of adverse reactions from one of the CDC’s top scientists. Due to a recent lawsuit, the CDC was required to reveal all of Dr. Frank DeStefano’s emails concerning vaccine surveillance.
During the course of the lawsuit, we learned many things about how the CDC operates. The CDC originally fought to keep these emails out of sight claiming that any emails including pharmaceutical companies were protected under a “deliberative process” privilege. In other words, the CDC is claiming that it wouldn’t have to give up the emails because these pharmaceutical companies are helping in the CDC’s decision-making process; meaning pharmaceutical companies have sway over the CDC’s decisions.
The CDC is supposed to be helping to regulate these pharmaceutical products. Why are these same companies then helping in, “the decision-making process of government agencies?” According to the judge presiding over these proceedings, they should not be. After the lawsuit was filed the CDC was forced to capitulate and send ICAN, (the organization who filed the lawsuit), Dr. DeStefano’s emails.
Revelations in Dr. DeStefano’s Emails
So, what do we find in Dr. DeStefano’s emails and what does it have to do with vaccine adverse events?
Among many interesting emails, (all of which you can find here), there were two that are of particular interest when talking about surveying adverse reactions of vaccines.
A working draft called, “Manual for Active Vaccine Safety Surveillance,” says this,
“The introduction of additional safety surveillance (including active safety surveillance) could potentially lead to negative impact on the public’s confidence in the vaccines and the willingness to participate in vaccination programs.”
From this we learn that with the increase in reporting people may understand that vaccine reactions do happen, more so than we realized, leading to a negative perception and less uptake. It is obvious that the CDC and pharmaceutical companies are aware that there is more injury than is currently being reported. However, statements on vaccine reaction still quote the old adage of “one in a million.”
The second email gives us context about how many more than one in a million injuries there are. Speaking about ‘adverse events following immunization’ (AEFI) the email states,
“Although extensive efforts were initiated to actively find cases of AEFI in multiple settings, underreporting remained a major limitation (e.g., more than 38,000 deaths within one month of vaccination would be expected in the eight countries; however, only 33 deaths were reported.”
The number of deaths is shocking in itself. We must acknowledge that these deaths may not necessarily be due to vaccination. However, the entire point of this email is adverse events following immunizations. It is apparent even if not all 38,000 deaths are due strictly to vaccination the CDC is convinced that many more than 33 deaths should be occurring due to vaccines.
How does this apply to COVID-19 Adverse Events?
After looking over the numbers and gaining more insight into CDC surveillance systems we have to ask ourselves what we should expect with COVID-19 vaccine reactions.
The biggest thing we should expect is that the numbers reported will be substantially smaller than the actual numbers of adverse reactions. The other thing we can expect, from experience, is that our regulatory agencies will not be transparent with us. Therefore, we must demand transparency if we want to get the full picture– truly informed consent.
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