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COVID Vaccine Under New Scrutiny After Studies Reveal Possible Health Risks
Two large studies have put a spotlight on potential health risks of the COVID-19 vaccine — but some experts urge caution when interpreting the findings. Recent research has linked the vaccine to a higher risk of kidney injury, as well as certain respiratory infections. A Korean study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases looked at how infectious diseases changed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the impact of vaccines.
“While influenza-like illness dropped sharply during the early pandemic, upper respiratory infections and the common cold surged in 2023 and 2024, far above expected levels,” lead study author Jihun Song, Ph.D., from the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the Korea University College of Medicine, told Fox News Digital.
“Most strikingly, pertussis increased more than 40-fold compared to historical trends.”
“The key message is that respiratory infections in Korea dramatically shifted after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the patterns differ by disease.”
When the researchers looked at the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine, they found that people who received four or more doses were less likely to get flu-like illnesses and whooping cough, but more likely to get common colds and other mild respiratory infections.
Experimental mRNA Flu Vaccine Is More Effective Than Conventional Flu Shot, but Causes More Side Effects
Recent mutations in circulating influenza viruses could make flu shots less effective this year, leading to an especially brutal flu season. It’s not a new problem. Flu viruses are infamous for their ability to evolve quickly and without warning, creating a mismatch between the shots already on the market and the viral strains spreading from person to person. Over the past 15 years, the effectiveness of seasonal flu vaccines has ranged from 19% to 60%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One of the most promising vaccine technologies uses modified mRNA, a platform that allowed manufacturers to rapidly produce hundreds of millions of COVID-19 shots during the pandemic. Hanage said a safe and effective flu shot made with mRNA could be a game changer, allowing manufacturers to quickly respond to genetic mutations in circulating viruses.
The experimental mRNA vaccine prevented 60% to 67% of flu infections, while the conventional vaccine prevented 44% to 54% of infections, said Kelly Lindert, MD, vice president of clinical research and development at Pfizer and senior author of the new study.
Authors of the study, which was funded by Pfizer, tested the experimental mRNA vaccine in more than 18,000 adults age 18 to 64 during the 2022-2023 flu season.
Mild to moderate side effects were much more common in those who received the mRNA shot, however.
Surveys Find Strong Confidence in Childhood Vaccines but Deepening Partisan Divides; Most Adults Reject COVID Shot
A pair of new Pew Research Center surveys finds that while nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults view childhood vaccines as effective, confidence in their safety and in vaccine policy is increasingly shaped by political affiliation. At the same time, changes to federal COVID-19 vaccine recommendations appear to have had little impact on willingness to receive an updated shot.
In a nationally representative survey of more than 5,100 adults, 63% say they are extremely or very confident that routine childhood vaccines are effective at preventing serious illness. But confidence dropped when respondents were asked about childhood vaccine safety and schedules: only 53% feel confident that vaccines have undergone enough safety testing, and 51% believe vaccine schedules are safe.
Conversely, roughly one in five respondents are not too or not at all confident in either safety issue. These doubts are concentrated among Republicans, who are almost evenly split between high and low confidence in vaccine safety measures.
New Documentary Exposes Deadly Link Between Psychiatric Drugs and Violence
Galveston County Daily News reported:
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) announces the release of its uncompromising new documentary, “ Prescription for Violence: Psychiatry’s Deadly Side Effects.” The two-hour exposé reveals alarming evidence connecting the rising tide of mass shootings, suicides and violent crimes with the widespread use of psychiatric drugs.
In a society where one in four Americans is currently taking psychiatric drugs — many without fully understanding the potentially lethal side effects — this groundbreaking documentary uncovers a crisis of national and global proportions. Among the side effects listed by drug manufacturers are mania, hostility, aggression, homicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Yet, the correlation between psychiatric drug use and violent behavior has been ignored for far too long.
“Psychiatrists have a drug problem,” says Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida, who is featured in the documentary. “In 86 percent of psychiatric office visits, prescriptions for psychotropic drugs like Prozac, Seroquel and Xanax are written.”
Two S.F. Telehealth Execs Convicted of Fraud in ADHD Med Distribution Scheme
The San Francisco Chronicle reported:
Two San Francisco telehealth company executives have been convicted of felony charges for what prosecutors described as a $100 million scheme to distribute Adderall and other stimulants over the internet for no legitimate medical purpose. After a week-long trial, Ruthia He, CEO of Done Global, and David Brody, a physician who was the company’s clinical president, were found guilty Tuesday by a federal jury in San Francisco of six charges of illegal drug distribution and defrauding their customers, and He was also convicted of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Justice Department officials said it was the first federal prosecution against leaders of one of the digital health companies that prospered during the COVID-19 pandemic after the government eased its restrictions on telehealth.
Prosecutors said Done Health obtained prescriptions for more than 40 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants, and that He and Brody approved tens of millions of dollars in deceptive social media ads.
Over 8 Million Children in Afghanistan Reached as the Second Phase of the Measles Campaign Concludes
The World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in collaboration with the National Expanded Programme on Immunization in Afghanistan, have successfully concluded the second phase of a nationwide measles vaccination campaign. The 10-day second phase, which started on Oct. 29, reached 8,355,446 children aged six months to 10 years with one dose of the measles vaccine across 17 hot-weather provinces, achieving 91.7% coverage of the more than 9 million children targeted.
In addition, 3,953,961 children aged 0 to 10 years received one dose of bivalent oral polio vaccine across 5 provinces in the south and one province in the southeast. Building on the first phase of the nationwide measles campaign — completed in October this year after reaching 8.3 million children across 17 cold-climate provinces — Afghanistan is advancing efforts to ensure immunization of all children.
The campaign was launched in response to continued measles outbreaks and low routine immunization coverage. The Afghanistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2022–2023 found that only 51% of children had received their first measles dose, and just 37% their second dose. The successful rollout of the campaign has helped close these critical immunity gaps, laying the foundations for identifying missed children and strengthening routine vaccination as the country works towards measles control.
