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U.S. Military ‘Revises’ Post-Vax Myocarditis Stats Lower
The U.S. Department of Defense has revised its figures related to heart inflammation cases following COVID-19 vaccination. This change marks yet another instance in the military‘s ongoing efforts to navigate the complex landscape of vaccine side effects.
Ashish Vazirani, the acting under-secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, cited an Oct. 11 report which says that the number of myocarditis and pericarditis cases post-vaccination among military personnel is now estimated between 80 and 90. This contrasts sharply with the previous count of 120 cases within 21 days of vaccination, a number that also excluded additional cases occurring beyond this time frame. The Pentagon’s silence in response to inquiries adds an air of mystery to this sudden recalibration.
This revision emerges as the latest in a series of actions perceived as downplaying the vaccine’s side effects. In 2021, amidst data indicating diminishing vaccine efficacy, the military continued to mandate vaccination for all members, regardless of their recovery from COVID-19 or the emerging evidence suggesting the superiority of natural immunity over vaccination. This mandate was only recently lifted under new legislation signed by President Joe Biden.
The recent disclosure by Vazirani in a letter to Senator Ron Johnson further complicates matters. He highlights the challenge of reporting precise adverse event numbers due to the complexities of establishing a direct causal link between vaccination and clinical diagnoses. This statement contradicts an earlier report to Representative Mike Rogers, which cited 326 cases of myocarditis, 351 cases of pericarditis, and 353 heart attacks among military personnel. These numbers, derived from the Defense Medical Surveillance System and the Theater Medical Data Store, reveal a stark discrepancy in reported figures.
Vaccine Fatigue at Work: Only 8% of Iowa Nursing Home Workers Have Up-to-Date COVID Shots
COVID-19 vaccination rates among Iowa’s nursing homes are significantly lagging this year, highlighting the toll that vaccine fatigue is taking on front-line healthcare workers as the respiratory virus season nears.
Only 8% of nursing home staff statewide are up to date on their coronavirus shots as of Nov. 26, the latest data available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And only 45% of Iowa’s nursing home residents are up to date on COVID-19 vaccines, according to the CDC. While that’s better than the national average of 27%, it still trails rates from previous years.
“That all ties into what we call vaccine fatigue,” said Madisun VanGundy, public health communications officer at the Polk County Health Department. “People are tired of hearing about COVID. They want to get back to their lives and forget it happened.”
Veteran Big Pharma Chief Lashes Out at Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk’s Drug Ad Criticism on X
Former Fox News frontman Tucker Carlson, ousted from his prominent ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ segment on Fox News this year, has transitioned to hosting a new video series on X while maintaining the same format. Employing his renowned acerbic presenting style, he strongly criticized pharmaceutical drug ads.
During his tenure at Fox, Carlson voiced criticism towards figures such as Anthony Fauci, M.D., the outgoing director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and chief medical adviser to the president. He also questioned the necessity of wearing face masks during the pandemic, probed the origins of COVID, and expressed skepticism about the need for lockdowns.
Carlson, when asked about whether advertisers had influenced Fox in general, said advertisers “are the bogeyman […] especially pharma, which is the biggest advertiser in television.” He said: “If Pfizer [which markets COVID vaccines and drugs] is sponsoring your show, you’re not going to question the vax, it’s that simple,” adding that their size and money helps “shape the news coverage.”
Elon Musk, the recent owner of X and a consistent promoter of Carlson’s X series in recent months, posted on his account in response to the latest video: “Well said.” Brent Saunders, former Allergan CEO before its acquisition by AbbVie and current chief and chairman of Bausch and Lomb, countered Musk and Carlson on X.
Rare Syndrome After COVID Vaccines Described — ‘Long Vax’ Events Often Include Neurologic Symptoms
People who experienced rare long-term adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination often had neurologic symptoms, survey data showed.
Among 241 people who self-reported a post-vaccination syndrome (PVS), the five most common symptoms were exercise intolerance (71%), excessive fatigue (69%), numbness (63%), brain fog (63%), and neuropathy (63%), reported Harlan Krumholz, MD, of Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and co-authors in a paper posted on the preprint server medRxiv. The paper has not been peer-reviewed.
“The study is the largest investigation of the experience of people reporting a chronic, debilitating condition that began soon after a COVID-19 vaccination,” Krumholz told MedPage Today.
“It raises awareness about what these individuals are experiencing and points attention to the need for more studies to understand what is underlying this condition and how to relieve suffering,” he continued. “These people are not anti-vaxxers — they were all vaccinated — but because of politics, many have had the experience of being dismissed and ignored.”
Ongoing symptoms after COVID vaccines are rarely studied. “Even the definition of post-vaccination syndrome is in flux, but a working definition could be symptoms that begin with a week of a vaccination and persist for at least 2 months,” Krumholz said.
Pfizer Sues Hungary as Pandemic Court Cases Mount
A court document obtained by POLITICO shows that Pfizer, together with its partner BioNTech, opened legal proceedings against the Hungarian government in January this year over COVID-19 vaccine deliveries.
A spokesperson for Pfizer confirmed the case, which is unfolding in a Belgian court. “Discussions with the government in Budapest continue,” they added.
The document shows that the case concerns payment for 3 million BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine doses, worth around €60 million. The dispute began when Hungary notified Pfizer in November 2022 that it did not intend to pay the pharmaceutical company, citing the conflict in Ukraine.
Pfizer’s suit against Hungary parallels one the pharmaceutical company opened against Poland. In both instances, the countries are being sued in civil court over their refusal to take and pay for deliveries of COVID-19 jabs they had signed up for. The two cases add to a growing body of legal proceedings related to the EU’s pandemic-era vaccine procurement efforts.
Small Study Finds Brain Alterations After COVID Omicron Infection
Researchers in China report thinning of the gray matter and other changes in certain parts of the brain in 61 men after COVID-19 Omicron infection.
For the study, published late last week in JAMA Network Open, the researchers evaluated 61 men before and after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in January 2023. The men had been part of a larger cohort who had undergone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychiatric screenings before infection in August and September 2022. The average age was 43 years.
In certain regions of the brain, gray-matter thickness had thinned, and the ratio of right hippocampus volume to total intracranial volume was significantly reduced after infection. Gray-matter thinness was negatively correlated with anxiety scores, and the ratio of the right hippocampus to total intracranial volume was positively correlated with Word Fluency Test scores.
The results, they said, shine a light on the emotional and cognitive mechanisms of Omicron infection, show its link to nervous system alterations, and confirm that imaging can enable early detection and treatment of neurologic complications.
Young Adults More Prone to Anxiety, Depression During COVID Than Older Adults, Data Show
The findings of a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open suggest that more than a third of young U.S. adults had anxiety or depression during the COVID-19 pandemic, and economic and social uncertainty may have played a role.
Their analysis included 3,028,923 respondents. The investigators found likely anxiety disorders in 40% of adults 18 to 39, compared with 31% in those 40 to 59 and 20% in people 60 and older. They noted likely depressive disorders in 33% of the young adults, 24% of those 40 to 59, and just 16% in the oldest group.
They noted, “Levels declined throughout the pandemic period for those aged 40 years and older but remained elevated for younger adults …. Younger adults’ anxiety and depression increased more than older adults’ after surges in COVID-19 case counts but decreased less following vaccination against the virus.”
Study Finds Sharp Drop in FDA Inspections Since Pandemic Began
Food and Drug Administration inspections of drug manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and abroad dropped well below pre-pandemic levels between 2020 and 2022, according to a new study in Health Affairs.
Why it matters: The findings are further evidence of a fragile global drug supply chain at a time when some critical medicines are in short supply. Some of the squeeze was due to inspections that took overseas facilities offline because of safety concerns.
Between the lines: The FDA early in the pandemic said it would curtail many of its inspections, but work picked back up by July 2020. However, the agency didn’t resume nonprioritized domestic inspections and non-mission-critical foreign inspections until last year, the authors write.
By the numbers: The study found a 79% decrease in inspections of foreign facilities and a 35% drop in inspections of domestic facilities in 2022 compared to 2019.
