Oregon, Washington and Nevada joined California’s COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup in October, which has worked concurrently and independently to review the FDA’s actions related to COVID-19 vaccinations. The Workgroup completed their concurrent and thorough review of the federal process and has confirmed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective. The Workgroup panel is made up of nationally acclaimed scientists with expertise in immunization and public health. It has been pointed out that the workgroup is more political than scientific -- a way for governors of blue states to show their distrust of the Trump administration.

“With recommendations from the FDA, CDC, and, now, the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, Oregonians can rest assured that some of the best doctors, scientists, and immunologists in the world have reviewed the data and affirmed that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is safe and effective,” said Governor Kate Brown. “We will work as quickly as possible to deliver vaccines to the public, starting with frontline health care workers and those who have been hardest hit by COVID-19. Please keep doing your part to keep your family and loved ones safe—wear a mask, stay home when you are sick, and avoid gatherings. Together, we can do this. Hope is on the way.”

With a 95% effective rate for the vaccine and a 99.9% survival rate, the public has a choice.

There is a lot of concern regarding the content of the vaccine. Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use synthetic ingredients (mRNA) that contains information about the coronavirus’s signature spike protein. It is not a proven technology, but said not to alter human DNA in any way. Still, with all this extra review, the public still does not know the full content of the vaccine. MIT Technology Review asked experts. There are the obvious ingredients, but concluded that Pfizer is holding back a little. “The spike gene sequence can be tweaked in small ways for better performance, by means that include swapping letters. We don’t think Pfizer has said exactly what sequence it is using, or what modified nucleosides. That means the content of the shot may not be 100% public.” At the end of the day, Pfizer flat-out says, “no microchips.”

So what should we expect? CDC website states in its COVID-19 information page that they don’t know how long immunity will last from a vaccine. “It’s conceivable that the vaccines provide long-lasting protection, or fade away in under a year and require a booster.”

The Pfizer vaccine should be a choice, but is this announcement more to do with a catastrophic disaster special session to put its mark on every Oregonian?


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2020-12-14 08:38:31

Last Update: 2020-12-14 22:15:52