Coronavirus Vaccine Myths Shattered by Consultants

Jane Lee MD winces when she gets a Covid-19 shot in Weymouth, Massachusetts.

MediaNews Group / Boston Herald via Getty Images | MediaNews Group | Getty Images

Vaccine skepticism and the total anti-vaccination mood have been widespread in recent months. More and more members of the public are questioning not only the effectiveness of vaccines, but also their development practices, safety standards, and goals.

The rapid development of coronavirus vaccines over the past year, a pressing matter in the face of the destruction of lives and livelihoods caused by the global pandemic, has made them a prime target for hesitation and myth.

However, disinformation and misinformation that cast doubt on safety and effectiveness can put lives at risk.

The World Health Organization said vaccine reluctance was among the top ten global health threats in 2019. Vaccination “prevents 2-3 million deaths a year, and an additional 1.5 million could be avoided if global vaccination coverage were improved.”

When it comes to Covid-19 vaccines, experts and public health officials say it is critical to commit misinformation (incorrect or inaccurate information) and the more nefarious disinformation (i.e. incorrect information intended to mislead people) about the shocks currently being used fight .

Myth: Covid-19 vaccines are unsafe because they were developed too quickly

Fact: The coronavirus vaccines currently in use have been subjected to rigorous and rigorous clinical trials after initial animal testing, involving thousands of human participants.

The vaccine manufacturers insisted that no corners were cut, and the test results showed that the vaccines are safe and effective. Prior to approval for use, vaccine trial data – such as those from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca University – have been rigorously scrutinized by regulatory agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and the UK’s drug regulatory agency and health products.

In late-stage clinical trials, both Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were found to be 95% and 94.1% effective, respectively, at preventing severe Covid-19 infection. The vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca had an average effectiveness of 70%.

When the UK became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine in early December, Dr. June Raine, UK MHRA chief executive officer, said there had been no compromise on approval, saying experts worked “around the clock” carefully and methodically observing tables, analysis and graphs for each individual element of data. ”

MHRA scientists and clinicians performed an “ongoing review” of data provided during clinical trials to expedite vaccine evaluation and approval. This is critical, the MHRA said in view of the public health emergency.

Chinese healthcare workers and volunteers wear protective clothing when registering people to be given a Covid-19 vaccination sting at a mass vaccination center for the Chaoyang District in Beijing, China, Jan. 15, 2021.

Kevin Frayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Myth: Coronavirus vaccines change DNA

Fact: The coronavirus vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna contain messenger RNA (or mRNA), which instructs our cells how to make a protein that triggers an immune response. This will boost immunity to the virus that causes Covid-19.

The mRNA (i.e., the instructions) from a Covid-19 vaccine never makes it into the nucleus where our DNA is stored, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“This means that the mRNA cannot affect or interact with our DNA in any way. Instead, Covid-19 mRNA vaccines work with the body’s natural defense mechanisms to develop safe immunity against disease.” In addition, immune cells are broken down and the mRNA is removed soon after the instructions are completed. Further information on the CDC can be found here.

Myth: Coronavirus vaccines affect fertility

Fact: Some women fear that the coronavirus vaccine could affect their fertility and there has been a lot of misinformation about it online. In fact, Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Royal College of Midwives issued a statement on Tuesday on Covid-19 vaccinations, fertility and pregnancy.

In it, Dr. Edward Morris, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: “We want to reassure women that there is no evidence that Covid-19 vaccines affect fertility. Claims of effects of Covid-19 vaccines against fertility are and will be speculative not supported by any data. “

He continued, “There is no biologically plausible mechanism by which current vaccines could affect fertility in women. No evidence has been presented that vaccinated women continue to have fertility problems.”

A woman is vaccinated with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.

KONTROLAB | LightRocket | Getty Images

Myth: The vaccine is unsafe for me because I am pregnant

Fact: The truth is that there is limited data on the safety of Covid-19 vaccines for pregnant people, according to the CDC on its website.

Of the data available from animal studies, “no safety concerns have been demonstrated in rats given Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before or during pregnancy; studies of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine are ongoing,” the CDC said.

Studies in pregnant people are planned, and both vaccine manufacturers are monitoring people who have become pregnant in the clinical studies.

In the UK, where AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are currently in use, the government states: “The vaccines have not yet been tested in pregnancy. Until further information is available, pregnant women should not routinely receive this vaccine.”

However, the government notes that evidence from non-clinical studies of both Pfizer-BioNTech and University of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines has been reviewed by WHO and regulators around the world and has “no concerns” about safety in pregnancy have expressed.

The UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, which advises the government on its vaccination strategy, “recognizes that the potential benefits of vaccination are particularly important for some pregnant women”, including those at very high risk of infection or those with clinical infection Conditions that are at high risk of serious complications from Covid-19. In these cases, the government recommends that women discuss possible vaccinations with their doctor.

Traders work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

NYSE

Myth: If you’ve had the vaccine, you don’t have to wear a mask

Fact: Even if you are immunized against Covid-19, it is possible that you still pass the virus on to others. We still don’t know how vaccination against Covid-19 will affect transmission, and until we do – and although many people are not vaccinated – people will be told to follow social distancing guidelines to wear masks and washing hands to prevent the possible transmission of the virus.

Myth: I don’t need the vaccine because I already had Covid-19

A trained nurse takes care of a Covid-19 patient in the intensive care unit at St. Mary Medical Center in Providence, St. Mary, in Apple Valley, California on January 11, 2021.

Ariana Drehsler | AFP | Getty Images

Myth: You can get Covid-19 from the vaccine

Fact: You cannot get Covid-19 from the Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna coronavirus vaccines as they do not contain a live virus. Meanwhile, Oxford University’s Vaccine Knowledge Project explains that the active ingredient in the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine “is made from a modified adenovirus that causes colds in chimpanzees. This virus has been modified so that it cannot cause infection. It is used to provide the genetic code for the coronavirus spike protein. “

USA stay a member of the WHO and be part of the Covid vaccination plan

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

Patrick Semansky | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The US will remain a member of the World Health Organization under President Joe Biden, said Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday and intends to join a global alliance that aims to deliver coronavirus vaccines to low-income countries.

One day after Biden took office, US Chief Medical Officer Fauci spoke to the WHO Executive Board via videoconference from Washington: “President Biden will later today issue a directive stating the United States’ intention to join COVAX and support ACT. ” – Accelerators to advance multilateral efforts for Covid-19 vaccine distribution, therapeutic and diagnostic distribution, equitable access, and research and development. “

The US will remain a member of WHO, the United Nations health agency, and “meet its financial commitments,” said Fauci. He added that Biden’s government plans to work with the other 193 member states to help reform the group.

“This is a good day for WHO and a good day for global health,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“We’re all happy that the United States is staying with the family,” Tedros said on Twitter.

WHO delegates “warmly” welcomed the decision, and many underlined their appreciation that the new government would now attempt to reunite with the international aid group in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Fauci, America’s foremost infectious disease expert, accepted Biden’s offer to join his administration and serve as chief medical officer last month. He will lead a US delegation to WHO’s annual meetings during the week.

Cory Booker provides a shadow to his Inauguration Day put up with girlfriend Rosario Dawson

Roommates, when inauguration day finally came, many were in very small condition as they said goodbye to Donald Trump – and that included Senator Cory Booker. Along with his girlfriend Rosario Dawson, Cory Booker hugged his little side with a post filled with perfectly matched shadow towards Trump.

Cory Booker is generally known to be fairly even-tempered and professional, but he ended up flying his little flag on an Instagram post during the housewarming ceremony. In the photo, he and longtime girlfriend Rosario Dawson were in matching masks and coats.

It was the brutally funny caption, however, that was the cherry on the cake on a shadowy day of bumps at Trump’s expense. Its headline read: “It was very cold today. It was -45. “

If you caught this shadow as quickly as we did, you must have laughed. It’s no secret that Cory Booker along with several other Senate members were not fans of Trump at all during his tenure – so the shadow was expected.

Cory and Rosario were clearly enjoying the festivities as they repeatedly smiled and waved to the crowds as they took their seats at the limited-size ceremony.

The couple also wore matching masks from Dawson’s company, Studio 189. In November, the 41-year-old actress shared a black and white photo of the couple on Instagram congratulating 51-year-old Cory Booker on defending his seat as Senator from New Jersey.

“So proud and grateful for you, my love. I have to vote for you here in New Jersey and I am so glad that you overwhelmingly and rightly won your seat again. Knowing that your guidance will continue to lead us with love, brilliance, patience, grace, and effectiveness is the kind of representation and hope we need. “

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Gritstone Oncology shares hit triple digits after the NIH endorsed the vaccine examine

Shares of a small cancer drug maker quadrupled this week after the company got help from a branch of the National Institutes of Health to begin testing a potential coronavirus vaccine that could fight coronavirus mutations found around the world.

Gritstone Oncology’s stock rose nearly 300% in the last two trading sessions after it was revealed the company has entered into a clinical trial agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to test what the company calls the second vaccine Generation that could protect against Covid-19 spike mutants.

Andrew Allen, CEO of Gritstone, appeared on CNBC Wednesday to discuss the developments and to tell Jim Cramer that scientists were using their oncology research to develop the solution.

“It’s a very natural extension of what we’ve done,” Allen told Mad Money. “At some level we hoped it would never be necessary [for coronavirus], but … we’re seeing some resistant variants now, so we may need alternative approaches like ours. “

Gritstone also received support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help with preclinical evaluations of the potential coronavirus vaccine. The biotech company, which was founded five years ago and is based in Emeryville, California, has developed a solution that enables the immune system to respond to cancer cells. The company identified and isolated proteins on the surface of cancer cells that are foreign to the body to make a vaccine that can instruct white blood cells to effectively kill tumor cells, Allen said.

“When Covid came in, it was clear that there might be variants of resistance within the virus and that using T cells from this arm of the immune system as part of the solution might be important,” he said.

The comments come as health officials around the world sound the alarm over the discovery of coronavirus mutations. Germany, the United Kingdom and South Africa reported on Wednesday that they had found different variants of the virus in sick patients. The variants contracted in Great Britain and South Africa should spread more easily.

Cramer compared Gritstone to Moderna, another oncology drug company, which has launched a coronavirus vaccine that is about 95% effective in preventing transmission.

Allen praised Moderna, explaining how the company’s vaccine solution focuses on spike protein outside of the virus, which is a target for antibodies. He said Gritstone’s potential vaccine using T cells goes even further.

“T cells kill virally infected cells, and that’s why we have both limbs in the immune system. They complement and reinforce each other, and we’ve seen all of the potential benefits of Spike,” he said. “Our program causes antibodies to rise, but now we’re adding additional targets from the virus and creating strong T cell responses against those targets.”

Allen said he expected a phase 1 study, supported by NIAID, to begin soon. According to a press release announcing the partnership, Gritstone uses both self-amplifying mRNA and adenoviral vectors to trigger an immune response.

After rising 14% to $ 25.49 on Wednesday, Gritstone stocks are down more than 6% in after-hours trading. The stock rose from less than $ 4 at the start of the year to a high of $ 35.20 during Wednesday’s session.

Stocks are up nearly 547% in less than three weeks of trading.

The New Jersey governor blames Walgreens, the federal authorities, for the sluggish introduction of Covid vaccines

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) blamed Walgreens and the federal government for the Garden State’s sluggish vaccine rollout during an interview Wednesday night on CNBC’s The News with Shepard Smith.

“The big reason is the federal program with CVS and Walgreens,” Murphy said. “They basically amassed these cans, they are planning visits to long-term care homes, they are extending their lives and they are suffering from their weight, especially at Walgreens, and that is where most of the remaining cans are.”

Murphy suggested to Shepard Smith that Walgreens “put more bodies on the case” to solve the rollout problem.

On Tuesday, Murphy said that New Jersey was effectively equipped to distribute the vaccine, but that all vendors were missing “are the vaccine doses.” New Jersey has a population of approximately 8,882 million people and has distributed 898,550 vaccines while only 432,220 of them have been administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pointing out the Covid vaccine doses under state control, Murphy said they get into people’s arms more efficiently.

“There aren’t many doses in hospitals or other distribution points that we directly control that are not in use,” Murphy said. “We get shot in the arms with all areas we can control.”

Smith pushed back with Murphy, insisting that “people lose” when it comes to the slow adoption of vaccines. There are currently more than 123,000 Americans in the hospital and an average of 3,000 people die each day, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins data. The pandemic has killed more than 400,000 people since the pandemic started early last year. Murphy pointed to the federal government.

“There is no question that we have a huge imbalance between supply and demand that, with all due respect, begins with the federal government, at least to this day, after they dropped the ball – too promising and too little delivered,” Murphy said. “So if Walgreens hits 1,000, if CVS hits 1,000, and we as a state continue to do what we do, which gets vaccines into people’s arms, we’ve still been disappointed by the Fed.”

Murphy applied for up to $ 20 billion in federal aid to help with Covid’s deficits. President Joe Biden said Friday that he would use the Defense Production Act to increase vaccine supplies during his first month in office.

Tesla Mannequin three reportedly explodes in a parking storage in Shanghai

Model 3 vehicles made by Tesla China are on display during a delivery event at its facility in Shanghai, China on Jan. 7, 2020.

Aly Song | Reuters

BEIJING – A Tesla Model 3 exploded in an underground car park in Shanghai on Tuesday, Chinese media reported.

No people were injured in the fire, Tesla said in a statement to the Chinese media. Preliminary analysis shows the accident was caused by an impact on the underside of the car, the automaker added in the reports.

Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. It was not immediately clear whether the affected Model 3 was a locally manufactured or imported version.

Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) said it did not make the battery for the car, which spontaneously burned up, according to Chinese media.

Scattered accident reports

A number of Tesla cars have exploded over the years, including in the US

In April 2019, Tesla sent a team to investigate the apparent explosion of one of its parked vehicles in Shanghai.

Elon Musk’s electric cars have been scrutinized in China for other reasons such as their self-driving technology. Earlier this month, the state-run business information daily said in a comment that there were at least 10 reports in 2020 that drivers had lost control of their Tesla vehicles in China.

A best seller in China

Vice President Kamala Harris addresses nation in first speech

And now a speech from Madame Vice President Kamala Harris.

After taking the oath of office on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday morning, January 20, the former California senator addressed the nation for the first time as vice president.

Vice President Harris, wearing a fancy black pant suit, stood in front of the Washington Memorial and delivered a message of hope to Americans across the country.

“It is an honor to be here, on the shoulders of those who came earlier to speak as your Vice President tonight. In many ways, this moment embodies our character as a nation. It shows who we are, too in dark times, “she said. “We don’t just dream, we do it. We don’t just see what was, we see what can be. We shoot the moon and then put our flag on it. We are brave, fearless and ambitious. We are fearless in our beliefs that we will overcome, that we will rise. This is American aspiration. “

Howard University alum, who made history as the first female vice president of the United States, continued, “In the middle of the civil war Abraham Lincoln saw a brighter future and built it with Land Grant Colleges and the transcontinental railroad. In the middle of the civil rights movement Dr. King fought for racial and economic justice. “

Electrical autos, housing are two massive funding themes within the Biden period

Joe Biden signed more than a dozen executive orders after taking the president’s oath of office on Wednesday. He reversed some of his predecessor’s actions over the past four years, prompting CNBC’s Jim Cramer to come up with two new market themes for 2021.

The new investment ideas cover electric vehicles and residential real estate and are an appendix to 10 investment themes he expects to follow Wall Street, which he launched earlier this month.

“Be ready for stricter environmental regulations that push people into electronic vehicles,” he said after the close of trading on Wednesday on Mad Money.

As part of his first executive action, President Biden signed an order for the United States to join the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, an international agreement signed under the Obama administration, and to move away from the environmental policy set by the Trump administration.

Cramer said the country’s renewed focus on combating climate change will be a boon to established electric car companies and green energy producers like Tesla and Plug Power, as well as the throng of budding electric vehicle manufacturers who are coming to the public through blank check mergers.

Cramer’s watch list includes Lordstown Motors, Northern Genesis, the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), which is merging with Canadian manufacturer The Lion Electric, and Ciig Merger, a SPAC for British automaker Arrival.

In addition, Cramer said he was warming up to electrification efforts from traditional automakers like Ford and General Motors.

Housing is another market of opportunity on the host’s Mad Money list of topics. His forecast is based on Biden’s stance on immigration. The Democrat also signed orders to end Trump’s Muslim ban and lift a Trump order to exclude undocumented immigrants from reallocating house seats.

The Biden government also pledged to forward an immigration reform measure to lawmakers, offering undocumented immigrants an eight-year path to citizenship and including the language for refugees.

The immigrant-friendly stance could help builders even more as millions of new consumers get more into the real estate market, Cramer said, citing stocks like Toll Brothers, KB Home, Pultegroup, DR Horton and Lennar.

“From what we’ve heard from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and the new Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, I believe [interest] Interest rates will stay low for a long time, maybe years, “he said.” There are at least 10 million undocumented immigrants who will soon be able to get out of the shadows and ask for credit to buy a home and it will be amazing for home builders. “

Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable foundation owns shares in Ford.

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Romney blows up Trump pardons and desires there was a constitutional modification to ban pardons for cronies

To anyone’s surprise, Trump spent his last day in office apologizing for celebrities and political allies. Rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black had both ended their ongoing legal troubles with the stroke of the president’s pen.

Al Pirro, the ex-husband of Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, has been pardoned. But perhaps the most annoying excuse was the one given to former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon. Bannon was charged with an attempt to defraud Trump supporters on the pretext of building a border wall.

Frequent Trump critic Mitt Romney blown up the pardons on Wednesday afternoon. “I can’t imagine that in providing pardons to a president, the founders expected presidents to reward political friends, so I would hope we can develop a tradition of closer pardon. “

The Utah Senator stated that there should be a tradition:do not pass it on to people who are friends or political individuals. “

The issue then revolved around preventing presidents like Trump from giving pardons that were obviously politically motivated. Romney continued: “[I] would like to see a constitutional remedy. It is unlikely that something like this can be passed, given the difficult process of passing a constitutional amendment. “

Trump’s pardons from this week were in line with those given throughout his tenure. The ex-president had previously granted reprieve to the likes of Joe Arpaio, Rod Blagojevich, Scooter Libby, Dinesh D’Souza and a number of war criminals.

Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey-based policy and technology writer. His work has been featured on psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He likes sports, politics, comics, and spends time with his family on the waterfront.

The US joins the Paris Local weather Settlement

President Joe Biden signs Executive Orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington upon his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021.

Tom Brenner | Reuters

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday to reintroduce the US to the Paris Agreement. This is his first major global warming move as it brings in the largest team of climate change experts to ever come to the White House.

The Biden administration also plans to revoke approval for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the United States and to sign additional contracts in the coming days to reverse several measures taken by former President Donald Trump to weaken the environment.

Biden pledges to act swiftly on climate change, and his inclusion of scientists across the government marks the beginning of a major political reversal after four years of the Trump administration weakening climate rules in favor of fossil fuel producers.

Almost every country in the world is part of the Paris Agreement, the non-binding agreement between nations to reduce their CO2 emissions. Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2017.

Mitchell Bernard, President of the Defense Council for Natural Resources, said Biden’s order to re-join the deal makes the US part of the global solution to climate change rather than part of the problem.

“This is a quick and determined action,” Bernard said in a statement. “It creates the conditions for comprehensive measures to deal with the climate crisis, as long as there is still time to act.”

With a slim Democratic majority in the Senate, Biden could potentially achieve large chunks of his ambitious climate change agenda, including a $ 2 trillion economic plan to drive a clean energy transition, cut electricity sector carbon emissions by 2035, and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

During his first few months in office, Biden is expected to sign a wave of executive orders to combat climate change, including preserving 30% of American land and waters by 2030, protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling, and restoring and enhancing the role of science in government decisions.

Some legal actions related to the climate will take longer, including the government’s plan to undo a number of Trump environmental setbacks related to clean air and water rules and emissions to warm the planet. The Trump administration reversed more than 100 environmental regulations in four years, according to research by Columbia Law School.

More of CNBC environment::
The United Nations is warning nations of major economic damage without taking further action against climate change
2020 was one of the hottest years in existence, combined with 2016
Senate control enables Democrats to respond to Biden’s climate change agenda

“From Paris to Keystone to protecting gray wolves, these great first steps by President Biden show that he is serious about stopping the climate and extinction crises,” said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biodiversity, in a statement. “These strong steps must be the start of a furious race to avert disaster.”

The next major UN climate summit will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, in November. The countries in the agreement will set updated emissions targets for the next decade.

The aim of the agreement is to keep the global temperature increase well below 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit compared to pre-industrial values. The earth will warm by 1.5 ° C in the next two decades.

Robert Schuwerk, executive director for North America at Carbon Tracker, said the resumption of the deal signals to global markets that the US will give priority to tackling climate change, but added that this is only part of what the government is doing must to reduce their emissions.

The USA is the second largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world after China. It is expected that an updated climate target and a concrete plan for reducing emissions from the electricity and energy sectors will be available.

“Re-entry is just a table,” said John Morton, President Barack Obama’s director of energy and climate on the National Security Council. “The hard work to get the country on track to net zero emissions by the middle of the century begins now.”