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Comment by junon | Hacker News Reader

There have only been a handful of cases of myocarditis or pericarditis in mRNA vaccine recipients, generally young males. A handful. And none of them have died from it.

Remember that VAERS is pretty much the most garbage 'signal' you can possibly get when it comes to side effect reporting as there is pretty much no barrier to entry to get a 'side effect' in there - much less the requirement that you're a medical professional of any sort. It has its uses but saying someone died from the mRNA vaccine because it's in VAERS is like saying someone disappeared because of aliens. In fact, I'm sure you can find something like "turned me into an alien" in VAERS. I'd bet a beer on it.

Please get vaccinated if your doctor approves. Novavax isn't a for-sure deal, as it hasn't been peer reviewed and will be a long time until generally available if found viable.

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In the UK over 300 hundred thousand adverse events have been reported to the yellow card system, with over a 1000 deaths. I've heard that VAERS underreports because medical professionals don't have the time to make the submissions (I don't really know if that's true or not). It's impossible to confirm what the precise risks are and whether those reporting systems are over- or understating the real picture, but it's irresponsible, I think, to handwave about risks to someone who clearly had a bad response.

I know someone who had both the myocarditis as well as a severe allergic reaction, which could have been fatal if she hadn't received benadryl in time. After that, she was advised by her doctor to not get the 2nd shot. But because the social pressure being placed on people is so high, she is still minded to get the 2nd shot even when her own doctor advises against it. I don't think medical decisions should be swayed by peer pressure from people on the internet, or an employer.

The point about VAERS is that you do not need to be a medical professional to submit to VAERS. Joe Schmoe from down the lane can submit to VAERS and say the mRNA vaccine caused him to turn into the incredible hulk and it will be listed alongside people who had legitimate flu-like symptoms.

VAERS vastly over reports. Stuff like, I took the vaccine last week and now I have a broken leg (because I got hit by a car).

You have pretty large hands... For young men, it is about 1/10000 with the Moderna vaccine. No fatal cases AFAIK, but considering that we are talking about young men who are less likely to get severe covid, it is less than ideal. Benefit/risk is still good, but will it still be the case if we need a new dose every 6 months?

Anyways, for that reason, health authorities recommend Pfizer/Biontech over Moderna for people under 30. And it is probably what encouraged the use of half doses of the Moderna vaccine for booster shots.

> A handful

The reality is the statistics are always being revised and they are being revised in the direction that heart inflammation is more prevalent than initially thought.

According to the Australian TGA, this rate has been revised to 1/10000 for adolescent boys [1][2]. That is a pretty high value.

This continual rise in myocarditis incidence rates indicates to me that nobody really knows how prevalent these side-effects actually are.

I stand by my statement. People that did experience heart inflammation should not have to choose between participating in society and being boosted with vaccines that have previously injured them.

[1] - https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/vaccine-myocarditi...

[2] - https://www.tga.gov.au/periodic/covid-19-vaccine-weekly-safe...

> There have only been a handful of cases of myocarditis or pericarditis in mRNA vaccine recipients, generally young males. A handful. And none of them have died from it.

Didn't you see the wave of cardiac problems in sports? It's much more than a handful, I here about it almost daily.

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