The Dangerous Push to Give Boosters to Teens
wsj.com
wsj.com
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Offit [1]: https://archive.md/zw3il#selection-1375.0-1379.115
Given the low risk to young people (at least the data pretty clearly states this), I think it is irresponsible to get them vaccinated. Older people should get 15 boosters, maybe even for the rest of their lives or until better protections are available.
His Twitter feed is a cesspool of motivated reasoning.
Lazy people posting crap like this to HN is what is bringing down the quality of this site.
Too bad that doesn't seem to actually work out that way. People that are vaccinated still get sick enough to spread the virus it seems, especially w/ Omicron, even if they either don't have enough symptoms to notice it might be Covid or don't get sick enough to require hospitalization.
That is not to say vaccination isn't necessarily a good idea but it's not a no brainer either because it only has upsides. Unfortunately it also seems that there's no good way to talk about any of this. If you look and talk about the facts, it seems like the anti-vaxxer will hate you and you will simultaneously be stamped an anti-vaxxer by everyone else. Sad days but I guess that's what social pressures do.
COVID-19 has been so far a scourge - when we get enough people vaccinated in developed countries, another variant appears from developing countries. The vaccine deployments has been just too slow around the world.
My hope is that the developing world has seen now enough of the virus and is mainly immune or will be after Omicron has swept over (being hopefully milder than previous variants).
Wild type polio has actually been eliminated but sixteen African nations are battling outbreaks of what's called "vaccine-derived polio."
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/08/25/9058847...
Yes, I know about this mutated live vaccine. It for sure looked like a great idea on paper.
Most drug development takes from initial research to FDA approval about 10 years[1]. Even with Priority Review, Breakthrough Therapy, Accelerated Approval, or Fast Track programs, the time is in several years.
I do not believe you have the scientific evidence to make your statement with great assurance.
[1]https://www.hiv.va.gov/patient/clinical-trials/drug-approval...
The good news is we have one in the process in the US with about 300 million people.
If you can point out where did they cut short with the vaccine approval, please point it out.
One thing is clear - they did not wait till planned AE period was completed but we do have now even more data about AE than we have for any other vaccine so far.
I think that the opposite is true - the vaccines have not been deployed fast enough around the world and this has allowed new more infectious variants to emerge.
Or, the incredibly narrow focus of the mRNA vaccines put enormous evolutionary pressure on the virus to mutate.
All too often you hear the misconception that only the unvaccinated can act like a petrie dish for mutations, but this can happen just as easily in anyone vaccinated.
I propose that if there would have been more, we would possibly not have this variant. We do not see new variants popping up in highly vaccinated areas.
I could not see how any US approve COVID-19 vaccine for 16-17 year old is causing more hearth issues than COVID-19 does - quite opposite appears to be true based on the referenced Oxford study. Perhaps I am misinterpreting the study?
Regarding 1, we know that mRNA vaccines can cause heart inflammation. As for, how much for 16-17 yo, I don't know if that has been tested. Regarding 2, I am unaware of a test that has been preformed on 16-17 yo. But the test on under 11 yo was unsuccessful, because even those getting the placebo did not develop serious symptoms of the virus.
If you believe that the burden of proof should be on whoever wants someone to take the vaccine, then they would have to preform a trial that determines 1 and 2. Until that is done, the philosophical default is not to claim that boosters should be given to 17-18 yo.
We know already well how the virus is acting on under 11 olds and we do not need statistics to tell us that. If the vaccine can prevent symptomatic illness, it can also prevent serious illness. Simple as that.