Lies About the Covid Vaccine Continue, Even After
the FDA Gives Full Approval
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. - Benjamin Franklin
Effective August 23, 2021, after reviewing hundreds of thousands of pages of scientific data, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fully approved the Pfizer Covid vaccine for all adults age 16 and older. In addition, the vaccine continues to be available under emergency use authorization for individuals 12 through 15 years of age.
(See the Addendum at the bottom of this article to read two of the statements put out by FDA officials related to their granting full approval of the vaccine.)
A frequent reason many Americans have given for not wanting to take the Covid vaccine is that it had not received full FDA approval. Consequently, we hoped that once the FDA did grant that approval, the unvaccinated would change their minds and the country soon would reach the level of herd immunity necessary to eliminate the virus.
 (FDA image from NPR)
Unfortunately, too many Americans still are not making the decision to become vaccinated. They cling to, or have moved on to, inaccurate information they read and hear from (for the most part) right-wing political commentators and websites. Even the recent Covid deaths of unvaccinated right-wing talk radio hosts Dick Farrel, Phil Valentine, and Marc Bernier (we understand the first two of whom, from their hospital beds, urged their audiences to get vaccinated) have not been enough to change some people's minds.
So let's look at some of the other excuses for not getting vaccinated. Unfortunately (since so many people believe them), from a public health perspective these excuses range from having no scientific basis to being just wacky conspiracy theories:
Excuse #1: The Vaccine Does Not Work
Scientific testing has proven that 95% of Pfizer- and Moderna-vaccinated Americans will not get the virus and, on average, the 5% that do become sick experience much milder symptoms and less long-term effects than those experienced by the unvaccinated who become sick.
If you question these results because you aren't familiar with how these scientific studies work, then just look at those Americans currently being hospitalized with the disease. Roughly 98% of them are unvaccinated and yet the unvaccinated make up only 35% of the adult population.
The bottom line is you and your families will be much safer being vaccinated and you also will be contributing to the elimination of the virus.
Excuse #2: The Vaccines Use New Technology and Have Not Been Tested Enough
It is true that the Covid vaccines do use a newer technology, but that technology has been tested for decades (starting with research into the SARS virus). It is accepted by the scientific community and by the FDA. The vaccines were tested on tens of thousands of people and the results were peer-reviewed, which is standard scientific practice.
The vaccine does not change your DNA, it does not enter a cell's nucleus, nor does it make any other adverse changes to your body. Just as with older vaccine technologies, it causes the body to produce anti-bodies against the specified virus, although with an even higher success rate than many of the older vaccine technologies (e.g., the flu vaccine).
If you're still concerned, consider this: our five ex-Presidents and our current President all have taken the vaccine and are urging everyone else to follow suit because the vaccine is safe, it saves lives, and it is the quickest way for the nation to get back to normal.
 (image from ntdca.com)
Excuse #3: Thousands Have Died from the Vaccine
Everyone who received the vaccine was given access to a database set up by federal public health agencies so vaccine recipients can self-report any side effects from the vaccine. Unfortunately, some trouble-makers have deliberately lied in their reports to this database, claiming either deaths of others or serious side effects for themselves. The feds have had to waste time and taxpayer dollars investigating these claims which, other than in a handful of cases, have been found to be bogus.
Excuse #4: The Vaccine Contains a Microchip
There are no microchips in the Covid vaccine. (But we hear there may be microchips in the horse de-wormer that some people are taking as a treatment for Covid. Just kidding - that isn't true either.) On a practical level, do the people who are promoting this conspiracy theory realize how many tens of thousands of people would have to be in on the conspiracy and not be saying anything about it?
Probably not, if they actually believe hundreds of millions of people now have a microchip implanted in them. Or, as we suspect, this lie is being spread by our foreign adversaries who are hoping to weaken America by dividing us.
If you or your friends/family have heard any other stories that concern you related to the Covid vaccine, we encourage you to talk with your family physician. Or let us know via our "Contact Us" link at the top or bottom of this page and we'll be happy to research them for you.
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ADDENDUM: What follows are two of the statements put out by FDA** officials when announcing full approval of the Pfizer vaccine. The first is from acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. The second is from Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
"The FDA's approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. While this and other vaccines have met the FDA's rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product….While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated. Today's milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S."
"Our scientific and medical experts conducted an incredibly thorough and thoughtful evaluation of this vaccine. We evaluated scientific data and information included in hundreds of thousands of pages, conducted our own analyses of Comirnaty's safety and effectiveness, and performed a detailed assessment of the manufacturing processes, including inspections of the manufacturing facilities….We have not lost sight that the COVID-19 public health crisis continues in the U.S. and that the public is counting on safe and effective vaccines. The public and medical community can be confident that although we approved this vaccine expeditiously, it was fully in keeping with our existing high standards for vaccines in the U.S."
** The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation's food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.
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