A Sputnik Moment
Yep, 165 vaccines under development 27 in trials. I wonder if that includes Sputnik V (the esteemed Russian entry).
So how could there possibly be too many vaccines? Shouldn’t we add even more? And no, I’m not talking about the temptation to accelerate the approval process so that the entries haven’t been adequately tested, although that’s clearly a potential problem.
Nor that once we get any vaccines they probably will only work on around 70% of those vaccinated, if we’re lucky.
Nor even that the whole process of covid-19 research is a total mess with no central coordination of anything, and no overall strategy (so what’s new?).
Fatal Interaction?
This is what worries me about having all these vaccines around. They are all being developed using different approaches and mechanisms that vary between the companies making them, mRNA, DNA, monoclonal antibodies, CRISPR, etc. How do we know that once they get used there won’t be conflicts between them, just like we get drugs that can sometimes have adverse, even fatal interactions? Since all these drugs will be new, they can’t have ever been tested in combination; for starters there’s no time.
You might ask how those adverse interactions could possibly happen. Won’t I know I’ve been vaccinated already? But what about all those seniors in nursing homes who have memory issues? How about regular people who just forget, not that they had a vaccination (although they might), but which one from those 165 companies with difficult names hawking their wares?
Well, you say, electronic patient records will note all the names of the drugs. But what if the patient isn’t insured and doesn’t have a family doctor? How about mistakes; they seem to happen pretty regularly right?
What if adverse drug interactions are subtle and don’t show up for some time and then strike without anyone realizing it’s an interaction with the other vaccinations. Maybe it takes several years to appear. Maybe it happens immediately and is mistaken for a heart attack, as so often happens with covid-19?
Money is no Object -Not
Just for the record I’m a believer in vaccinations. I’ve had enough over my lifetime of travel and they’ve kept me out of trouble. But I don’t ever recall being vaccinated with a brand-spanking new vaccine. Especially one that has been rushed through the testing and approval process by companies whose executives have stock option stars in their eyes and approved by public health bureaucrats who are being egged on by politicians who are mainly motivated by keeping their jobs in the next election.
Hopefully, someone who actually knows what they are talking about (as distinct from yours truly) is going to comment on this post and tell me that the problem I have raised is of no significance or danger at all.
That would be great. I’m more than happy to be proven wrong yet again in the wider interest of keeping a critical eye on our civil “servants” and political leaders.
Clearly if a problem such as the one I have mentioned occurred and was frequent enough, it would provide fuel to the legions of anti-vaxxers out there. And what could happen then?
Hear No Evil…
Right now, no-one, least of all our leaders, both political and public health, don’t want to hear about any problems since they are far too consumed with getting anything at all out there and into our eagerly awaiting veins. Just like the Russians launching their drug cocktail without any real testing; so much nicer to be able to say they beat the Americans in the latest vaccine Mars shot
What’s the answer if I’m right that vaccine interactions will be a problem? More testing? More time? Less vaccinations? Fewer vaccines? None of these are great options.
I don’t know what the answer is.
I’m just asking.