Approval

I can only imagine how Pfizer employees collectively feel now that their vaccine has been approved.  Sometimes the only approval I get is when I swipe my bank card and I savor that moment much to the distress of the teller and people behind me.  

Pfizer has been injected 204 Million times and data has been aggregated, analyzed and conclusions regarding it’s safety are favorable.This is a good thing even if you don’t work for Pfizer.

Last week, I spoke with a friend who does pretty much what I do but with medical devices for the FDA.  Because many of those who are vaccine hesitant are convinced that they are part of an experiment I asked her about the status of vaccines.  She reminded me that there had been no approval by the FDA.  The approval was for Emergency Use.  How do you argue that a new vaccine without FDA approval is not experimental?  

Now you can do away with that argument.  Sure, there are some medications where serious side effects occur after approval but look at that number again.  204 Million doses have been given in the United States.  According to Statistica, the breakdown is as follows:

If everyone vaccinated has received two doses, that would mean that 102 million people have had the Pfizer vaccine.  For the sake of comparison, 34 million Americans have diabetes.  When a new medication or treatment for diabetes becomes available, it is heavily sold to physicians with promises of better glucose control but not all patients are candidates.  I would be very surprised if any diabetic drug surpassed 204 M doses in 8 months. But diabetics who struggle with their blood sugars clamor for the newest and greatest treatment.  

What doesn’t happen with diabetes and other illnesses is anti-vaxxer campaigns.  

There are many people who are influenced by militant anti-vaxxers but don’t really go to any lengths to persuade other people to adopt their views.   Those people are probably victims rather than the true antivaxxer who is determined that nobody will receive protection from the deadly disease.  People are treated as though they have Cooties when choosing vaccination.

It is this army of Anti-Christs, likely  the same people who complained about the Death Committees in the ACA   (there are none) that pose the most risk to others. They are untruthful and it is amazing how many people believe the lies. They claimed that the vaccine magnetized people and caused women to become infertile.  The most common misconception about the vaccine is that the government is implanting chips in us.  Who comes up with this stuff?

If only these side effects were real, life would be easier.  I lose my keys at least once a month.  I personally get lost almost every time I leave the house.  If I could call someone at the NSA; maybe a hotline, and ask them how to find my destination or better, home, I would be willing to pay for the service.  If my keys were magnetized, I could save an hour each month looking for them – time that could be put to better use.  And the side effects from the vaccine have proven to be less than oral contraceptives but that doesn’t matter.  When there’s a decline in the birth rate, we can get concerned.  Currently, the 2021 birth rate is up from 2020. Maybe I an not clear on the condition of infertility.

I don’t think these side effects have been established in any legitimate  scientific study.  (Tik Tok videos and FaceBook posts by people with no relevant background don’t count). Until today, I might have believed I could be wrong but the FDA agrees with me.  How about that?  A large government agency agrees with me even though our agreement is simply that we have not fallen into a bad movie plot with sterile, magnetic keys.

So, now we can tell people that at least one of the vaccines has been FDA approved and is not considered experimental.  That’s huge.  It gives assurances to businesses (including Home Health Agencies and Hospices) that vaccine mandates are fair.  It is a true ethical dilemma to implement a vaccine or any mandate for an unproven treatment especially for people who do not work in Healthcare.

So this is another huge step on the rocky road to the end of the pandemic.  But before you get back to your documentation, let me draw your attention to Dorothy Oliver of Panola, AL and her heroic efforts to get her town, forty miles away from the nearest vaccination site, almost completely vaccinated.  She was so amazing that the New Yorker made a documentary about it.  Personally, I think that the Pandemic will end because of people like Ms. Oliver. Vaccines sitting on the shelf offer immunity to nobody.