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My mentions are already a complete wreck today, so here's a THREAD on why Thalidomide is trending with respect to the Pfizer #Covid19 vaccine approval.
Some people are saying that testing has been rushed without consideration for the outcomes, and that is risking another Thalidomide-like medical disaster.
The Thalidomide scandal WAS terrible and it wrecked thousands of lives. But it was also 60 years ago and things have changed significantly since then. Covid vaccines ARE being thoroughly tested, and we know this partly as a result of Thalidomide.
Thalidomide still – and rightly – evokes a strong emotional reaction because of the sheer horror, and the belated apology from the German company involved was seen as little more than an insult by victims and their families.
But after Thalidomide, many countries - including the UK and the US - wrote into law the need for proper medical trials with proof of effectiveness and safety of their products. You can’t licence your drug without full risk assessments.
Now, people are worried that Covid vaccines could cause a “second Thalidomide scandal” because of fears that they haven’t been thoroughly tested. It’s a valid fear, but the UK MHRA says testing has been as rigorous as any other trial.
Dr June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA says the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine "meets rigorous high standards of safety, of effectiveness and of quality".
One of the reasons that approval has come so quickly is that MHRA and the Commission on Human Medicines has used a rolling review, accepting data from the manufacturers as it became available through their own trials. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-medicines-regulator-gives-approval-for-first-uk-covid-19-vaccine
Yes, time frames have been compressed, but MHRA and CHM are clear that no corners have been cut. The National Institute for Biological Studies and Control will continue independent lab testing to ensure standards.
Another reason is the existing years-long research on SARS-type viruses, which has helped in science’s understanding of Covid-19 and how to immunise against it.
The important thing here is that the vaccines are not mandatory. It’s up to you whether you take it or not. But vaccine hesitancy is being stoked through unfounded fears and scaremongering.
There is always an element of risk in medicine. I came out in hives last month because I was allergic to a common medicine, but switched to an effective alternative. There are four different types of Covid vaccine, so if one doesn’t work for you, there’s another.
But medical trials exist to find out the risks and side effects, and that’s why they have them and that’s why they’re also carefully controlled by independent expert panels.
So, on the painstaking balance of risks, it IS safe to take this particular Covid-19 vaccine, and in doing so it’s the only realistic path to the herd immunity outcome we need to return to normal.
If you want to see the results of the Pfizer/BioNTech trial, here it is in it’s 146 page glory, including the side-effects. https://pfe-pfizercom-d8-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/2020-11/C4591001_Clinical_Protocol_Nov2020.pdf
“But you’re only a journalist” – True, I’ve been covering vaccine disinformation for only two years, but my father and step-mother are virologists, I initially trained in HARD SCIENCES, and I’ve spent a lifetime reading The Lancet and the BMJ.
Oh, and journalists, when they don’t know something, they ask the people who do. So, unless you're really terrible at your job, that's what we do.
And if my replies today are anything to go by, I’m a Gates/Soros/Big Pharma shill who lies for a living and a traitor against the whole of humanity. You got me.
END OF THREAD, possibly.
END OF THREAD, possibly.
Astonishingly, I've managed a multi-post Twitter thread and not broken it. That deserves a Roy.
