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Raising this up into a thread because it's a concern I've been asked about more than once. It is certainly hard at times to defend an industry with a reputation for issues with some products (deserved or not). But here's why I'm not concerned about these vaccines. /1 https://twitter.com/Julies1tweet/status/1351335010230480896
One, ingredients. For the Pfizer & Moderna vaccines (where I'll focus), they are little more than mRNA (which our body produces anyway) w/some lipids & sugars. Even though I'm not concerned about other vaccine ingredients, these vaccines are about as minimalist as they come. /2
Two, transparency. There are many documents you can read from both companies that detail their study procedures and results. But also, these studies have been done in the era of social media. Many participants have shared their experiences. Makes it tougher to hide anything. /3
Three, similar results and issues with the vaccines. Though developed and tested independently, both the Moderna/BioNTech and the Pfizer vaccines have similar efficacy & side effect profiles. That's a nice confirmation of the overall technology independent of company. /4
Four, vaccine reactions in general are rare. Having studied vaccines for a long time, including reactions, I know that serious reactions to vaccines in general are about 1 in a million doses. COVID vax are above that b/c of anaphylaxis issue, but even that is being managed. /5
Five, following scientists on here who have worked on vaccine research, including @KizzyPhD @PeterHotez @mebottazzi @kevinault and more. None of this happened overnight, and the scientists who bring us these vaccines are regular people who deeply care about their communities. /6
And probably other things I'm not thinking about right now. I have followed the development since very early on (first article from March: https://www.self.com/story/coronavirus-vaccine) and have been impressed with their progress. I'm anxiously awaiting getting myself & family vaccinated. /fin
Another data point: when vaccines fail, it makes the news. Merck's candidates weren't looking to be as good as those already out, so they've announced it and stopped their trials. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/01/25/960294852/merck-stops-developing-both-of-its-covid-19-vaccine-candidates
