Public health, 20.09.2021

Vaccination claims (Part 2) - Never before have there been so many serious side effects

When it comes to vaccination, things quickly become emotional. The editorial team  of the Zuger Zeitung has studied statements that have been sent to them – and examined whether they are facts, myths or errors. Part 2 can be read below.

1.  Vaccinated people who nevertheless become infected have a similar viral load to unvaccinated people, at least in the short term. So how is it that the vaccinated are now allowed into the restaurant without masks, etc., while the unvaccinated have to take a test and pay for it themselves?

It’s true that the data suggest that vaccinated people can also pass on the virus. It seems, however, that the risk decreases much faster than in an unvaccinated person, because the viruses are hardly able to multiply in a vaccinated body. The risk of the virus being spread further is therefore smaller than in unvaccinated people who have not been tested.

The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH/BAG) writes: "Whether vaccinated, recovered or tested negative: in all three cases, the risk of infection is significantly lower." What the authorities do not take into account is the psychological component: many vaccinated people could feel that it is unfair that they had to wear masks to protect those who don’t want to vaccinate.

2.  Never before have there been so many serious side effects after a vaccination.

There are reputable portals such as "VigiAccess", which is operated by the World Health Organization WHO, in which all complaints that occurred shortly after vaccination are recorded. Very high numbers are reached in some cases. But these reports have not been checked to see whether they are actually due to vaccination, however.

In addition, they are not presented in relation to the number of vaccine doses administered. In order to make reliable statements about the frequency of side effects, placebo studies are needed, in which one group is vaccinated while the other group receives a dummy vaccine. Such placebo studies are also the basis for the approval of a vaccine.

Two serious risks are known for the vaccines approved in Switzerland. On the one hand, there may be a severe allergic reaction. This occurs on around 1 in 100,000 doses. Inflammation of the heart muscle or pericardium is being looked at by experts: in a large-scale study in Israel, 2.7 cases occurred per 100,000 vaccinated.

These values are of the same order of magnitude as with other vaccinations, such as measles, in which around 2 out of 100,000 vaccinated people suffer serious side effects.

3.  I find it problematic that the same authority that approves the drugs is also responsible for recording the side effects.

On this subject, Swissmedic itself says: "The question of the independence of Swissmedic is important in terms of both authorisation issues and market surveillance." In principle, the approval and market surveillance areas are separated organisationally and in terms of personnel.

A complete separation of pharmaco-vigilance (i.e. the monitoring of effects and side effects), as is occasionally demanded by politicians, would not promote patient safety, according to Swissmedic. "This separation might even be counterproductive under certain circumstances, because the approval of a drug also forms the basis for the market surveillance."

In the event of quality or safety problems, the interlinking of information is a great advantage in order to be able to react quickly.

Photo: Vaccinated people no longer have to wear a mask in restaurants – although they can also be contagious.

 

4.  Why is there only a temporary approval from Swissmedic? There's something rotten about that.

Temporary approvals are regularly granted in Switzerland. They are defined under Article 9a of the Therapeutic Products Act: accordingly, the Institute may temporarily approve "medicinal products against diseases that are life-threatening and that result in disability in a simplified procedure".

This is only possible, however, if, firstly, the approval is compatible with the protection of health, secondly, that a large therapeutic benefit can be expected from the application and, thirdly, if no other, equivalent and already authorised medicinal product is available in Switzerland. A temporary approval is granted for a maximum of two years – as is the case for the vaccines approved in Switzerland up to now.

"This deadline is common where no long-term studies on new active substances have been carried out as yet," says Swissmedic spokesman Lukas Jaggi. Temporary admissions are only granted to applicants who are likely to be able to provide all the necessary data.

In the case of corona vaccinations, the approval studies did not show a high risk of serious side effects, but did show a clear benefit. Waiting two years would have led to more deaths, which are now being avoided.

5. The vaccine deaths are simply being reported as corona deaths. Why are there no figures on how many vaccinated people die?"

Based on the medical investigations of Swissmedic, none of the 137 reports of deaths after vaccination that have been received up to now could be traced back to the vaccination.

The figures for corona deaths of vaccinated persons, on the other hand, are available: the FOPH has published them in its weekly report from July onwards. From January 27 until last week, 37 people who were doubly vaccinated have died of Corona. 29 of these persons were over 80 years old, 7 were between 70 and 79, and one was between 50 and 59 years old.

By way of comparison, there were 141 corona deaths (unvaccinated and vaccinated) between 13 August and 9 September. In almost the same period of four weeks (9 August to 5 September), the FOPH only reported 18 new corona deaths among people who had been vaccinated. With a vaccination rate in the population of 52%, i.e. about half-half, you can clearly see that vaccinated people are much better protected.

The claim that these double-vaccinated people could have died from the vaccination instead of Corona is unrealistic, on the one hand because one is only considered to be doubly-vaccinated two weeks after the second vaccination. And the PCR test only gives a positive result when you're actually ill, as it measures the genome of the virus. In the case of healthy vaccinated or recovered people, there are antibodies in the blood, but no foreign genetic material from the virus.

6.  Why don't the authorities disclose their contracts with the pharmaceutical companies?

The federal government has approved an amount of CHF 400 million for the procurement of Covid vaccines. Bit it has remained silent on the individual contracts. The Federal Office of Public Health says: "The prices for the vaccine are confidential contractual agreements with the vaccine manufacturers.

The Federal Government is still in talks with vaccine manufacturers, as the development of the pandemic is difficult to assess. An announcement of the contents of the contracts would weaken both the negotiating position of the federal government vis-à-vis other manufacturers, and that of a manufacturer vis-à-vis other countries."

By law, this falls under trade secrets, to which the principle of public access to the Swiss administration does not apply.