TallGuyJohninBKK

The first study of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in a large population of adult heart-failure patients suggests that vaccinated participants are 82% more likely to live longer than their unvaccinated peers, according to an analysis presented over the weekend at the Heart Failure 2024 scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in Lisbon, Portugal. More than 64 million global heart-failure patients Researchers from the National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital in Goyang, South Korea, analyzed information on vaccinations and clinical outcomes among 147,118 heart-failure patients from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, which covers nearly all Koreans. ... 47% lower risk of hospitalization for heart failure Relative to one or no vaccination, COVID-19 vaccination was tied to an 82% lower risk of death from any cause, a 47% lower risk of hospitalization for heart failure, and a 13% reduced risk of infection over 6 months. Vaccination was also linked to significantly lower risks of stroke, heart attack, myocarditis/pericarditis, and venous thromboembolism. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/data-heart-failure-patients-have-82-better-odds-living-longer-if-vaccinated-against-covid

COVID-19 Misinformation Persists, 4 Years After Shelter-in-Place While people’s lives are largely free of the extreme public health measures that restricted them early in the pandemic, misinformation about vaccines and conspiracy theories are still around. ... Even before the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the U.S., fears and uncertainties helped spur misinformation’s rapid spread. In March 2020, schools closed, employers sent staff to work from home and grocery stores called for physical distancing to keep people safe. But little halted the flow of misleading claims that sent fact-checkers and public health officials into overdrive. Some people falsely asserted COVID’s symptoms were associated with 5G wireless technology. Faux cures and untested treatments populated social media and political discourse. Amid uncertainty about the virus’ origins, some people proclaimed COVID didn’t exist at all. PolitiFact named “downplay and denial” about the virus its 2020 “Lie of the Year.” Four years later, people’s lives are largely free of the extreme public health measures that restricted them early in the pandemic. But COVID misinformation persists, although it’s now centered mostly on vaccines and vaccine-related conspiracy theories. (more) https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2024-04-01/four-years-after-shelter-in-place-covid-19-misinformation-persists

U.S. Veterans Affairs study finds 35% higher mortality rate in COVID hospitalized patients Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were more likely to die than those hospitalized with influenza during the fall and winter of 2023-2024, according to an analysis of Veterans Affairs data. Among over 11,000 patients hospitalized for either illness during this past fall and winter, 5.7% of patients with COVID-19 died within 30 days of admission versus 4.24% of patients with influenza, reported Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, of the VA St. Louis Health Care System, and colleagues. After adjusting for variables, the risk of death in people hospitalized for COVID-19 was 35% higher (adjusted HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.10-1.66), the authors detailed in a research letter in JAMA. Al-Aly told MedPage Today that his group was actually surprised by the results. "We pretty much bought into the public narrative and drank the Kool-Aid like everybody, thinking that COVID is no longer [more deadly than the flu], although ... there was no data," he said. "But the verdict is out now, because we've analyzed the data from the 2023-2024 COVID season and clearly COVID mortality is still higher than the flu." (more) https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/generalinfectiousdisease/110126 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2818660

Hopefully they know this -- COVID is ongoing in the UK: https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/ PS - (the vaccine uptake rate cited above is for the fall 2023 UK vaccine campaign that had a main target population of those age 65 and above) https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-advises-on-eligible-groups-for-2023-autumn-booster

The reason why, IMHO, it would be best if BOTH groups were vaccinated is because.... Nothing is 100% effective. No vaccine has ever been 100% effective. The COVID and flu vaccines are not, and never have been 100% effective. But both substantially reduce your risk of getting seriously sick from and dying from those two respective viruses. That's the reason people get vaccinated. COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness February 1, 2024 What to know People who received the updated COVID-19 vaccine were 54% less likely to get COVID-19 during the four-month period from mid-September 2023 to January 2024. ... New CDC data show that the updated COVID-19 vaccines were effective against COVID-19 during September 2023 – January 2024, including against the different circulating virus variants such as JN.1 and XBB. Getting vaccinated now can help lower the risk of becoming infected with or dying from COVID-19. CDC recommends everyone 6 months or older receive the updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine. ... CDC recommends everyone 6 months or older get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccination remains the best protection against COVID-19-related hospitalization and death. Vaccination also reduces your chance of suffering the effects of Long COVID, which can develop during or following acute infection and last for an extended duration. https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/covid-19-vaccine-effectiveness.html

You also have to wonder at some of the COVID policy decisions being made in the UK these days.... For example, nursing home occupants are a priority target for receiving government provided COVID vaccines. But the staff who work in those nursing home are specifically excluded from the government COVID vaccines program, even though they spend their workdays around COVID vulnerable people... What about residents, and staff in care homes? "Those who are a resident in care homes for older adults are also eligible. Carers and staff in care homes are not eligible, this is because the spring vaccine is targeted towards providing protection to those most vulnerable to severe disease." https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/04/16/whos-eligible-for-the-2024-covid-19-vaccine-or-spring-booster/

That number/share is just the number of UK HCWs who chose to get (or not get) a COVID vaccine in the government's semi-annual (twice a year) COVID vaccination campaign last fall. It doesn't tell how many of those folks got vaccinated months before in the spring, or how many will get vaccinated in the coming weeks for the spring 2024 UK COVID vaccination campaign. It also doesn't tell WHY those who didn't get vaccinated chose not to... Perhaps because a lot of staff HCWs tend to be among younger age groups, and the UK government increasingly has only been targeting the elderly for government provided COVID vaccines. One thing I do know -- prior news reporting has indicated that somewhere around 90% of the UK's government health care workers have been COVID vaccinated with either their first and/or second vaccine doses. Per the BBC from 2021: Covid-19: Vaccinated NHS staff numbers vary across England "In England, NHS data suggests 93% of eligible frontline staff have been vaccinated - equivalent to one million doses." https://www.bbc.com/news/health-56291564

Looks like the NSW government vaccination policy did a good job in helping protect both HCWs and their patients during the worst times of the pandemic. Because: "NSW Health staff have a vaccination rate of 98 per cent and the requirement has been in place since 2021." "Under the current [now rescinded] work health and safety framework, all NSW Health staff must have had at least two doses of a COVID vaccine unless they have a medical contraindication." https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-26/nsw-health-covid-vaccine-requirements-healthcare-worker/103629276 And for those who didn't like it, at least they're likely mostly still around to be able to complain about it and see the latest change, unlike many other HCWs: "WHO estimates that between 80 000 and 180 000 health and care workers could have died from COVID-19 in the period between January 2020 to May 2021, converging to a medium scenario of 115 500 deaths1." Most of the above period of time being before COVID vaccines became widely available in the world starting in early 2021. https://www.who.int/news/item/20-10-2021-health-and-care-worker-deaths-during-covid-19

More "quality" research (Feb. 2024) from the COVID anti-vaxer world -- RETRACTED!: Paper claiming ‘extensive’ harms of COVID-19 vaccines to be retracted "A journal is retracting a paper on the purported harms of vaccines against COVID-19 written in part by authors who have had similar work retracted before. The article, “COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines: Lessons Learned from the Registrational Trials and Global Vaccination Campaign,” appeared late last month in Cureus, which used to be a stand-alone journal but is now owned by Springer Nature. (It has appeared frequently in these pages.) ... The senior author on the work was Peter McCullough, a cardiologist at the Institute of Pure and Applied Knowledge who lost his board certification after the American Board of Internal Medicine found he had “provided false or inaccurate medical information to the public.” https://retractionwatch.com/2024/02/19/paper-claiming-extensive-harms-of-covid-19-vaccines-to-be-retracted/ Retraction The Editors-in-Chief have retracted this article. Following publication, concerns were raised regarding a number of claims made in this article. Upon further review, the Editors-in-Chief found that the conclusions of this narrative review are considered to be unreliable due to the concerns with the validity of some of the cited references that support the conclusions and a misrepresentation of the cited references and available data. https://www.cureus.com/articles/203052-covid-19-mrna-vaccines-lessons-learned-from-the-registrational-trials-and-global-vaccination-campaign/retraction#!/

It might well have something to do with the fact that, as many posters here often proclaim, that the majority (but not all) of current COVID deaths and hospitalizations tend to occur among the elderly. Risks continue to be higher for older adults, infants, and people with pre-existing medical conditions "While COVID-19 hospitalization rates have declined across all age groups, certain groups continue to be hospitalized at higher rates, including older adults, infants, and people with underlying medical conditions or certain disabilities. During the first seven months of 2023, adults 65 years and older accounted for 63% of hospitalizations and 88% of in-hospital deaths from COVID-19." Meaning that 37% of US COVID hospitalizations during the cited period involved people under 65 years of age. https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/changing-threat-covid-19.html

That was UK's autumn 2023 vaccination campaign, which peaked toward the end of last year as planned. They had a pause, and now just recently have begun their spring 2024 COVID vaccines campaign, as planned. It's the normal cycle in the UK. Timing of the spring booster You should be offered an appointment between April and June, with those at highest risk being called in first. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-spring-booster-resources/a-guide-to-the-covid-19-spring-booster-2023 Covid booster jab to be offered this spring 7 March 2023 A spring booster vaccine against Covid-19 is to be offered to people at most risk of serious illness from the disease to protect them this summer. UK vaccine experts say it should be available to everyone over 75, care-home residents and anyone extremely vulnerable aged five and over. ... Prof Wei Shen Lim, JCVI chairman, said: "Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself against Covid-19, and the spring booster programme provides an opportunity for those who are at highest risk of severe illness to keep their immunity topped up. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-64876657

Yes they did, and guess what, the terms "COVID" or "vaccines" don't appear anywhere in the article, not even once...even though they should! (as detailed below) In fact, the article talks about "paper mill" operations faking papers and selling authorship rights generally in low-quality or "pay for play" journals where a payment gets one published. Exactly the kind of journal articles with fake science that a lot of anti-vaxers and COVID deniers have exploited during the pandemic. From the WSJ report: "The mill then submits the work, generally avoiding the most prestigious journals [emphasis added] in favor of publications such as one-off special editions that might not undergo as thorough a review and where they have a better chance of getting bogus work published. ... Researchers say they have found them in multiple countries including Russia, Iran, Latvia, China and India. The mills solicit clients on social channels such as Telegram or Facebook, where they advertise the titles of studies they intend to submit, their fee and sometimes the journal they aim to infiltrate. " https://archive.ph/5k8nI#selection-2579.0-2579.201 That is NOT the kind of credible, often peer-reviewed COVID and COVID vaccine research that generally is cited here, typically from credible journals and done by veteran researchers from major universities. Rather, it's more often anti-vaxer and COVID denier junk like this: Column: Why anti-vaxxers are pretending a flawed study on vaccine deaths has been vindicated "my email inbox started filling up with the curious news that a long-discredited and retracted paper claiming that the COVID vaccines had killed nearly 300,000 Americans had been “reinstated.” It did not take long to determine that the truth was, no, not really. But the sudden appearance of this claim and its rapid spread across the anti-vaccine ecosystem speak volumes about how “bad papers written by antivax ideologues designed to promote a narrative that vaccines are dangerous and/or ineffective ... never die,” to quote the veteran pseudoscience debunker David Gorski." https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-10-24/no-anti-vaxxers-this-flawed-and-retracted-study-of-vaccine-deaths-hasnt-been-reinstated AND Retraction: Walach et al. The Safety of COVID-19 Vaccinations—We Should Rethink the Policy. Vaccines 2021, 9, 693 The journal retracts the article, The Safety of COVID-19 Vaccinations—We Should Rethink the Policy [1], cited above. Serious concerns were brought to the attention of the publisher regarding misinterpretation of data, leading to incorrect and distorted conclusions. The article was evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief with the support of several Editorial Board Members. They found that the article contained several errors that fundamentally affect the interpretation of the findings. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8262594/ AND https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(20)31180-6.pdf And on and on and on....

Predictably, you've posted long out-of-date info for the U.S. from a more than two month old article. The most recent current info (May 10) for the 2023-2024 monovalent vaccine in the U.S. is: 22.5% (22.1-22.8) for adults 18+ 40.8% (39.7-41.8) among adults age 65+ https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/vaccination-trends-children.html Or in the U.K., where the newest vaccines are recommended for the elderly and other higher-risk populations: https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/ The bottom line is: COVID vaccines worked. Tens of millions of lives were saved from COVID. And the protections from the vaccines along with immunity from prior infections have dramatically reduced the numbers of COVID deaths and hospitalizations, as the virus also has mutated over time to in general become less severe. Meaning people today in 2024, right now, don't feel the same sense of urgent health risk that they did in 2021 and 2022, early in the vaccine rollout and with the more deadly COVID variants circulating in those times, when COVID death and hospitalization numbers were skyrocketing. And there's also the factor of pandemic fatigue... Many people don't want to think or talk about COVID anymore, considering we're now 4-1/2 years into a COVID pandemic that officially killed 1.2 million people in the U.S. and more than 7 million worldwide (though the actual estimated deaths number worldwide has been projected to be some 4 times higher). source:

In my years of experience with them, SCB rarely does anything that's especially financially advantageous for their customers. Rather, they have some history of charging foreigners here lower than normal market exchange rates when the foreigner wants to do a cash advance/debit with their foreign credit or debit card via the bank. I can't help but wonder if the reason you're telling us they don't charge "exchange fees" or foreign currency fees, per se, if because they've already built their profit into giving the customer doing those transactions a lower than market exchange rates on those fund conversions? https://www.scb.co.th/content/media/personal-banking/rates-fees/others/credit-card-rates-and-fees/credit-card-rates-and-fees-en.pdf? https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/foreign-exchange-rates.html

There also have been credible journal-published studies showing ivermectin specifically had no value in reducing the risk of Long COVID when given soon after COVID infections: Outpatient treatment of Covid-19 with metformin, ivermectin, and fluvoxamine and the development of Long Covid over 10-month follow-up The Lancet Infectious Diseases October 2023 "Post-COVID-19 condition (also known as long COVID) is an emerging chronic illness potentially affecting millions of people. We aimed to evaluate whether outpatient COVID-19 treatment with metformin, ivermectin, or fluvoxamine soon after SARS-CoV-2 infection could reduce the risk of long COVID. ... "There was no effect on cumulative incidence of long COVID with ivermectin (HR 0·99, 95% CI 0·59–1·64) or fluvoxamine (1·36, 0·78–2·34) compared with placebo." ... To our knowledge, this is the first randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial to evaluate the effect of outpatient COVID-19 treatment on the incidence of long COVID. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1473309923002992 On the other hand, the same research has shown that the diabetes drug metformin DID have a significant impact in reducing the risk of Long COVID: Common diabetes drug shown to prevent long COVID June 14, 2023 "A 14-day course of metformin, a common drug used to manage type 2 diabetes, prevents long COVID, according to a new study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The promising results come from the COVID-OUT study, which looked at three readily available drugs: ivermectin, fluvoxamine, and metformin, for both COVID treatment and long-COVID prevention. All three drugs had shown antiviral properties in vivo against SARS-CoV-2, and all had been promising medical treatments for the virus, as they are cheap and safe. Now, more than 2 years after the outpatients trial began, metformin is the only medical intervention in the study shown to prevent long COVID. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/common-diabetes-drug-shown-prevent-long-covid Google search doesn't seem to find any mention of Cuomo and metformin together regarding COVID.

He hasn't been able to shake Long COVID after four years from his original spring 2020 COVID infection, so he's trying whatever he can... I can understand that. He's literally desperate. But the credible medical research says that won't solve his Long COVID problems. WHO: "The update also includes a strong recommendation against the use of ivermectin for patients with non-severe COVID-19. WHO continues to advise that in patients with severe or critical COVID-19, ivermectin should only be used in clinical trials." https://www.who.int/news/item/10-11-2023-who-updates-guidelines-on-treatments-for-covid-19 New England Journal of Medicine Editorial: Time to Stop Using Ineffective Covid-19 Drugs " Ivermectin and fluvoxamine, in particular, are still widely prescribed, even though evidence has been steadily accumulating to indicate that both treatments at acceptable doses are not effective for Covid-19." https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2209017?query=recirc_curatedRelated_article Wall Street Journal: Ivermectin had no clinical benefit against COVID-19 in largest study to date - WSJ Mar. 18, 2022 A group of researchers evaluating the effect of repurposed drugs against COVID-19 found that oral antiparasitic medication ivermectin did not improve patient outcomes in the largest trial of its kind to date, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Ivermectin marketed by Merck (NYSE:MRK) as Stromectol for parasitic infestations sparked controversy during the pandemic prompting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue warnings against its excessive use. “There was no indication that ivermectin is clinically useful,” said Edward Mills, a lead investigator of the trial and a professor of health sciences at Canada’s McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. https://seekingalpha.com/news/3815030-ivermectin-had-no-clinical-benefit-against-covid-19-in-largest-study-so-far

Nope, he hasn't -- from earlier this year: Long COVID to blame for lingering 'sick' symptoms? | CUOMO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z3b8-2mv-k And previously, back when he came down with COVID in spring 2020 long before COVID vaccines became available: CNN’s Chris Cuomo Says Coronavirus Symptoms Have Been “Maddening” in New Health Update He’s been dealing with a relentless fever, extreme weight loss, and sleepless nights. Apr 15, 2020 On Tuesday, Chris Cuomo, 49, opened up about his coronavirus symptoms following his COVID-19 diagnosis on March 31. The CNN anchor, who is still quarantined in his basement away from his family, said he’s been frustrated with his recovery. “I still have this low-grade fever. I can’t shake it. And I know everybody tells me it’s gradual, it takes time, it’s anywhere between 2 to 3 1/2 weeks, but it is maddening to have this little, stupid fever,” he said on Cuomo Prime Time. ... Cuomo also urged others to stay home and take the pandemic seriously. “So here’s the message: Don’t be me. But more importantly, be better than we’re being right now,” he told his viewers. https://www.prevention.com/health/a32031580/cnn-chris-cuomo-coronavirus-symptoms/

Yep, Cuomo hasn't forgetten... well... maybe! Journalist Chris Cuomo opens up about his struggle with long COVID Jan 7, 2024 "On his NewsNation show "Cuomo," journalist and former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo recently opened up about his struggle with long COVID. He shared that he's currently been battling a cold for over a month, and also relayed that since contracting COVID in Spring of 2020, his health hasn't been the same as it was pre-COVID. He has always considered himself very healthy—he lifts weights and is in great shape—but in the years following his COVID infection, he has struggled with more frequent illnesses that he doesn't bounce back from like he used to. He stated, post-COVID, "I can beat nothing" without medicine. He also shared that he has lost bone density from COVID." https://boingboing.net/2024/01/07/journalist-chris-cuomo-opens-up-about-his-struggle-with-long-covid.html Poster guy for all the reasons folks should do their best to avoid coming down with COVID.

There's apparently a lot you don't remember. By the way, "safe and effective" doesn't mean, and has never meant, a medication has no side effects, serious or otherwise. It means the benefits of taking it have been found to outweigh the risks, which was the case here. From the CDC circa 2020: 3. Like any medicine, vaccines can cause side effects. However, serious adverse events from vaccines are rare. Most side effects from vaccines, such as pain and redness at the injection site, are mild and go away quickly on their own. Serious adverse events are rare. If you have questions or concerns about a vaccine, talk with your healthcare provider. Learn more about the safety of recommended vaccines. Page last reviewed: February 25, 2020 https://www.cdc.gov/patientsafety/features/vaccine-safety.html Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Vaccines and vaccine safety 5 December 2023 Vaccines must be proven safe and effective in large Phase III clinical trials to prove that they meet internationally agreed benchmarks for safety and efficacy before they are introduced in national immunization programs. Independent reviews of the efficacy and safety evidence are required by WHO for each vaccine candidate, including regulatory review and approval in the country where the vaccine is manufactured, before WHO considers it approved for emergency use listing or prequalification. Billions of people have received the COVID-19 vaccine to date, showing that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccinations outweigh the risks of getting ill with COVID-19." https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-vaccines

The "24 studies" you reference, which were cited earlier in this thread, showed how COVID vaccines reduce the risk of Long COVID in recipients. And said nothing about "this would never happen again." Those studies had/have nothing to do with what you're posting about here. But indeed, ever since the beginning of the pandemic, health authorities have been clear that COVID vaccines could have rare and sometimes serious side effects. But that those, while regrettable, pale in comparison to the tens of millions of lives the vaccines saved from COVID. ------------------------------ Just remember, for every photo you post of a woman in a hospital bed, let's post millions of photos of people around the world who are still living their lives today because they got vaccinated and didn't end up dying from COVID. Or of the millions more who had the opportunity to get vaccinated against COVID and refused, and ended up paying the price: Florida radio host who called himself ‘Mr Anti-Vax’ dies of Covid-19 A conservative radio host from Florida who criticised coronavirus vaccination efforts – and called himself “Mr Anti-Vax” – before contracting Covid-19 himself has died, his station said on Saturday. A statement said: “It’s with great sadness that WNDB and Southern Stone Communications announce the passing of Marc Bernier, who informed and entertained listeners on WNDB for over 30 years. We kindly ask that privacy is given to Marc’s family during this time of grief.” When Bernier was hospitalised with Covid-19, three weeks ago, WNDB operations manager Mark McKinney told local media: “If you’ve listened to his show, you’ve heard him talk about how anti-vaccine he is on the air.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/29/conservative-radio-host-anti-vaxxer-dies-covid-marc-bernier

You (the anti-vaxers here) have got ones and dozens of cases out of (in the case of the UK) 50 million AZ doses given there. I've got a projected 6+ million people worldwide who were kept alive from COVID because they were vaccinated with the AZ vaccine. Let's not forget to balance the scales. Oxford vaccine saved most lives in its first year of rollout 15 Jul 2022 "The University believes that this has been – and continues to be – achieved through our partnership with AstraZeneca, with over 3 billion doses made available for use in 183 countries. As a result of this commitment to ensuring global and equitable access, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine saved 6.3 million lives in the first year of the global vaccine rollout – the most out of all the vaccines in circulation at the time. Airfinity, which conducted this analysis, further said that the vaccine may have saved the most lives before it first went to older age groups in high income countries and nations with less robust health care systems." https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2022-07-15-oxford-vaccine-saved-most-lives-its-first-year-rollout AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech saved over 12 million lives in the first year of vaccination Posted on Jul 13, 2022 "AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech saved over 12 million lives in the first year of vaccination New analysis by Airfinity shows the AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines saved the most lives in the first year of the global vaccination campaign. Today’s modeling shows the AstraZeneca jab saved 6.3 million lives and Pfizer/BioNTech saved 5.9 million lives. Last month Imperial College London published a study on excess deaths which calculated COVID-19 vaccines saved 20 million lives between December 2020 and December 2021. Airfinity has added further analysis to this work using its unique time series data set on vaccine distribution. ... “AstraZeneca may have saved the most lives due to where its primary series was distributed and who received it. Its vaccines first went to older age groups in high income countries and nations with less robust health care systems. Both factors would have resulted in averting more deaths in the first year of vaccinations.” https://www.airfinity.com/articles/astrazeneca-and-pfizer-biontech-saved-over-12-million-lives-in-the-first

Yah, those people are EXACTLY that dumb, swimming in an ocean of misinfo rubbish. And people died because of it. Kudos to the "I did my own research" crowd. Behavioural interventions to reduce vaccine hesitancy driven by misinformation on social media BMJ - Published 16 January 2024) "Anti-vaccine campaigns proliferated during the covid-19 pandemic15 with undeniable effects including substantial increases in covid related illness and death.151617 [emphasis added] Even before March 2020, vaccine hesitancy was directly linked to misinformation (false, inaccurate information promoted as factual) spread on social media.18 Once covid-19 reached pandemic status, social media was acknowledged as the epicentre of misinformation leading to hesitancy,1920 and consequently, interventions to tackle hesitancy have globally focused on delivery through social media.2122 Despite unprecedented levels of vaccine access and nearly real time communication on the development and availability of vaccines in 2020-21, public health officials struggled to keep pace with misleading or inaccurate content online.23 As guidelines shifted with the emergence of new information, policy decisions were often perceived by individuals and groups who are prone to distrust or refute government messaging as a response not to evidence but to mistakes or lack of expertise." https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj-2023-076542 Competing interests: All authors confirm that they have no conflicts or competing interests in contributing to this manuscript.

Ya, except for this 30% of U.S. parents who now lean anti-vaxer (or at least vaccine-skeptic) overall! Survey: Trust in vaccines declines among teenagers, parents May 09, 2024 "The authors found that in 2023, 70% of parents and 56% of teenagers felt that it was important teens receive all recommended vaccines to stay healthy. This was a decline from 85% of parents and 82% of teenagers in June 2021." https://www.healio.com/news/pediatrics/20240509/survey-trust-in-vaccines-declines-among-teenagers-parents

The COVID vaccines were never approved on the basis of their ability to stop transmission of COVID, even though they largely did in the early going. That wasn't even one of the approval criteria. They were approved on the basis of them reducing the risk of people getting sick from and dying from COVID, which they've done extraordinarily well. Fact Check: Preventing transmission never required for COVID vaccines’ initial approval; Pfizer vax did reduce transmission of early variants By Reuters Fact Check February 13, 2024 https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/preventing-transmission-never-required-covid-vaccines-initial-approval-pfizer-2024-02-12/

Sounds right to me: COVID vaccines saved 20 million lives in first year, study says Jun 24, 2022 Nearly 20 million lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year, but even more deaths could have been prevented if international targets for the shots had been reached, researchers reported Thursday. ... The researchers used data from 185 countries to estimate that vaccines prevented 4.2 million COVID-19 deaths in India, 1.9 million in the United States, 1 million in Brazil, 631,000 in France and 507,000 in the United Kingdom. ... Another modeling group used a different approach to estimate that 16.3 million COVID-19 deaths were averted by vaccines. That work, by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, has not been published. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/covid-vaccines-saved-20-million-lives-in-first-year-study-says Vaccine Confidence After COVID-19 October 20, 2023 An interview with Ali Mokdad on how the pandemic affected trust in vaccines Think Global Health spoke with Dr. Ali Mokdad, chief strategy officer for population health at the University of Washington and professor of health metrics sciences at IHME, about their findings. "From a scientific standpoint, the vaccine rollout was done by the books and was safe. There are articles about mRNA and its potential for vaccines and medications from way before I was born, and I’m an old dude with white hair. So this is not a new technology. But it was adapted to provide the vaccine, and two physicians just received a Nobel Prize for that work. We didn’t do a good job of explaining to the public, though, that this has been going on for a long time. ... If we hadn’t developed a COVID-19 vaccine, we’d have lost hundreds of millions of people. It saved a lot of lives. Unfortunately, it wasn’t portrayed as having done so." https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/vaccine-confidence-after-covid-19 WHO chief declares end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency 5 May 2023 The head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has declared “with great hope” an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency, stressing that it does not mean the disease is no longer a global threat. ... He said the virus – first made a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO chief on 30 January, 2020 - was here to stay: “It is still killing and it is still changing. The risk remains of new variants emerging that cause new surges in cases and deaths.” ... For over 12 months, the pandemic “has been on a downward trend”, he said, with immunity increasing due to the highly effective vaccines developed in record time to fight the disease, and infections. Death rates have decreased and the pressure on once overwhelmed health systems, has eased. https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136367