TallGuyJohninBKK

More irrelevancy: I haven't cited any CDC sources or research relating to the AZ vaccine's use in the UK and TTS. The AZ vaccine was never approved or used in the U.S., so citing a report about the U.S. CDC's past employment history details is pretty irrelevant to this UK-focused topic. Frankly, if your "help us out" allegation had any merit, then the AZ vaccine should have been approved in the U.S. But it wasn't. Because the data wasn't there to support its approval. And the CDC and the FDA acted on the data (or lack thereof). That's called following the science. Government vaccine advisers say they don’t foresee AstraZeneca vaccine being used in the US April 9, 2021 (CNN) — Vaccine advisers to the federal government tell CNN they don’t foresee AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine being used in the United States, and even if it were offered, they personally wouldn’t take it, given the other available options. At one point, hopes had been high for AstraZeneca’s vaccine, with the US pledging to invest up to $1.2 billion in the vaccine. But questions arose about the accuracy of AstraZeneca’s data, and even more significantly, on Wednesday, European drug regulators said there was a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare blood clots. Some countries – more than 70 have authorized the shot – have now limited its use." (more) https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/09/health/vaccine-advisers-astrazeneca-us/index.html Then later: AstraZeneca withdraws US COVID vaccine application, shifts focus to antibody treatments Nov 10, 2022 After missing the boat for emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines, AstraZeneca has finally pulled the plug on efforts to sell its shot in the U.S. AstraZeneca has decided to withdraw its application for COVID vaccine Vaxzevria with the FDA, CEO Pascal Soriot told reporters during a press briefing Thursday. The U.S. market is already well supplied, and the demand for vaccines is declining, Soriot said. Because the FDA has already fully approved mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, the agency’s emergency use authorization pathway for other vaccines is closed. Given the two mRNA shots have already become entrenched players in the U.S., there’s little room left for Vaxzevria in the market. (more) https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/astrazeneca-withdraws-us-covid-vaccine-application-focus-shifts-antibody-treatments

Here's another one for you pointing to viral vector, not mRNA: 4.3.1. Epidemiology of VITT including vaccine-associated causality Two adenoviral vector-based vaccines have been implicated in VITT: ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (produced by AstraZeneca, University of Oxford, Serum Institute of India); and Ad26.COV2.S (produced by Janssen, Johnson & Johnson) [34]. There are limited data available for the Gam-COVID-Vac/Sputnik V vaccine (produced by Gamaleya Institute), though cases of possible VITT have been reported related to this vaccine [35]. A single case of possible VITT has been reported related to the mRNA-1273 vaccine (produced by Moderna) and another related to the Gardasil 9 vaccine for human papillomavirus [36], [37]. Caution should be used in interpreting these discrete cases since they may represent the background rate of spontaneous heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (which also involves platelet activating anti-PF4-IgG), viral-infection associated VITT, or other types of TTS also unrelated to vaccination [21], [23], [38], [39]. ..... Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X24000574

The above grant was to study post COVID conditions, ie, Long COVID. Nothing to do with vaccine research or vaccine related blood clotting. That issue with the CDC foundation was many years ago, long before the COVID pandemic, as your citation notes. And to the best of my knowledge, Pfizer in recent years has not provided any meaningful financial funding to the CDC Foundation -- which is a separate entity from the CDC. In its 2022 year donor funding report, Pfizer was listed as contributing between $1000 and $9,999 to the CDC Foundation. https://www.cdcfoundation.org/FY2022/donors?group=corp

The feds seem to be saying, and other research I've read, that COVID infections do directly cause blood clotting problems, as posted above, per the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: COVID-19 and the Blood Last updated July 11, 2023 "Some people with COVID-19 develop abnormal blood clots, including in the smallest blood vessels. The clots may also form in multiple places in the body, including in the lungs. This unusual clotting may cause different complications, including organ damage, heart attack and stroke. Researchers think the clotting may be triggered by the high levels of inflammation caused by the SARS-CoV-2 infection. A high level of inflammation can affect multiple organs and result in severe disease. In children and teens, this high inflammation is called multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), and it can particularly affect the heart. People who already have damage to the blood vessels from diabetes or high blood pressure may be at higher risk of developing blood clots. In addition, some chronic health conditions may impact how COVID-19 affects your body, including your blood vessels." https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/covid/blood

The increased risk of TTS blood clotting has NOT been associated with COVID mRNA vaccines, only the COVID viral vector vaccines like AstraZeneca, where the risk was discovered shortly after the AZ vaccine went mass market. Because the blood clotting problem was so rare, it did not surface in the clinical trials for the AZ vaccine. Do COVID-19 vaccines cause blood clots? "The Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccines have not been shown to increase the risk of blood clots in multiple studies. However, two COVID-19 vaccines are associated with an extremely rare syndrome known as vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). It was discovered in March 2021 in connection to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and then later with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. In rare cases—2 to 20 per million—antibodies that the body produces as a side effect of the vaccine lead to uncontrolled activation of platelets. This causes both low platelet counts and blood clots to form." https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/2022/09/blood-clotting-covid-19-and-vaccines

The 50 some plaintiffs here who are claiming injury from the AZ vaccine are entitled to their day in court. And if their injuries are proven to be related to the vaccines they received, then they should be entitled to just compensation under the law. Any such death or injury is tragic and regrettable. But despite all the nonsense from anti-vaxers, virtually any medication or treatment taken -- even the ones we use every day in life -- have the potential for causing rare or very rare and potentially serious side effects. (Listen to the side effects warnings on virtually any drug medication commercial you see on TV.) But those medicines are still licensed and used, because they're needed, and the benefits far outweigh the risks. In this instance, we're talking about 50+ plaintiffs out of about 50 MILLION AstraZeneca vaccine doses administered in the U.K., mostly back in 2021, and COVID vaccines in total in the U.K. having been credited with saving some 400,000 lives during the pandemic. (sources for all cited above in prior posts in this thread). That's literally the definition of rare, very rare.

And more: Blood Clotting, COVID-19 and Vaccines "Blood clotting is a well-recognized complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection. It has also been identified as an extremely rare side effect of certain COVID-19 vaccines. The risk with vaccines is exceedingly low and individuals are at a significantly higher risk of developing a blood clot from COVID-19 infection than following COVID-19 vaccination." [emphasis added] What is the link between blood clots and COVID-19? The association between COVID-19 and blood clots was recognized early in the pandemic among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. These patients experienced blood clots both in deep veins and arteries, which sometimes led to strokes and heart attacks. Although these conditions have mostly been seen in patients with severe COVID-19 illness, people with non-severe illness have also developed blood clots. ... If deciding whether a COVID-19 vaccine is worth the risk, Abou-Ismail tells his patients that ”mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are safe in patients with a history of blood clots or increased risk factors. The risk of developing a blood clot from COVID-19 infection is far higher than getting a blood clot from a COVID-19 vaccine.” https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/2022/09/blood-clotting-covid-19-and-vaccines

And there's plenty of evidence that COVID infections themselves can lead to greater and more frequent blood clotting problems than from the viral vector vaccines: COVID-19 and the Blood Last updated July 11, 2023 "Some people with COVID-19 develop abnormal blood clots, including in the smallest blood vessels. The clots may also form in multiple places in the body, including in the lungs. This unusual clotting may cause different complications, including organ damage, heart attack and stroke. Researchers think the clotting may be triggered by the high levels of inflammation caused by the SARS-CoV-2 infection. A high level of inflammation can affect multiple organs and result in severe disease. In children and teens, this high inflammation is called multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), and it can particularly affect the heart. People who already have damage to the blood vessels from diabetes or high blood pressure may be at higher risk of developing blood clots. In addition, some chronic health conditions may impact how COVID-19 affects your body, including your blood vessels." https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/covid/blood Thrombosis (blood clots) with Thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS): During thrombosis, blood clots form and block the blood vessels. In thrombocytopenia, there are low numbers of platelets cells that help blood clot. This can cause internal bleeding. These issues were reported in a small number of cases after more than 12 million doses (Johnson & Johnson and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines). These conditions can be life-threatening if untreated. Most cases have occurred one to two weeks after vaccination in women, ages 18 to 49. If you get a COVID-19 infection, the risk of thrombosis is greater than you would get from the vaccine. [emphasis added] https://www.stjude.org/about-st-jude/stories/making-a-difference/covid-19-vaccine-side-effects-how-common-are-they.html

The rare blood clotting with low platelet levels problem, informally known as TTS, can be caused by many different conditions, not just viral vector vaccines, and with quite a few different causes more frequent than those vaccine-related (which are rated below as "rare"), as laid out in the following study from March 2024: 4.1.3. Thrombocytopenia with thrombosis syndrome (TTS) TTS has many possible causes which vary in frequency and pathogenesis which can be immune-mediated or non-immune-mediated (Table 3) [29]. VITT is in the category of immune-mediated entities. Some of the conditions in Table 3 can be easily recognised clinically, whereas others are more difficult to diagnose and may require specific laboratory assays. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X24000574

The election is still months away, and depending on which poll someone wants to pick, the numbers are close, generally within the margins of error. Newsweek via MSN: Donald Trump Stung by Double Polling Blow Two polls have suggested Donald Trump will lose the presidential election, in the latest swing in what has been a tight race so far. ... Polls have so far shown that the results will be tight as the pair are statistically tied in most surveys or enjoying only marginal leads. However, two recent polls have suggested Trump is now lagging, marginally. In one poll of 1,046 adults by Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research, 40 percent of all voters said they would vote for Biden and 38 percent would choose Trump in a race in which independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was included. When only likely voters were polled, 44 percent said they would vote for Biden and 39 percent for Trump. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-stung-by-double-polling-blow/ar-AA1o5xpW

Here's a Thai ingredients label for their product. They call it "Ice Confection"! Actual liquid milk or cream seems kinda hard to find. https://www.tops.co.th/en/walls-ice-cream-vanila-cup-51g-8851932074025 In the past, when I've checked the ingredient labels for the cheapest "ice creams" in Thailand, they often seemed to have various forms of sugar and palm oil as among their primary ingredients.

Try keeping up, or at least paying attention. No chance? UK COVID deaths lately were running more than 100 per week, along with more than 1,000 weekly new COVID hospitalizations. https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/

Everyone understood all along that the rapid tests were not as accurate at the PCR tests. But early on in the pandemic, the testing demand was huge and sufficient PCR capacity simply didn't exist. So they ended up going to the mass market with the best alternative they had. The rapid tests worked to a reasonable extent, particularly if repeated as recommended, just not as well as the other kind. As cited two posts above: "Alternatively, if RT-PCR tests are not available or accessible, clinicians and patients should follow FDA's [Food and Drug Administration's] serial antigen testing recommendations to help optimize diagnostic test performance," they added.

Yep, clearly exposed: Report: COVID-19 vaccines saved US $1.15 trillion, 3 million lives A Commonwealth Fund study estimates that, through November 2022, COVID-19 vaccines prevented more than 18.5 million US hospitalizations and 3.2 million deaths and saved the country $1.15 trillion. [emphasis added] https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/report-covid-19-vaccines-saved-us-115-trillion-3-million-lives Right here for everyone to see.

Obviously you've got your opinion, but apparently, nothing credible to back it up that you're willing to present here.

COVID-19 hospitalizations hit record low, the CDC says There were 5,615 COVID hospitalizations in the most recent week data available. Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have hit their lowest level ever reported since the pandemic began, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 5,615 COVID hospitalizations in the most recent week data that is available. In comparison, there were over 150,000 weekly admissions at the peak of the Omicron variant circulating in early 2022. "The significant decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths to these new lows is encouraging, showing that our public health measures and vaccination efforts have paid off," said Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News medical contributor. (more) https://abcnews.go.com/Health/covid-19-hospitalizations-hit-record-low-cdc/story?id=109793784 These below may be among the last official weekly U.S. COVID hospitalization reports we'll see for a while: Odd convergence: 5,000+ current COVID hospitalizations in the U.S., and 5,000+ new COVID hospitalizations for the most recent week: CDC source: The key looming question is will the recent declines be sustained, or be just a temporary seasonal reprieve. Last spring 2023, U.S. COVID hospitalizations (as shown in the charts above) declined markedly into the spring-summer, and then rose markedly again at the end of 2023 and into early 2024. The question is will the same seasonal pattern repeat itself again toward the end of 2024 and into 2025, or the U.S. will get a real sustained COVID reprieve? The year-end 2023 spike had a somewhat lower peak than the year-end 2022 spike, which was a good sign, but weekly new COVID hospitalizations still peaked at more than 30,000 per week just a few months ago.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/05/02/2024-07567/medicare-and-medicaid-programs-and-the-childrens-health-insurance-program-hospital-inpatient A Proposed Rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on 05/02/2024 This document has a comment period that ends in 38 days. (06/10/2024) p. Conditions of Participation Requirements for Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals To Report Acute Respiratory Illnesses "In section X.F. of the preamble of this proposed rule, we are proposing to update the hospital and CAH infection prevention and control and antibiotic stewardship programs conditions of participation (CoPs) to extend a limited subset of the current COVID-19 and influenza data reporting requirements. These proposed reporting requirements ensure that hospitals and CAHs have appropriate insight related to evolving infection control needs. Specifically, CMS is proposing to replace the COVID-19 and Seasonal Influenza reporting standards for hospitals and CAHs with a new standard addressing acute respiratory illnesses to require that, beginning on October 1, 2024, hospitals and CAHs would have to electronically report information about COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. CMS is proposing that outside of a public health emergency (PHE), hospitals and CAHs would have to report these data on a weekly basis."

As addressed in the above chart, here's what happens when people skip important vaccinations, whether due to increased anti-vaxerism or other causes: Global measles cases nearly doubled in a year There were more than 320,000 cases of measles worldwide in 2023, an 88% increase over 2022 May 02, 2024 The number of global measles cases nearly doubled in 1 year after a decline in vaccine coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts. Experts presented data at the ESCMID Global Congress showing an 88% increase in global measles cases from 2022 to 2023 and a tripling of the number of countries experiencing a large or disruptive measles outbreak. In the United States, nearly one-third of all measles cases since 2020 have been reported in 2024, CDC researchers reported last month. Measles vaccine coverage in the U.S. has remained below 95% — the rate widely considered necessary to prevent outbreaks — for the last 3 years at roughly 93%. https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20240502/global-measles-cases-nearly-doubled-in-a-year The U.S. previously declared that it had eradicated endemic transmission of measles, but now risks losing that status, as the above article recounts. The UK appears in a similar situation. The U.K. lost its measles elimination status in 2019, then regained it in 2021. However, since October 2023, there have been 1,294 measles cases in England, according to the above article.

More bad news for Trumpers: DJT Stock Falls. SEC Charges Trump Media Auditing Firm With ‘Massive Fraud.’ Trump Media & Technology Group shares were falling Friday after the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the company’s auditing firm with “massive fraud.” The regulator has charged BF Borgers CPA and its owner Benjamin Borgers “with deliberate and systemic failures to comply with Public Company Accounting Oversight Board standards in its audits and reviews incorporated in more than 1,500 SEC filings from January 2021 through June 2023,” according to a filing. To settle the chargers, BF Borgers and Benjamin Borgers have agreed to pay civil penalties of $12 million and $2 million, respectively. Both also have agreed to permanent suspensions from appearing and practicing before the SEC as accountants, effective immediately. ... Trump Media stock was tumbling 5.2% to $46.15. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/djt-stock-falls-sec-charges-trump-media-auditing-firm-with-massive-fraud/ar-AA1o5xV8 Is anyone surprised?

Yes, let's follow the money: Report: COVID-19 vaccines saved US $1.15 trillion, 3 million lives A Commonwealth Fund study estimates that, through November 2022, COVID-19 vaccines prevented more than 18.5 million US hospitalizations and 3.2 million deaths and saved the country $1.15 trillion. [emphasis added] The modeling study estimated hospitalizations and deaths averted through the end of November 2022, at a time when 80% of the US population had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. ... "Without vaccination the U.S. would have experienced 1.5 times more infections, 3.8 times more hospitalizations, and 4.1 times more deaths," the authors wrote. "These losses would have been accompanied by more than $1 trillion in additional medical costs that were averted because of fewer infections, hospitalizations, and deaths." https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/report-covid-19-vaccines-saved-us-115-trillion-3-million-lives

And do you have some credible source of information about the WHO that provides any actual, factual, real-world basis for your lack of trust?

Lots of people around the world are continuing to receive COVID vaccinations, especially in the higher risk groups. For example: Latest update from the US CDC says 41+% of adults age 65 and above (the highest risk population) have received the updated monovalent XBB vaccine for fall 2023-spring 2024. Source: https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/vaccination-trends-children.html Last November in the UK, the NHS reported 11.4 million COVID vaccinations had administered in England since the start of the autumn 2023 campaign, including with 61.5 percent of people aged 65 and over having received a COVID jab. Then in December, NHS reported that an estimated 81.4% of all care home residents, and 89.5% of all eligible care home residents, have been vaccinated with an autumn booster. The spring 2024 COVID vaccinations campaign in the UK just recently got underway. 1.3 million COVID vaccinations for targeted older and at-risk groups in the past two weeks: Source: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/ With the latest update above, NHS also reported that the UK's cumulative number of COVID vaccinations since the start of the pandemic now stands at 162.5 million. And no, the UK isn't using the AZ vaccine anymore.

What the COVID vaccines could accomplish was mostly correctly reported by scientists and most public health agencies at various points during the pandemic (excluding some invariable politician overstatements and occasional mis-speaks by others). But as the COVID variants evolved/changed thru the years, so did the performance of the vaccines against those variants (which eventually become more vaccine resistant/evasive), and thus so did the statements about the effectiveness of the vaccines. There's nothing new about that, as Yale Medicine recounts below: "COVID-19 is now in its fifth year, and the subvariants of the Omicron strain, which first emerged in 2021, continue to drive infections in the United States. The good news is that vaccines are still expected to be effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID. " ... In December 2020, Pfizer-BioNTech’s Phase 3 clinical data for its original vaccine showed 95% efficacy for preventing symptomatic COVID. Later data on real-world effectiveness for adults showed that the protection from the mRNA two-dose primary series waned over time, suggesting that updated vaccines would be needed to bring the immune system back to robust levels. ... Moderna’s initial Phase 3 clinical data in December 2020 was similar to Pfizer-BioNTech’s—both vaccines showed about 95% efficacy for prevention of COVID. Later data on real-world effectiveness for adults showed that the protection from the mRNA two-dose primary series wanes over time, but booster doses brought the immune system back to robust levels. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/covid-19-vaccine-comparison What anti-vaxers (probably deliberately) refuse to recognize is that COVID and its variants didn't stay static over the past 4+ years, thus nor did the corresponding advice and statements made by public health officials at varying points in time. Things were constantly evolving, just as the vaccines were produced in updated versions to try to keep up with the newer COVID variants. And throughout that entire time, the facts and realities of 2020 weren't at all the same as those from 2021, 2022, 2023, etc.

What benefit did it provide us? Covid vaccines saved more than 400,000 lives in England and Scotland, WHO says https://inews.co.uk/news/science/covid-vaccines-saved-lives-england-scotland-who-2862550 Covid-19: Vaccines have saved at least 1.4 million lives in Europe, WHO reports https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj.q125 COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-england-54d29ae3af5c700f15d704c14ee224b5

High-risk patients with COVID symptoms should use PCR rather than rapid tests, study suggests Study findings that reveal a sensitivity of 47% for COVID-19 rapid antigen tests (RATs) compared with reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests during Omicron variant predominance should prompt clinicians to consider using the latter test in high-risk patients eligible for antiviral drugs, the authors say. ... "Clinicians should be aware of the lower sensitivity of antigen testing compared with RT-PCR, which might lead to false-negative results," the authors wrote. "This finding has implications for timely initiation of SARS-CoV-2 antiviral treatment, when early diagnosis is essential; clinicians should consider RT-PCR for persons for whom antiviral treatment is recommended. "Alternatively, if RT-PCR tests are not available or accessible, clinicians and patients should follow FDA's [Food and Drug Administration's] serial antigen testing recommendations to help optimize diagnostic test performance," they added. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/high-risk-patients-covid-symptoms-should-use-pcr-rather-rapid-tests-study-suggests