SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Johnson & Johnson vaccine linked to rare cases of autoimmune disorder:
The Food and Drug Administration announced a change to the fact sheet on Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine Monday, warning of an increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological disorder that damages the nerves and can lead to paralysis.
"Based on an analysis of Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting (VAERS) data, there have been 100 preliminary reports following vaccination with the Janssen vaccine after approximately 12.5 million doses administered," an FDA spokesperson said in a statement to CNET. Ninety-five of the cases were serious and required hospitalization, with one reported death, according to the FDA.
The cases of Guillain-Barré usually occurred about two weeks after vaccination and were typically found in males aged 50 and older, according to a statement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said it will discuss the link between the US's only single-dose COVID vaccine and the autoimmune disorder at an upcoming meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. It also said that most people fully recover from Guillain-Barré syndrome.
The known benefits of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine continue to outweigh the known risks, the FDA said. But those who got a Johnson & Johnson shot should seek medical attention if they develop the following symptoms, per the FDA: weakness or tingling sensations, especially in the legs or arms, that's worsening and spreading to other parts of the body; difficulty walking; difficulty with facial movements, including speaking, chewing or swallowing; double vision or inability to move eyes; or difficulty with bladder control or bowel function.
[...] Guillain-Barré can occur after infections with viruses such as the flu, Epstein Barr or Zika, the CDC reports. Guillain-Barré also occurs after infection with Campylobacter bacteria, which is the most common bacterial cause of diarrhea. It has also been been associated with other vaccines, such as those for the flu and shingles, according to the FDA. Although most people fully recover from Guillain-Barré syndrome, it can lead to severe nerve damage and paralysis. It's also most common in men and people over age 50.
Also at CNN.
Wikipedia entry on Guillain-Barré.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 13 2021, @03:22PM (4 children)
TL/DR:
- Vaccines make perfect sense if you're old and ill.
- Vaccines make 0 sense if you're young and healthy.
The important question is where people who tend to fall between the two extremes meet. And, in my opinion, that should be a personal decision. As Israel has now become a great example of, this virus isn't going to go away just with mass vaccination. And if you do choose to get a vaccination it will likely entail multiple more booster shots over the next year or two before this virus becomes endemic and fades but never really disappears. Each shot further increasing the risk of facing one of the ever mounting number of side effects.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 13 2021, @04:12PM (3 children)
I just posted another response to GP that talks about actual incidence of side effects from COVID vs. from the vaccine. In most types of side effects, the incidence from COVID is orders of magnitude higher than from the vaccine, so that's a risk you need to consider, even if you're "young and healthy."
Also, one needs to consider what sort of gamble you're taking by delaying vaccination, in terms of effects on the population and future COVID risks. COVID already has a lot of nasty side effects beyond death. The more it is in circulation, the greater the risk of mutations that lead to more problems, worse side effects, and perhaps greater ability to punch through protection from the vaccine and infect more people. (Thus enhancing the aforementioned bad effects.)
Viruses are a moving target. Without herd immunity and with large outbreaks continuing to happen, we run increased risk of worse strains developing, including ones that the vaccines may not be able to guard against. Which puts everyone at greater risk.
So, as a young healthy person, you can take the risk of getting COVID and potentially getting some nasty side effects, while contributing to the potential future evolution of the virus that will make it even more likely you'll be infected in the future and perhaps have even worse effects... or you can get the vaccine, take some much lower risks, likely avoid most of potential nasty side effects of COVID itself, and help stop the spread and evolution.
I'm NOT saying everyone should blindly just get the vaccine. But portraying it as though there's "zero sense" in a young person getting it is disingenuous at best -- there are broader implications to young people not being vaccinated, both personally and for society at large.
(Score: 2) by Socrastotle on Tuesday July 13 2021, @06:13PM (2 children)
I believe Israel has demonstrated that herd immunity is not really viable. Israel had remarkable success with a coercive vaccination campaign and managed to vaccinate more than 80% of their adult population. And for some time it seemed to be paying dividends. They brought their *total* caseload down to below 200 with new cases trending towards zero. Then? One guy brought in a variant (this is rhetorical, but perhaps not - all it takes is one individual), and now they have active cases in the thousands, and just hit 1,198 new cases in one day. Scaled to America's population (for comparison/context), that would be 42,776 new cases. Big Pharma is cooking up another shot though, ready to market with the utmost urgency. I will make the bold prediction that this will not be the last time this cycle repeats.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 13 2021, @09:54PM (1 child)
You're overlooking the fact that vaccination is only one part of the solution while simultaneously pointing out that it's an incomplete solution. SMH.
Compare with the handling of industrial safety - how you protect workers from hazards on job sites The most effective thing to do is to eliminate a hazard from a worksite. If it or something like it absolutely has to be there, it is often possible to substitute something less hazardous. Less effective are engineering controls, namely changing industrial processes to isolate workers from the hazard. If that can't be done, you apply administrative controls, eg. "do not cross yellow line". Least effective is personal protective equipment.
Higher on the list is generally harder to do but also generally more effective in ensuring worker safety. Hardhats are fine, but better is telling the steelworkers to put a tarp under the doodad they are riveting, best is assembling the damn thing on the ground and figure out how to not break it when the crane lifts it up.
Travel restrictions, lockdowns, vaccination induced herd immunity, ventilation controls, and masking have analogues in industrial safety design. I leave it as an excercise for the reader to determine their relative ordering. No analogy is perfect.
Herd immunity is absolutely viable, if you understand that it is only a part of the solution. Without it, and other protective measures you've just got mass infection.
(Score: 2) by Socrastotle on Wednesday July 14 2021, @01:33PM
When a population reaches herd immunity against a disease the idea is that that population becomes effectively immune as a whole, even if some subset ends up infected it will be unable to effectively spread. We do not need to engage in "other protective measures" to ward off polio, because we have achieved genuine herd immunity. Of course this only works when you have robust and effective vaccines. The efficacy against the latest strains, which are not even an immune escape incident and evolved from a non-immunized population, are quite poor.
And so in this sort of scenario herd immunity has no real meaning, and the both politicians and the media are overtly lying about this. They continue to suggest that once we achieve herd immunity, life can return to normal. But of course it won't, because, as you've acknowledged here - herd immunity, as it applies to COVID, no longer really has any meaning. A society with no protection and a society with herd immunity will, if they seek to prevent future outbreaks, be obligated to behave in pretty much the same way.