We will start with a "fun one" today.
A reader sent me a long note overnight regarding Covid-19 vaccines and adverse events.
The note exceeded the length maximum for a stand-alone post on the blog so I posted the note in its entirety here. I had to re-post the CDC VAERS data so it's possible the formatting changed, and there could possibly be other errors that I caused, but I believe it's correct. Whatever.
So, read the note at the link above. These are just some of my observations / comments.
1. VAERS is completely voluntary, so these numbers are incredibly low. In the thirty years I practiced pediatrics, I never once reported a vaccine-associated adverse event, not even for one of my patients in which a DPT vaccine was said to have caused seizures. So, these numbers are way under-reported.
2. VAERS is completely voluntary, and individual reports are not investigated by the CDC. They are simply received, tabulated, and posted. Any physician (any health care provider?) can submit a suspected adverse event on the easily-obtained government form.
3. On the VAERS report at the link, note the number of "birth defects" said to be due to the vaccine. There's no way in the world that even comes close to reality. These are malpractice cases. Oldest scam in the medical litigation arena. Instead of ambulance chasing, it's birth-defect chasing. Any pregnant person that gives birth to a child with a birth defect can easily find a lawyer (especially if they live in Texas or Louisiana) who can find a reason why her physician or her healthcare plan was at blame for the birth defect. Completely bogus.
4. Deaths: same thing, though not necessarily malpractice - litigation cases. But I will bet every one of those birth defect cases go on to litigation.
5. The reader mentions the stock market with regard to JNJ, MRNA, and PFE. From Yahoo!Finance:
- the market was down yesterday, so don't look at the one-day numbers.
- all pharmaceuticals dropped a bit yesterday for various reasons (mostly due to Medicare-releated news).
- but look at Moderna, the mRNA company. You are completely correct.
- six months ago: Moderna (MRNA): $140 / share.
- yesterday: $449 / share. Record high back in August: $484 / share.
6. Those with white privilege know how to read the pharmaceutical tea leaves and have made a killing off the Covid vaccine story. And the really, really smart white privilege folks invested in Moderna, and not JNJ.
A head scratcher to me -- Moderna stock killing it but PFE almost no upward movement. PHE has the "better"vaccine track record but no bump.
ReplyDeleteI believe Moderna is a mRNA pure play. Or certainly very close. Still a growth company.
DeleteOn the other hand, the vaccine is simply one product line for PFE which has a lot of other line items with not nearly the margin that the vaccine might be providing. Worse, this past week, the Biden administration says it hopes Medicare can finally negotiate pharmaceutical prices with the drug companies, which will significantly lower the margins for companies like Pfizer, Merck, and JNJ.