Britain became the first western country to authorize the use of Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. The approval granted by the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on December 1 was at lightning speed – just 3 weeks after Pfizer published the first data from its Phase-3 clinical trial. Pfizer claims its vaccine has 95% efficacy and is safe.

 

Less than 24 hours later, Barack Obama announced that he will take a Coronavirus vaccine once one is available. Obama, in an interview with SiriusXM on Wednesday, said – “If Anthony Fauci tells me this vaccine is safe, I’m going to take it. I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science, and what I don’t trust is getting Covid.”

 

Joining Obama were George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The three former U.S. presidents are volunteering to get their Covid-19 vaccines on camera to promote public confidence in the vaccine’s safety – once the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approves one. The problem is, currently, there is no FDA-approved or authorized vaccine for the prevention of Covid-19.

Even though the U.K. has approved Pfizer vaccine, the FDA has just started reviewing the test data submitted by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech. And the FDA is not scheduled to consider the vaccine until Dec 10. In reality, the concerns are not only about Pfizer, but also the speed with which other Covid-19 vaccines have been developed, including Moderna and AstraZeneca’s.

 

But the fact that the British regulators approved at mind-boggling speed a vaccine developed by an American company before the FDA could have definitely put pressure on the U.S regulators. After Britain cleared the Pfizer vaccine, FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn was summoned to the White House to explain why the agency was not as efficient as the British.

 

However, the speed of the United Kingdom’s authorization has also raised suspicion, largely because it came at a time when Prime Minister Boris Johnson is aggressively looking for ways to boost his government after poor handling of the Coronavirus pandemic. Johnson’s popularity has plunged, recording his first negative ratings (-10.3) since 2019 when he was elected the British Prime Minister.

On the same day Obama and Clinton volunteered to take an FDA-approved vaccine, European Union regulators – the European Medicines Agency (EMA) – have criticized the U.K. for rushing its approval of Pfizer’s vaccine. EMA, which is in charge of approving Covid-19 vaccines for the EU, said it would only decide by Dec 29 whether to authorise Pfizer’s vaccine.

 

The EMA said its longer approval procedure was more appropriate as it was based on more evidence and required more checks than the emergency procedure chosen by Britain. Even though British regulators insisted “no corners have been cut” during the review process and even plans to roll out Pfizer vaccine next week, Britain is still subject to EU rules until it fully leaves the bloc at the end of the year.

 

Obviously, besides the global competition – even between the U.S. and ally U.K. – to produce the vaccine for the market, there is also political reason to get the vaccine to the people as fast as possible. Donald Trump is a classic example of how the U.S. president lost his re-election because a vaccine did not come early enough to offset his mishandling of the pandemic.

The fact that Obama has to dramatically trumpet his willingness to take a jab to convince Americans is enough proof that even Americans were not convinced of subjecting themselves to a Coronavirus vaccine. According to a recent Gallup survey, many Americans – especially people of colour – are still skeptical about getting a Covid-19 vaccine.

 

Even though Americans’ willingness to be vaccinated has increased to 58% in the month of October, up from a low of 50% in September, the number is still not promising. The latest data, based on a survey conducted from Oct 19 to Nov 1, shows 42% of Americans refuse to get a vaccine – a significant challenge ahead of the government’s plan in achieving mass public compliance.

 

While 61% white American adults said they are willing to get the jab, only 48% of non-white American adults are prepared to do so. Astonishingly, only 54% American women are willing to take a vaccine, as compared to 61% men. Those in the age between 45-64 years old are the least interested to get the vaccine – only 49%. But what are the reasons Americans reluctant to get the preventive jab?

The top reason was the “rush timeline” for the development of the Covid vaccine, said 37% of the Americans who would not get the vaccine. Another 26% say they want to wait to confirm the vaccine is safe. Some 15% cite other reasons, including the belief that vaccination is not necessary. An additional 12% said they don’t trust vaccines in general.

 

At least 10% Americans revealed they want to wait to see how effective the vaccine will be. This group is perhaps the smartest – waiting for others to be a guinea pig first. It was already bad that Trump had been pressuring the regulators to approve a vaccine before his re-election date. Now that the British regulators’ approval is being condemned, the U.S. vaccination efforts could be jeopardized.

 

The U.S. might be a developed nation. But the sentiment of Americans who are anti-vaccine is simply jaw-dropping. In a Gallup poll earlier this year, only 45% of Americans believe vaccines do not cause autism in children. Essentially, a whopping 55% majority of the people believe vaccine, like the measles vaccines, are the culprit linked to autism.

Another reason is due to the infamous Tuskegee study, where the U.S. Public Health Service conducted a study of the effects of untreated syphilis in Black men from 1932-1972. But the Black men with syphilis were not offered treatment for decades after penicillin became available in the 1940s, because government researchers wanted to study the long-term effects of the disease.

 

So should you rush to be among the first to get a Covid-19 vaccine, even if you do not believe vaccines will cause autism in kids? Unless you live in a country or area with a very high number of Covid cases, where you may be forced to get the jab, perhaps the best option is to wait for other countries or other people get the vaccine to see the effectiveness, side effects or long-term risks.

 

After all, who could blame you for not fully trusting vaccines when AstraZeneca was hit with a manufacturing error recently? There’s no sure way of telling if it was an attempt to deliberately cook up the numbers to make the vaccine looks good. Even if pharmaceutical companies did not lie about their results, the rush to the market means a higher percentage of hidden risk.

 

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Mistake Or Cheating? – AstraZeneca-Oxford Admits Manufacturing Error In Its Vaccine Effectiveness Results
• AstraZeneca-Oxford Vaccine Shows 62% To 90% Effectiveness – Here’s Why This Could Be The Best Bet For Everyone
• Moderna Reveals Covid Vaccine – Here’s How This 94.5% Effective Vaccine Differs From Pfizer’s Vaccine
• Covid-19 Vaccines Hit Roadblocks – In 24 Hours, Eli Lilly And Johnson & Johnson’s Trials Suspended Over Safety Concerns
• Coronavirus – Here’s How China Is Back To Normal While The U.S. And Europe Are Getting From Bad To Worse
• Russia Reveals “Sputnik V” – But Scientists Condemn The Coronavirus Vaccine As Risky, Dangerous & Could Backfire
• 3 Coronavirus Variants Discovered – Surprisingly, “Type-A” Found In Americans, Wuhan’s Type-B And Type-C In Europe
• USA vs Europe – The War For Face Masks Get Ugly As The U.S. Accused Of Piracy & Paying 3 Times Cash
• The World Is Working On 20 Coronavirus Vaccines – But It Could Take Up To 18 Months
• China Appears To Be Winning The Coronavirus War, And Other Countries Are Studying How The Chinese Did It
• Arabs Conspiracy Theories – Coronavirus Is The U.S. & Israel Biological Warfare To Cripple China’s Economy & Reputation

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December 3rd, 2020 by financetwitter

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