What is worse: Side Effects of Covid Vaccine or the Covid-19?

 

 

One of the frequent comments from the hesitant unvaccinated Americans is that they need more data to be sure that the Covid vaccines are safe. 

No vaccine is absolutely safe and various side effects in healthy volunteers have been reported in the vaccine related clinical trials. However, there is pre-ponderance of evidence that the adverse events associated with Covid-19 are far greater (including death), than the adverse effects of the Covid vaccine. 

A recent paper from Israel caught my attention and is the subject of this blog. 

The study was published in the “New England Journal of Medicine”, one of the most prestigious peer reviewed medical journals. As I scanned the table of content of my September 16 issue, I quickly jumped to the paper titled “Safety of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine in a Nationwide Setting” by Dr. Barda and his colleagues and the accompanying editorial. . 

This large observational study was carried out in Israel and involved close to 2 million people. The investigators simultaneously evaluated the risk of adverse events among adults who had received the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine and the risk of the same events in those who had Covid-19. 

The study incorporated a complex set of safeguards and statistical methodologies required of valid scientific research. These included having a control group, matching the study and control groups individually one to one by age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, heath issues and CDC defined risk factors. The vaccinated group was followed for 42 days (i.e., 21 days after the first dose and 21 days after the second dose).   

The scientific details and statistical analyses are beyond the scope of this blog but can be found in the publication, via this link as well as the reference provided at the end of this article. 

To illustrate the differences, I have chosen to share the risk of just a few adverse events such as Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle). This condition has received much attention recently given the preponderance of reported cases after vaccination among adolescents and young adults.    

In this large observational study, the absolute excess risk of “myocarditis” with vaccination was 3 per 100,000 persons whereas it was 11 per 100,000 persons with Covid-19. The risks of acute kidney injury was 125 per 100,000 in Covid-19 and arrhythmia of the heart 166 per 100,000 while the vaccine was actually protective ( risk of -3 and -6 per 100,000) respectively. 

The study lists eleven adverse events and shows the risks between the vaccinated and the infected group. The color-coded graph (Figure 4) on page 1088 of the article is illustrative. 

The authors point out that what is even more compelling about these data is the substantial protective effect of vaccines with respect to adverse events such as acute kidney injury, hemorrhage in the brain, and anemia, probably because infection was prevented. 

To me, this study of close to 2 million people offers solid proof that Pfizer’s Covid vaccine is safe, and that the side effects and complications of the disease are far worse. 

As of today, the death toll in the USA has exceeded 700,000, many of these being those who were unvaccinated. The data is clear. My advice to those who are hesitant, is this:  take courage, roll up the sleeves and get the shot. You will not only protect yourselves, but you will also save your loved ones and the community around you.

                                     Source and References

 Safety of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine in a Nationwide Setting

Noam Barda, M.D., Noa Dagan, M.D., Yatir Ben-Shlomo, B.Sc et al

N Engl J Med 2021; 385:1078-1090. September 16, 2021

 

The Importance of Context in Covid-19 Vaccine Safety

Grace M. Lee, M.D., M.P.H.

N Engl J Med 2021; 385:1138-1140. September 16, 2021