March 2023: New Bivalent Vax Between 0% to 29% Effective (preprint study by Cleveland Clinic researchers)
A preprint study by Cleveland Clinic researchers finds the emergency-authorized bivalent vax is 29% effective against the BA.4/5 variant, 20% effective against the BQ variant, and 0% effective against the XB variant. (To receive initial approval in non-emergency conditions, vaccines must demonstrate 50%+ efficacy.)
Among 51017 working-aged Cleveland Clinic employees, the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine was 29% effective in preventing infection while the BA.4/5 lineages were dominant, and 20% effective while the BQ lineages were. Effectiveness was not demonstrated when the XBB lineages were dominant.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 625v5.full
-----
May 2023: mRNA Vaccines Useless After a Couple Months (Journal of the American Medical Association)
A new study by Italian researchers, published in JAMA, shows that - unless you're willing to get boostered every couple of months (and accept the compounding risks of myocarditis that increase with each new shot) - there's basically no point in getting vaccinated.
This systematic review and meta-analysis of secondary data from 40 studies found that the estimated vaccine effectiveness against both laboratory-confirmed Omicron infection and symptomatic disease was lower than 20% at 6 months from the administration of the primary vaccination cycle and less than 30% at 9 months from the administration of a booster dose.
These findings suggest that the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron rapidly wanes over time.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamane ... le/2804451
-------------------------
May 2023: mRNA Vaccines No Better than Placebo (Cell)
A new study by researchers at the Danish Institute of Advanced Science published in the Q1 journal Cell finds there was no statistically significant difference in COVID-19 survival rates between people who received an mRNA vaccine and those who did not. It did find a small, but still statistically significant, difference in survival rates for viral vector vaccines (I find this point surprising) such as AstraZeneca and J&J.
The differences in the effects of adenovirus-vector and mRNA vaccines on overall mortality, if true, would have a major impact on global health. If validated in additional studies, the protective non-specific effects of adenovirus-based vaccines on non-COVID-19 mortality, in addition to their effectiveness against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, may represent an important advantage in vulnerable populations in which cardiovascular mortality is high.
Ironically, the rich countries in Europe and the USA have emphasized the more expensive mRNA vaccines because of slightly better short-term vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 compared to the relatively inexpensive adenovirus-vector vaccines and the detection of a rare blood clotting disorder associated with the adenovirus-vector vaccines, mainly AstraZeneca. While this decision is understandable in the short term during a situation with high COVID-19-related mortality, in the endemic situation in which COVID-19-related deaths have decreased, this decision may need to be reassessed. Otherwise, if the protective effects of adenovirus-vector vaccines on overall mortality in the RCTs reflect the reality, this could turn out to be a very costly decision, both economically and health wise.
https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(23)00810-6
----
April 2023: Vaxed at Risk of Vision Loss (Nature)
A new study by Taiwanese researchers published in the journal Nature looked at one of the growing list of serious long term side effects of the now largely discredited mRNA based COVID vaccines.
The cumulative incidence of retinal vascular occlusion was significantly higher in the vaccinated cohort compared to the unvaccinated cohort, 2 years and 12 weeks after vaccination. The risk of retinal vascular occlusion significantly increased during the first 2 weeks after vaccination and persisted for 12 weeks. Additionally, individuals with first and second dose of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 had significantly increased risk of retinal vascular occlusion 2 years following vaccination, while no disparity was detected between brand and dose of vaccines.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-023-00661-7
RVO is generally untreatable.