Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum’s Post

Absolutely crucial message from FDA Commissioner Robert Califf! There has been highlights on the alarming rise in vaccine hesitancy in the US. But this isnt just affecting US, it applies to all. The root cause? A surge in vaccine misinformation which is influencing individuals to decline vaccination. Hence healthcare professionals should ramp up efforts to provide clear science backed information to help individuals make well informed choices. It all starts with everyone's effort in discussions and promote vaccine literacy especially when Covid-19 is still around. #covid #lifesciences #pharmanews #vaccines #clinicalresearch #clinicaltrials

The antivax movement continues to spread misinformation about COVID mRNA vaccines. One often repeated, but debunked, claim is that the vaccines increase all-cause mortality. However, according to FactCheck.org, there is no evidence to support this claim. In fact, there is no link between excess deaths and the vaccines, contrary to what is being shared online. It is important to rely on credible sources for information and to make informed decisions about vaccination. #vaccines #COVID19 #misinformation

nstonline Recent interview with nstonline on the AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine issues. Some of the pertinent questions that was discussed include: Should those of us who got the AstraZeneca vaccine be concerned given the lawsuit and admission by the pharmaceutical company that the vaccine causes rare side effects? Doesn’t this new development call for more transparency with regards to Covid-19 vaccines in general and their side effects? There has always been a view among the general public that Covid-19 vaccines were rushed through and administered without due thought for safety. "COVID-19 vaccines have been rigorously tested to ensure safety and efficacy. Documented studies by the WHO confirm that serious side effects, such as Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT), are extremely rare, occurring in approximately 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 250,000 cases. The AstraZeneca vaccine, which uses an adenovirus vector, can rarely trigger an immune response that causes clotting, but such instances are minimal." "Clinical trials included preclinical studies, phase 1, 2, and 3 trials, involving tens of thousands of participants. Regulatory agencies like the FDA and EMA conducted thorough reviews, ensuring all vaccines met stringent safety standards. Vaccination has prevented an estimated 14.4 million COVID-19 deaths globally, according to a Lancet Infectious Diseases study. This robust evidence underscores the vaccines' critical role in controlling the pandemic." #vaccine #VaccinesSaveLives #COVID19 #covidvaccineforchildren Monash University Malaysia Monash University Monash Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences NIBM Malaysia Malaysia Genome and Vaccine Institute Academy of Sciences Malaysia YSN -ASM Hisham Abdullah World Health Organization (WHO) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Daily Mail Australia Daily Mail News Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) ABC News South China Morning Post SCMP ChinaDaily.com.cn Australian Science Media Centre Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry Of Health, Malaysia (KKM) Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) https://lnkd.in/gKTZAfar

New WHO/Europe study confirms the lifesaving impact of Covid-19 vaccines. Let's all commit to having honest, respectful, participatory (i.e. listen, not lecture) conversations with those who have doubts about vaccination. Share with them this evidence, respond to their concerns, and work with them to protect their health and well-being, and the health of those they care about. https://lnkd.in/ewWeDTpy

Interesting new viewpoint paper by FDA's Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf and CBER Director Dr. Peter Marks in JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association today. Vaccines are arguably one of the greatest medical inventions of the past century. Ever since, in 1796, Dr Edward Jenner used cowpox virus to save people from a painful smallpox death, millions of lives have been saved and improved through vaccines. Unfortunately, vaccine misinformation and disinformation increasingly poses a threat to this marvel of modern medicine. Today's paper provides a great overview of the history and current U.S. landscape around vaccines, including interesting data showing #COVID19 #mortalityrates by vaccination status and age group over time, clearly reinforcing the lifesaving value of vaccines. The paper's provocative (somewhat Pollyanna?) conclusion: "the best way to counter the current large volume of vaccine misinformation is to dilute it with large amounts of truthful, accessible scientific evidence." FDA's commitment to "do our part at FDA by continuing to provide health care clinicians and the general public with timely and accurate information in plain language to help explain the benefits and risks of vaccination" is certainly commendable and very much needed. Let's hope - for all of our sakes- that the approach of combating misinformation with more and more truthful information will work and protect (restore?) trust in safe and effective vaccines. Here is the full text article:

FROM THE INTERSECTION: “The overall picture: Here’s my [THE AUTHOR’S] best attempt to summarize the full truth about the Covid vaccines: They are overwhelmingly safe and effective. They have saved millions of lives and prevented untold misery around the world. They’re so valuable that elderly people and those with underlying health conditions should be vigilant about getting booster shots when they’re eligible. For most children, on the other hand, booster shots seem to have only modest benefits, which is why many countries don’t recommend them. And, yes, a small fraction of people will experience significant side effects from the vaccines. Eventually, scientific research may be able to better understand and reduce those side effects — which is more reason to pay attention to them. Overall, Covid vaccines are probably the most beneficial medical breakthrough in years, if not decades. I encourage you to read Apoorva’s article.”

Our blog post about the GHSP paper has gone liveI Uncovering Reasons Why COVID-19 Vaccines Faced Hurdles in Malawi New CCP research suggests that treating the COVID-19 vaccine differently than other routine vaccines may have contributed to vaccine doubts and low uptake rates. https://lnkd.in/gYSdnEt3

Although I trusted food choices to combat COVID instead of the vaccine shot, how does one compare 30,000 bad vaccine reactions versus the 15 million who took the vaccine in Australia, which would equal 1 in 500 doses created a significantly bad result. If the world was being warned there was a pandemic that could kill 1% of a country's population, would one accept a 1 out of 500 chance the vaccine would harm a person versus an alleged 1% death rate among the infected if the vaccine was not taken, divided by an unknown percentage below 100% of total population that would be infected? I lost the topic I was responding to and can't find it, which was of an Australian News Pundit condemning the lack of statistical transparency. This link is to a recently released study regarding the number of Australian vaccines taken but does not mention the 30,000 number, the 30,000 number came from the Australian news report I can no longer find the link to. https://lnkd.in/gZqfWhcY

A massive study recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ): Heart looked at 10.17 million vaccinated and 10.39 million unvaccinated people in the UK. They found a huge reduction in the risk of post-COVID cardiac and thromboembolic events after vaccination. Consistent with prior work, the results were similar regardless of whether people received the Pfizer or Astrazeneca vaccine. Anyone saying vaccines aren't helpful or that vaccination is more dangerous than the disease is wrong. As they discuss, prior work had shown a 30% increased risk of myocarditis in the 30 day window after vaccination (the risk of myocarditis is already quite low for the average person -- probably 1 in 10,000 or less, so this shouldn't be of concern). Contrast that 30% figure corresponding increase after COVID-19, which is a 900% increase in risk. While the risk of adverse events from vaccination is not zero, these results suggest the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks by a considerable margin for the average person. [There have been some analyses suggesting the benefit/risk is not favorable for young men in their 20s, however more recent work suggests that even for that group the benefit/risk is favorable: https://lnkd.in/e3NbWhc2] Read => https://lnkd.in/efXVUNCc

The global COVID-19 vaccination campaign saved 2.4 million lives in 141 countries, valued at $6.5 trillion, found a recent USC Schaeffer Center working paper co-authored by Neeraj Sood. Had the vaccines been distributed equitably, the campaign would have saved more than 3 million lives, but with a $1.8 trillion decrease in economic value, the study found. The working paper is the first to estimate the impact that the vaccination campaign had on excess deaths using observational data. Learn more: https://ow.ly/zUQj50QlY2a USC Sol Price School of Public Policy USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences