Most people would like to believe that medicine is apolitical. That is to say, decisions are based purely on scientific evidence. But we have learned over 50 years of researching and writing about a variety of health topics that beliefs often trump data. Such appears to be the case with COVID vaccinations. In particular, a condition that has been dubbed “Long Vax” has been ignored or dismissed. Are COVID vaccination injuries real? The state of Kansas filed suit against Pfizer on June 17, 2024.
The “NATURE OF THE ACTION” Against Pfizer:
Kansas Attorney General, Kris Kobach, alleges that:
“Pfizer misled the public that it had a ‘safe and effective’ COVID-19 vaccine.
“Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine was safe even though it knew its COVID-19 vaccine was connected to serious adverse events, including myocarditis and pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths. Pfizer concealed this critical safety information from the public.
“Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine was effective even though it knew its COVID-19 vaccine waned over time and did not protect against COVID-19 variants. Pfizer concealed this critical effectiveness information from the public.”
Those are just the first 3 out of 9 concerns that were listed in the lawsuit. The last one, # 9, states:
“Pfizer must be held accountable for falsely representing the benefits of its COVID- 19 vaccine while concealing and suppressing the truth about its vaccine’s safety risks, waning effectiveness, and inability to prevent transmission.”
This 179-page Kansas lawsuit follows a somewhat similar lawsuit from Texas. The AG there has alleged that Pfizer violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act in describing the effectiveness of the COVID vaccine.
Regardless of how this litigation resolves itself, there are people who have been negatively affected by the vaccine. That does not diminish the benefits that many have experienced. But it would dishonest to ignore the harms.
Over 4 Years with COVID-19!
It’s hard to believe that we have been dealing with COVID-19 for more than 4 years. Now, one of our biggest challenges is something called “Long COVID.”
After all this time we still do not know the cause(s) of this debilitating condition. Far more alarming, there are no approved treatments.
How many people are suffering? The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics offers the Household Pulse Survey. It suggests that 17.6% of all adults in the US have at some time experienced long-term symptoms after COVID infection. If that is accurate, then over 40 million Americans have had to deal with long-lasting health problems after infection.
The KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation) is an independent health reporting organization. It has a more conservative estimate:
According to KFF the rate does not appear to have changed much over the past year or so. Roughly 30 percent of those who came down with the infection had lingering symptoms for some extended period.
Here is how KFF describes its analysis:
“As of March 2024, 7% of all adults (17 million people) reported that they have long COVID. Among the 60% of adults who reported ever having had COVID, roughly 3 in 10 reported having long COVID at some point and about 1 in 10 reported currently having it.”
Whatever the number, 17 million or 40 million, it is astronomical. Long Covid represents one of the biggest challenges we face in health care today.
What Are the Complications of Long COVID?
Part of the challenge of Long COVID is the wide range of symptoms that may occur. Many people report extreme fatigue that keeps them from carrying on as usual. Such symptoms frequently get worse after exercise.
Other problems may include brain fog, shortness of breath, dizziness, headache, sleep problems, depression and anxiety. All told, there are over 200 symptoms associated with Long COVID. You can read more about them at this link.
What About Long Vax? Why Has It Been Ignored?
Very few health professionals would dispute the reality of Long COVID. On the other hand, not many recognize symptoms following COVID vaccinations. Patients are calling this condition Long Vax. It remains highly controversial.
Many health professionals may reject the idea that a COVID shot could produce long-lasting harm. However, in an interview in the New York Times (May 3, 2024), Dr. Janet Woodcock acknowledges the problem. Dr. Woodcock recently retired from her position at the highest levels of leadership at the FDA. She was acting commissioner during a critical period for the agency.
I have had many interactions with Dr. Woodcock over the last few decades. We have often disagreed. On the topic of Long Vax, however, I find that Dr. Woodcock is surprisingly candid despite official reassurances about the safety of the vaccines.
The New York Times article stated:
“But in a recent interview, Dr. Janet Woodcock, a longtime leader of the Food and Drug Administration, who retired in February, said she believed that some recipients had experienced uncommon but ‘serious’ and ‘life-changing’ reactions beyond those described by federal agencies.
“‘I feel bad for those people,’ said Dr. Woodcock, who became the F.D.A.’s acting commissioner in January 2021 as the vaccines were rolling out. ‘I believe their suffering should be acknowledged, that they have real problems, and they should be taken seriously.’
“‘I’m disappointed in myself,’ she added. ‘I did a lot of things I feel very good about, but this is one of the few things I feel I just didn’t bring it home.’”
Statistics Regarding Long Vax?
It’s All About VAERS:
Most people are unaware of VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System).
Here is the official description from the CDC:
“VAERS is the nation’s early warning system that monitors the safety of vaccines after they are authorized or licensed for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). VAERS is part of the larger vaccine safety system in the United States that helps make sure vaccines are safe. The system is co-managed by CDC and FDA.
“VAERS accepts and analyzes reports of possible health problems—also called “adverse events”—after vaccination. As an early warning system, VAERS cannot prove that a vaccine caused a problem. Specifically, a report to VAERS does not mean that a vaccine caused an adverse event. But VAERS can give CDC and FDA important information. If it looks as though a vaccine might be causing a problem, FDA and CDC will investigate further and take action if needed.”
The Problem with VAERS:
The real challenge of the VAERS program is how to make sense of it.
An investigative report published in the BMJ (Nov. 10, 2023) revealed:
“VAERS is supposed to be user friendly, responsive, and transparent. However, investigations by The BMJ have uncovered that it’s not meeting its own standards. Not only have staffing levels failed to keep pace with the unprecedented number of reports since the rollout of covid vaccines but there are signs that the system is overwhelmed, reports aren’t being followed up, and signals are being missed.
“The BMJ has spoken to more than a dozen people, including physicians and a state medical examiner, who have filed VAERS reports of a serious nature on behalf of themselves or patients and were never contacted by clinical reviewers or were contacted months later.
“Our investigation has also found that, in stark contrast to the US government’s handling of adverse reaction reports on drugs and devices, the publicly accessible VAERS database on vaccines includes only initial reports, while case updates and corrections are kept on a separate, back end system. Officials told The BMJ that this was to protect patient confidentiality—but this means that patients, doctors, and other public users of the database have access only to an incomplete and uncorrected version.”
The BMJ report goes on to state that VAERS is understaffed. Follow-up is sketchy at best, even when there is a catastrophic event. Transparency is often lacking:
“The BMJ has found that the FDA and CDC essentially maintain two separate VAERS databases: a public facing database, containing only initial reports; and a private, back end system containing all updates and corrections—such as a formal diagnosis, recovery, or death.”
The BMJ report concludes:
“Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist and researcher at Yale, has been recruiting members of React19 to study their reactions. ‘We are working hard to understand the experience, clinical course, and potential mechanisms of the ailments reported by those who have had severe symptoms arise soon after the vaccination,’ he tells The BMJ. ‘There are so many people whose lives have been changed dramatically—but what I don’t know is how many or why.’”
The People’s Pharmacy and Bell’s Palsy:
We started reporting on cases of post-COVID vaccination injuries before the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine received Emergency Use Authorization. On December 17, 2020 we described Bell’s palsy (facial paralysis) after COVID vaccination.
An update in the journal Vaccines (Feb. 2023) concludes:
“The rate ratio of Bell’s palsy after COVID-19 vaccination was 25.3 per 1,000,000. The ratio was higher after the first dose compared to the second dose and was higher among those who took the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine compared to other vaccines. The average time to symptom onset after the vaccination was 11.6 days.”
Clearly, Bell’s palsy is rare, but it does appear to be an adverse reaction related to the COVID vaccination.
The People’s Pharmacy and Long Vax:
On December 15, 2020 we invited visitors to our website to share their post-vaccination reactions. Here are just a few of the Long Vax reports we have received:
Sandra was a healthy runner before her shot:
“18 days after my Moderna shot I am still experiencing side effects and was diagnosed with a ‘rare’ side effect, inflamed heart. My c-reactive protein is 105, and other tests are normal. (Had several tests for COVID and Flu, all negative). I had 4 days of bad flu-type symptoms (stayed in bed) and now gradually getting better.
“I don’t want to scare anyone off from getting the vaccine, but wish they would be more transparent about side effects. I’m 60 years old and hardly ever sick. I run for exercise and normally push through anything. Had a 7-mile race planned that I have an 8-year streak going. If my doctor had not figured this out, I may have tried to get through it even though I know it’s stubborn and stupid to do something when you aren’t feeling good.”
Another person wrote:
“On April 29, 2021, I received my second Pfizer vaccine. Three days later, I experienced frighteningly abnormal heart rhythms. My doctor addressed and calmed the arrhythmia but could not eliminate it. I still have it.
“Neuropathy in my face, hands and feet soon followed, along with weekly migraine headaches. Week after week, I felt like I had a bad case of the flu.
“My primary doctor appeared not to believe anything I said. After a year and a half, nothing worked. Nurses and PAs in the practice told me they were seeing others with similar issues. Then I knew I wasn’t conjuring up my illness. I changed doctors.
“My new physician has spent hours listening to me and sent me to many specialists, all of whom are perplexed by my symptoms. Two and a half years later I am no better. My quality of life is diminished. Fatigue and cognitive impairment are constant companions. I suspect I have Long Vax, but sadly, there is still no remedy.”
Another reader shared this experience:
“Last October (2023) I had my second booster. Three days later I was a mess. Whether it was a Long Vax reaction is not certain. There was no help anywhere. My symptoms were extreme fatigue and muscle pain, especially if I tried to do anything, even a short walk up the block. I felt freezing cold, unable to get warm and very stiff. This lasted for six months, and I was miserable.”
Jeanni adds a painful story about Long Vax:
“Three of my family members decided to get the covid vaccines while the rest of the family members did not. All three are now deceased!
“One example of one of my now deceased family members is that she got the covid vaccine (I do not know which one), and three days after the shot she was admitted to the hospital with an inflamed stomach and lungs. When she finally left the hospital, they told her she would be on oxygen for the rest of her life.
“From there she went down hill fast, losing a lot of weight, could barely talk above a whisper, and was very tired all the time. Prior to the covid vaccine she was fighting liver cancer, and I think the vaccine just caused it to advance quicker.”
We will never know if the vaccine did in fact accelerate the cancer, but the dramatic downturn Jeanni reported is alarming.
Blood Clots in Lungs?
Charmaine reports:
“My reaction was after the second booster…blood clots in my lungs. No more shots for me!”
We have also heard from a physician who is one of our heroes. This brilliant clinician reported on a case of pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in the lungs) in another physician. The doctor patient was in perfect health before receiving the COVID vaccine. After the jab she felt very short of breath and was barely able to walk. A CT scan revealed blood clots in the lungs.
Tinnitus as a Long Vax Reaction?
On July 12, 2022 we asked readers:
“Is Tinnitus an Adverse Reaction of COVID Vaccines?”
While not as serious a heart damage or blood clots in the lungs, ringing in the ears can be a devastating adverse reaction. We have heard from a lot of readers who insist that they developed this Long Vax symptom after getting the shot:
Katie writes:
“My husband had the Pfizer vaccine. He began to experience problems with tinnitus which he has never had before. The tinnitus was worse at night time when he went to bed. He described it as a hissing noise and had to play music to drown out the hissing so that he could fall asleep.
“Some nights the hissing was so loud he had to go and watch TV until he fell asleep on the sofa. Sometimes during the night he would just wake up suddenly with a jolt, wide awake for no apparent reason; he also had bouts of Insomnia where he never slept at all.
“He often experienced an increase in body temperature like he was having a hot flash and would have to go outside in the middle of the night and sit until he cooled down. He had episodes of breathlessness like he wasn’t getting enough air into his lungs which caused panic attacks.
“We were blaming his symptoms on hyperthyroidism as that too has been all over the place. Now we are thinking side effects of the Pfizer vaccine after reading about tinnitus on your website.”
Nadine has been told that her tinnitus is not related to the vaccine:
“I got tinnitus and vertigo 10 days after AstraZeneca. I waited until I stabilized and had Pfizer for my second shot. Two weeks later vertigo and dizziness returned. Tinnitus has never stopped since 1st shot. ENT says its not related….”
Rankin offers this:
“I had very mild tinnitus for several years. Following my first booster shot of Pfizer vaccine in October of 2021, the tinnitus increased dramatically. It remains at a high level eight months later.”
We have been unable to locate any large, well-controlled trials to determine the incidence of tinnitus in Long COVID patients. This study of over 1000 Long COVID patients from Germany, however, offers a glimpse into this distressing complication (Frontiers in Neurology, April 25, 2022).
The authors wrote:
“At the time of the survey, 60% of patients reported the presence of vertigo or dizziness with a mean severity of 4.6 ± 2.7 on a scale of 1 (least severe) to 10 (most severe) and 30% complained of tinnitus with a mean severity of 4.8 ± 3.0. Approximately one fifth of the participants with tinnitus and vertigo or dizziness, rated their symptoms to be severe. The data shown in this study confirms that tinnitus and vertigo or dizziness are common symptoms in Long COVID patients and demonstrates, that a compelling number of patients rate their symptoms as severe.”
A study from Australia (Vaccine, March 19, 2024) concludes:
“Our study found an increased relative incidence of vertigo in the 42 days following mRNA vaccines, and an increased relative incidence of tinnitus in the 42 days following both Vaxzevria® adenovirus vector and mRNA vaccines. We are the first to confirm this increased relative incidence of tinnitus and vertigo post COVID-19 vaccines.
“Healthcare providers should be aware of these potential adverse events to ensure that people experiencing them, as well as those considering COVID-19 vaccines in the future, are well counselled.”
Final Words About Long Vax:
The New York Times article that I quoted at the start of this post was titled:
“Thousands Believe COVID Vaccines Harmed Them. Is Anyone Listening?”
The answer seems to be no.
A modest concession from the FDA:
“Asked at a recent congressional hearing whether the nation’s vaccine-safety surveillance was sufficient, Dr. Peter Marks, director of the F.D.A.’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said, ‘I do believe we could do better.’”
Some might describe his answer as an understatement.
In my opinion, it’s past time for the CDC and the FDA to recognize the suffering that can follow a COVID vaccination. Patients cannot sue vaccine manufacturers. The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program does not cover harm from Long Vax. That will take an act of Congress.
In the meantime, a lot of people are suffering and we have the same question that Apoorva Mandavilli asks in her New York Times article:
“Is Anyone Listening?”
Please share your thoughts about Long Vax in the comment section below. Have you experienced any symptoms of Long Vax? You will see that many readers have already contributed their stories.
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