To: Wharf Rat who wrote (1540947 ) 5/31/2025 9:27:34 PM From: Maple MAGA Read Replies (6) | Respond to of 1570416 I am not 'anti-vaccine.' I support traditional vaccines like those for polio, measles, and tetanus, which went through long-term randomized clinical trials and decades of real-world follow-up before becoming routine. My skepticism is focused specifically on the COVID-19 vaccines, and it is based on facts: Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) : The COVID vaccines were authorized under EUA, meaning they bypassed the normal full approval process that requires years of long-term safety and efficacy data. (FDA, December 2020). Full biological approval (for Pfizer) was only granted in August 2021, and even then, only for certain age groups. Failure to stop transmission : Early messaging promised that the vaccines would stop infection and transmission ("get vaccinated to protect others"). However, by mid-2021, real-world data showed that fully vaccinated individuals could still catch and spread COVID-19 (CDC, August 2021, outbreak in Barnstable County, Massachusetts). Rochelle Walensky, then head of the CDC, admitted vaccinated individuals carried similar viral loads as unvaccinated individuals. CDC quietly changed the definition of 'vaccine': Pre-September 2021, the CDC defined a vaccine as "a product that stimulates a person's immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease." After criticism that COVID-19 shots were not preventing infection, the CDC changed the definition to "a preparation that is used to stimulate the body's immune response against diseases." (CDC definition change documented September 1, 2021; archived at Wayback Machine.) Efficacy claims based on limited data: Pfizer’s original clinical trial reported 95% efficacy , but this number was based on relative risk reduction , not absolute risk reduction (which was less than 1%). The trials did not measure prevention of transmission at all. Pfizer executive Janine Small later admitted before the European Parliament (October 2022) that Pfizer had not even tested for transmission prevention before launching the product. Ongoing safety questions: mRNA technology had never been used widely in human vaccines before COVID-19. Adverse events (e.g., myocarditis in young males) have been acknowledged by the CDC and FDA (VAERS and V-Safe data). Given these facts, it is entirely rational, even responsible, to question a rushed and still-evolving medical product, especially when the narrative surrounding it has shifted so dramatically over time. In short: I believe in vaccines that work. I do not blindly believe in rushed products or political messaging masquerading as science. That’s called critical thinking, not craziness.