Home » Pericarditis

Tag: Pericarditis

Three Questions To Ask Yourself About Any Therapy Including The COVID-19 Vaccine

[Updated August, 28, 2021]

I’ve had thousands of patient’s ask about the COVID-19 vaccine and whether they should consider taking it or not. At the outset, let me make it clear that I am not opposed to vaccines, nor am I an anti-vax proponent.  I am very much a proponent of safe and effective vaccines and therapies.  I present this information so that my patients and readers can make an informed choice about their individual health.  Many of my patients have chosen to get vaccinated, and many have not.  Many are still on the fence.

This information is continually changing and I will try to update this post when important information is available. You can find a summary and links to recent research on a previous blog post here.

Any time you use a therapeutic, medication or vaccine, you need to evaluate it with three guidelines in mind:
      1. Is it safe?
      2. Is it effective?
      3. Do you actually need it?

Survivability Points to Ponder

Currently, children under 18 years old have a 99.998% chance of survival if they get COVID-19 and are untreated.  Why would you inject a child with a vaccine when there is no need for treatment?  Yet this vaccine is being pushed upon our children 12 years of age and older by schools, sports programs and government officials.
The risk of death in a young adult who contracts COVID-19 between the ages of 19 to 44 years old is 99.95%.  Again, why would we force vaccination or treatment upon anyone who’s risk is 0.05%?
If everyone on the planet were to get COVID-19 and not get treated, the global death rate would be less than 0.5% of the global population.  That is identical to influenza.  After you read the information below, you need to ask yourself: Does the potential risk of the COVID-19 vaccine warrant force vaccination the entire global population?
If we have effective outpatient treatments, and the risk of death was no greater than the flu, why would you consider use of a vaccine with significant sides effects and poor overall effectiveness?

How Does the COVID-19 Vaccine Work?

As of today, the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson Johnson COVID-19 vaccines consist of a snippet of genetic code directing production of an immune response identical to what the actual virus causes to occur. This response stimulates the production of a coronavirus spike protein. In the Pfizer.BioNTech & Moderna vaccines, it is delivered in a tiny fat bubble called a lipid nanoparticle. Some researchers suspect the immune system’s response to that delivery vehicle also causes some the short-term side effects, and may post greater risks in the long term.
What we know today, is that the spike proteins, whether produced by the virus or by the vaccine is the “toxic” portion to the body. A percentage of people have significant adverse responses to this spike proteins. This protein binds to those tissues with the highest concentrations of ACE2 receptors on their cell membranes.  The binding of ACE2 receptors by spike proteins causes a release of inflammatory cytokines (protein signals to stimulate the body to fight infection).   However, this cytokine release is amplified significantly when T cells are suppressed or not functional.  We know that obesity, diabetes, prediabetes and insulin resistance states cause a suppression in T cell function.  Within four hours of blood sugar and insulin levels spiking and staying elevated, something that commonly occurs in diabetic, pre-diabetic and obese patients, T cell immunity is suppressed and cytokine levels, like IL-6, are elevated.
A recently uncovered Pfizer study in Japan identified that these proteins and the nano-particle transport system concentrate and bind at the spleen, bone marrow, liver, adrenal glands, mesenteric lymph-nodes, and ovaries within 48 hours of vaccination (1).  Originally, it was thought that the vaccine only concentrated in the deltoid muscle where the vaccine was given. According to Dr. Robert Malone the creator of the mRNA technology, the spike proteins are biologically active. Because of this distribution throughout the body, and according to Dr. Malone, there is significant potential for leukemia, lymphoma and female fertility issues 1-3 years from vaccination and auto-immune disorders 2-3 years from vaccination.  Because we have no data in humans at the 2-3 year mark, the actual risk of this is still unknown.

Is The Vaccine Effective?

Currently the only data we have on the vaccine effectiveness comes from a brand new package insert released on the 23rd of August, 2021.  Studies in 44,000 people demonstrated it has a 94.7% confidence interval over 6 months.  That means, in lay terms, that the vaccine will decrease your likelihood of caching COVID-19 by an “estimate” of 94.7% within six months of your first shot.  However, data coming out of Israel where 85% of the population has been vaccinated for the last eight months shows that that this effectiveness drops to 39% by the eighth month.  Anything less than 40% effectiveness is considered no more effective than placebo.
If you’ve never had a COVID-19 infection, then this vaccine will give you short term protection for 2-8 months as it’s protective effect rapidly wears off.  Hence, Pfizer and Moderna have recommended a third dose of the vaccine starting in September.  However, there is no information about the risks and benefits of a third dose.  And, if a third dose is necessary, will there be a fourth?  And a fifth?
In the short term studies (two month period of time), vaccine manufacturers stated that there was a 66% reduction in hospitalizations due to COVID-19 with the vaccine use.  This is not what is being seen in Israel, where 85% of their population has been vaccinated.  In fact, people vaccinated in January had a 2.26 times greater risk for a breakthrough infection with the Delta variant than those vaccinated in April.
The rate of infection and hospitalization rates remain the same as the unvaccinated as you can see in the graphic below:
In another study just released on August 25, 2021, as a pre-print in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), data from Israel paints a very interesting picture of what happens when the majority of the population is vaccinated.  This real world observational study of over 800,000 people compares the unvaccinated  to those with prior COVID-19 illness, those with prior COVID-19 + 1 dose of vaccine and those who are vaccinated with two doses.
This study demonstrates that those who received the COVID-19 vaccine (two shot series) have a 13.06 times GREATER risk of infection with the COVID-19 Delta variant compared with those who were unvaccinated but had previous infection with COVID-19 alone.
Additionally, those who received the vaccine had a 6.7 fold greater risk for admission to the hospital compared to those with natural infection.  The conclusion in this, the largest real world vaccination study on COVID-19 to date, is that natural immunity confers a 13 times greater protection than the vaccine.

Acute or Short Term Issues:

First these vaccines contain a black box warning for people under age 55 years old. This warning is that there is a significant increased risk of a forms of inflammation of the heart called myocarditis and fluid build up around the heart called pericarditis.  This risk was set at 13 per million, or one person in every 76,900 doses given.  As of August 20th, 2021, Moderna’s vaccine is being evaluated for an even greater risk seen from Canadian data.  “There might be a 2.5 times higher incidence of myocarditis in those who get the Moderna vaccine compared with Pfizer’s vaccine,” Reuters reported.
Second, Blood clot formation is the number one risk of these vaccines. The spike proteins that form from the vaccine are identical to the same proteins caused by the virus itself. It’s not the virus that’s the problem, it’s the spike proteins that act like a toxin. The Salk Institute has identified that these spike proteins bind to the ACE 2 receptors on multiple organ tissues, damaging the lining of blood vessels and increase the risk of blood clot, stroke and heart attack. The increased risk of clots is most dramatic in the first week after a vaccine is given, however, this risk is elevated as long as these proteins are circulating in the blood stream.
Given this information, and the number of blood clots I and many others have seen clinically post vaccination, this vaccine has been aptly called “The Clot Shot.”
Third, data demonstrates that patients given this vaccine in their 1st trimester of pregnancy have an increased risk of miscarriages from 10% to 80% above the average. This is likely due to spike protein deposition in the uterus, however, this is still under evaluation.

Sub Acute Issues:

In all other attempts at making a coronavirus vaccine in the last 25 years, animal studies have show the development of antibody dependent enhancement (ADE). This is where re-exposure to the virus causes a 10 fold immune response above the norm.  This also causes what is called cytokine release syndrome.  However, because this vaccine was released under an Emergency Use Authorization, these animals studies were never performed on this vaccine to determine the potential for these syndromes to arise.
I am seeing signs that ADE is starting to happen in a percentage of my patients who have been vaccinated with both the first and second doses of vaccine.

Long Term Issues:

There is definite scientific evidence that these spike proteins may damage ovarian function. There is definite evidence that they may lower sperm counts. There is definite evidence that they will effect autoimmunity in a percentage of the population. There is definite evidence that it may cause various forms of cancer.
According to a recent article by Talotta et at., “Young patients and female patients who are already affected or predisposed (e.g. immunological and serological abnormalities in absence of clinical symptoms, familiarity for immune-mediated diseases) to autoimmune or autoinflammatory disorders should be carefully evaluated for the benefits and risks of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination” (4).
Lipid nano-particles have been shown to concentrate themselves in the ovary with a 16% decrease in fertility that was identified in the animal studies recently made available to the public.
Recent research from Read et al. demonstrates that vaccinating people with vaccines that do not completely stop transmission actually increase conditions that promote more severe strains of the virus.  “Our data show that anti-disease vaccines that do not prevent transmission [vaccines that don’t completely stop transmission] can create conditions that promote the emergence of pathogen strains that cause more severe disease in unvaccinated hosts” (5).

What is the Actual Risk Of:

      • Infertility
      • Autoimmunity
      • Cancer after getting this vaccine?
We JUST DON’T KNOW!

Who Should NOT Receive the Vaccine:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an update on those who should not receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Recommendations cover:
      • Patients who have had a severe allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine.
      • Patients who have had an immediate non-severe allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine.
      • Patients who have had an allergic reaction to polyethylene glycol (PEG) or polysorbate.
      • Patients who have had an allergic reaction to other types of vaccines or an injectable therapy.
      • Patients who have had allergies not related to vaccines (food like shell fish, nuts, etc).
Common Side Effects that can and will occur with both versions of the vaccine (lower side effect profile in Pfizer/BioNtech version):
      • Fever up to 104 F (40 C) for 24 hours in 2-4% of participants.
      • Severe fatigue in 4%- 9.7% of participants
      • Muscle pain in 8.9%
      • Joint pain in 5.2%
      • Headache in 2%-4.5%.
That’s a higher rate of severe reactions than people are accustomed to, and it occurs because the vaccine is actually producing the same toxin in the system that the virus does – spike proteins.
      • The likelihood of a severe problem if you get a COVID-19 infection is about 0.5%.
      • Where the likelihood of side effects from the vaccine is 1-10%.
With those odds, you be the judge.

Additional Cautions in Pregnancy/Breast Feeding:

Directly from the CDC website: “Observational data demonstrate that, while the chances for these severe health effects are low, pregnant people with COVID-19 have an increased risk of severe illness, including illness that results in ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death compared with non-pregnant women of reproductive age. Additionally, pregnant people with COVID-19 might be at increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth, compared with pregnant women without COVID-19.”
“Based on how mRNA vaccines work, experts believe they are unlikely to pose a specific risk for people who are pregnant. However, the actual risks of mRNA vaccines to the pregnant person and her fetus are unknown because these vaccines have not been studied in pregnant women.” However, as noted above, vaccination in the 1st trimester of pregnancy increases miscarriage rate up to 80%.
“There are no data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in lactating women or on the effects of mRNA vaccines on the breastfed infant or on milk production/excretion. mRNA vaccines are not thought to be a risk to the breastfeeding infant. People who are breastfeeding and are part of a group recommended to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, such as healthcare personnel, may choose to be vaccinated.” Yet, in light of these assumptions by the CDC, studies in this group has NOT been completed, so we just don’t know the answer.
For those outside of the United States, the UK government’s safety instructions recommend that “no pregnancy or breast feeding should be planned within two months of each COVID-19 vaccine dose.”

Does the Benefit Outweigh the Risk?

Does the benefit of two to six months of protection outweigh the risks that are being seen with these vaccines?  Ultimately, that decision is yours.  My profession opinion is that the risk is greater than the benefit.  Especially when we have effective, inexpensive treatments available.
The NIH, CDC, Hospital Associations, Health Systems and big Pharma have spent hundreds of millions trying to convince the American public that these vaccines are safe.   As of December 2020, prior to completion of any safety studies on these vaccines, the US government alone had spent $250 million dollars trying to convince you and me that these vaccines are worth the risk.  Yet, as a physician who weighs risk to benefit outcomes of treatments with 20-30 patient’s every day, those risks just don’t add up.
When in the history of mankind have you ever heard or seen such powerful propaganda regarding health and safety of every soul on the planet?   The only time I have heard or seen anything remotely similar is in the 1940’s.
Hitler rose to power by convincing the entire nation of Germany that the Jewish population carried typhus, an infectious bacteria that was perceived as an imminent threat to the country.  The typhus vaccine was developed in 1939 in Poland and was in use during WWII.  In order to stop the spread of typhus three things occurred:
  1. Those at risk (mainly the Jews) were quarantined.
  2. Everyone in the nation was required to carry papers documenting full medical history, travel history, vaccination status and typhoid risk.
  3. Those that were not compliant were excluded from socialization and work, or were they were imprisoned.
Sound familiar?

Sources:

  1. https://Pfizer COVIDvac_report_Japanese government.pdf
  2. https://www.cdc.gov/…/recommendations/pregnancy.html
  3. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/information-for-healthcare-professionals-on-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7833091/
  5. https://europepmc.org/article/MED/26214839

Vaccine Guidance Got You Confused?

Do you find yourself confused about mixed guidance when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines and safety concerns?  You’re not alone.  Even we, as physicians, struggle to wade through the ever changing guidance, research and new adverse events popping up every day.

Today, the Surgeon General recommended that we as physicians try to calm your concerns about the vaccine and encourage you to get it. While the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Surgeon General are marketing widespread use of the emergency-use vaccines in the U.S. for both old and young alike, many other countries are limiting COVID-19 vaccine use. Health officials around the world are giving varying advice on safety issues as COVID-19 vaccines are given to more people, and more information can be collected.

Below are summaries of some of the concerns as of July 15th, 2021, that have emerged or been raised by medical officials around the world.  I’ve written about many of them.  Hopefully, this summary gives you a good 30,000 foot perspective.

General

Fifty-seven authors from 17 countries have signed an endorsement urging that Covid-19 vaccinations be stopped unless new safety mechanisms are immediately implemented.

The authors include Dr. Peter McCullough, cardiologist and Vice Chief of Medicine at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, who has called for a halt to vaccinating 30-year olds due to “no clinical benefit” and safety concerns.

In the United Kingdom, some scientists analyzed adverse event reports and called upon the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to stop the Covid-19 vaccines as “not safe for human use” due to reports of issues with bleeding/clotting, pain, immune system, neurological, loss of sight/hearing/smell/speech, and questions about impact in pregnant women.

A petition of scientists led by Linda Wastila, Professor, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is calling for Covid-19 vaccines to be disapproved.

Guillain-Barre Syndrome Autoimmune Paralysis

As of July 13th, 2021, the FDA issued a warning about Guillain-Barre autoimmune paralysis, in which the immune system attacks the body’s nerves, after immunization with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. According to reports, the cases have primarily been reported about two weeks after vaccination, mostly in men, and “any aged 50 and older.” The risk of contracting this syndrome is 3-5 times higher, meaning up to 10 out of every 100,000 vaccinated persons are at risk.

Numerous case reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome paralysis after Covid-19 vaccine have prompted scientists to warn that “all physicians” should be “vigilant in recognizing Guillain-Barre syndrome in patients who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.”  Observations suggest that “this clinically distinct [Guillain-Barre syndrome] variant is more severe than usual and may require mechanical ventilation.”

In the U.K., scientists flagged “bifacial weakness and normal facial sensation in four men between 11 and 22 days after their first doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine.” A case has also been reported in a patient who got the Pfizer vaccine. In India, there are reports of seven severe cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome 10 to 14 days after the first dose of AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Six were women, all had facial paralysis, “all progressed to quadriplegia, and six required respiratory support. Patients’ ages ranged from 43 to 70. Four developed other cranial neuropathies, including abducens palsy and trigeminal sensory nerve involvement.”

Guillain-Barre syndrome has been reported after other mRNA vaccinations like Gardasil. The cause is believed to be damage to the immune system. The disorder can be extremely serious and can lead to total paralysis with dependence on artificial respiration. Even those who recover may have serious muscle wasting and may have to slowly teach the body to relearn most every normal task, such as walking.

Statistically, one in 20 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome is fatal.

Heart Issues

The Food and Drug Administration has added a new warning to Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines about risk of heart inflammation.

As of June of 2021, CDC said that more than 1,200 cases of heart inflammation (myocarditis of pericarditis) in young people had been reported after Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccination.

  • More than half were after the second dose.
  • Most of the injuries are in males under age 30.

The Israeli Ministry of Health announced it’s monitoring for heart inflammation after Pfizer’s vaccine due to reports of problems.

Myocarditis and Other Cardiovascular Complications of the mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccines [Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna] in a number of patients are described in a scientific article:

  • Two patients with clinically suspected myocarditis
  • One patient with stress cardiomyopathy 
  • Two patients with pericarditis 

According to the research: 

  • The two patients with clinically suspected myocarditis were otherwise healthy young men who presented with acute substernal chest pressure and/or dyspnea after receiving the second dose of the vaccine and were found to have diffuse ST elevations on electrocardiogram (ECG), elevated cardiac biomarkers and inflammatory markers, and mildly reduced left ventricular (LV) function on echocardiography. Both patients met the modified Lake Louise Criteria for acute myocarditis by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. 
  • A case of stress cardiomyopathy occurred in a 60-year-old woman with known coronary artery disease (CAD) and previously normal LV function, who presented with new exertional symptoms, ECG changes, and apical akinesis following the second dose of the vaccine. 
  • The two patients with pericarditis who presented with chest pain, elevated inflammatory markers, and pericardial effusions after receiving the vaccine.

Blood Clots

In late June, the first case of a blood clot disorder called “thrombosis with thrombocytopenia” after an RNA double-dose vaccine was been reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The case was that of a 65-year-old man who developed symptoms ten days after his second dose of the Moderna vaccine. Because the blood clot disorder was not previously warned about in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, doctors treated the patient with heparin, the very drug that’s not supposed to be used in post-vaccine patients suffering from the disorder because it could actually worsen the condition.

The Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine was temporarily removed from the market in the U.S. on April 16, 2021 while health officials studied reports of blood clot injuries. Among them was an 18-year old teen named Emma Burkey, who got sick about a week after the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine and ended up having three brain surgeries related to blood clots and seizures.

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine was allowed back on the market April 27, 2021 with new warnings about the disorder.

Swedish health officials determined that people under age 65 should not get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine due to reports of blood clots.

An editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association recommended women under age 50 avoid the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine due to concerns about blood clots. The recommendation discussed 12 case reports of a blood disorder known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) with thrombocytopenia following the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine (not currently approved in the U.S.) has been linked to a dangerous disorder involving blood clots with low blood platelets. On April 7, 2021, the European Medicines Agency says it made the association after it analyzed 62 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and 24 cases of splanchnic vein thrombosis reported in the EU drug safety database (EudraVigilance) as of March 22, 2021. Eighteen of these cases of were fatal.

An otherwise healthy South Florida doctor, Gregory Michael, died of a brain hemorrhage 16 days after he got Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. Authorities concluded he died of a blood disorder called “immune thrombocytopenia” (ITP) that can prevent blood from clotting and cause internal bleeding. His wife said a blood test showed the level of his platelets to be at “zero.” She said before the shot, Dr. Michael had “absolutely no medical issues” and no underlying conditions. However, authorities later categorized his death as “natural.”

Dr. Charles Hoffe, a Canadian physician with 28 years of medical practice, was relived from hospital duty and placed on a gag order after sounding the alarm that 62% of the 900 dose of the Moderna Vaccine he gave in his office caused an elevated D-Dimer test, implying microscopic clotting throughout the body.

I’ve personally seen and treated five patients with elevated D-dimer and abnormal blood clotting post COVID-19 vaccination in the last 6 months. These clots have occurred with 4 hours to 2 weeks after vaccination in otherwise healthy patients with no other risk of clotting.

In Spain, the AstraZeneca shot has been restricted in people under age 60 due to reports of blood clots in younger people.

Bulgaria, Iceland and Norway have halted AstraZeneca shots. 

Austria, Italy and Romania banned certain “lots” or batches of the AstraZeneca shots.

Denmark stopped using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine altogether as well as the Johnson and Johnson vaccine after investigations into blood clots, saying “the benefits of using the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson do not outweigh the risk of causing the possible adverse effect in those who receive the vaccine.”

The Italian government recently restricted AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to adults over age 60 after a teenager who got the shot died from a rare form of blood clotting. Eighteen-year-old Camilla Canepa died after getting vaccinated May 25, 2021. 

Several other European countries have also stopped giving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to people below a certain age, usually ranging from 50 to 65. 

Grave’s disease Autoimmune Disorder

Studies in Mexico and Turkey link the autoimmune thyroid disorder Grave’s disease to Covid-19 vaccination in numerous female health care workers, including two who were breastfeeding. Pfizer-BioNTech was the vaccine given in Mexico. A Chinese vaccine was given in Turkey. Read more here.

Frail & Elderly

Health officials in Norway sounded the alarm after 23 patients died shortly after getting the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. They advise doctors to use caution in administering the shot to “very frail elderly patients.” 

After investigating 13 of the deaths, the Norwegian authorities concluded that common side effects from so-called “RNA” vaccines may be too much for a frail elderly person to handle, and may contribute to their death. 

“There is a possibility that these common adverse reactions, that are not dangerous in fitter, younger patients and are not unusual with vaccines, may aggravate underlying disease in the elderly,” said Steinar Madsen, medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency.

CDC said it is monitoring the impact of the vaccines on already-frail patients such as the chronically ill in nursing homes.

Several clusters of elderly patients in U.S. nursing homes died after Pfizer or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. In one group, a number of the patients who died tested positive for Covid-19 after vaccination.

Pregnant Women

Several Brazilian states suspended use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women in May 2021 after a pregnant woman died after getting vaccinated. The decisions follow the recommendation of the country’s National Health Surveillance Agency, which recommended “immediate suspension” of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women after results of vaccine adverse events monitoring in the country.

CDC says that with limited data on impact of Covid-19 vaccine in pregnant women and on their unborn children, the decision on whether to vaccinate while pregnant is an individual decision to be made between a woman and her physician.

Previously-Infected

CDC falsely claimed that studies showed Covid-19 vaccines are effective for those who already had Covid-19. In fact, studies showed the opposite.

Manufacturing Problems

On June 11, the European Union’s drug regulator announced it will not use batches of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that were made at a Baltimore, Maryland-based plant around the time that cross-contamination manufacturing problems were reported at the facility.

Anonymous sources claimed that up to 60 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine had to be thrown out. But the FDA issued a news release saying that two batches from the Baltimore plant were safe to use. The FDA said “several other batches are not suitable for use, but additional batches are still under review.”

Lack of Immunity

Israel announced that about half of the adults infected with Covid-19 during its outbreak in the June 2021 time period were fully vaccinated. The fully-vaccinated individuals had gotten Pfizer’s shots.

According to Epoch Times, in June 2021 nearly 4,000 fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts tested positive for Covid-19. On April 30, “the CDC reported that some 10,626 breakthrough cases were reported in 46 states and territories.” Breakthrough cases are where fully vaccinated people still end up infected with Covid-19.

Scientists hoped that Covid-19 vaccines would be effective in variants of Covid-19, which are mutations that occur naturally with viruses and were always expected with Covid-19. However, the vaccine effectiveness against variants may be limited. CDC and vaccine makers are studying the medical landscape to find out more. Other states, such as Maine, are noting Covid-19 deaths occurring in fully vaccinated people.

Israeli Ministry of Health Files Public Warning on COVID Vaccine

Rates of mycarditis/pericarditis in Israel is usually around 1/50,000. Since the onset of vaccination the rate of myocarditis/pericarditis increased to 1/5000.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCIMAGING.120.010897. Arrows in figure C reflect fluid and inflammation around the pericardial sac

The Ministry of Health in Israel just filed this statement with the press:
“There is some probability for a possible link between the second vaccine dose and the onset of myocarditis among young men aged 16 to 30. This link was found to be stronger among the younger age group, 16 to 19, compared to other age groups. This link became weaker the older the vaccinated individual is. In most cases myocarditis took the form of mild illness that passed within a few days.
The recommendation to vaccinate teenagers aged 12-15 shall be discussed in the forum of the Pandemic Containment Task-Force and submitted to the approval of the Ministry of Health’s Director General. We shall issue a public update once a decision has been made.”
But, You Can Still Get Free Beer, Free Krispy Kreams and Free Pot If You Get Vaccinated, Right?!!
VAERS and CDC both report INCREASE IN MYOCARDITIS AND PERICARDITIS (up to 25 times greater than normal rates) in young men who received COVID-19 vaccination, a life threatening inflammation of the heart wall or the tissue surrounding the heart.
This has been seen in Israeli young men who have already had mass vaccination in that country. (The report concluded that around 1 in 5,000 men who receive the vaccine may experience this side effect, known as myocarditis).
And, to date, this is largely being ignored by employers and schools.  I just saw two patients today who were threatened with termination of their employment if they were not vaccinated immediately.  And, the CDC is STILL recommending vaccination of young adults. Until severe questions of medial risk regarding these issues is resolved, this is medically reckless and immoral.
More than double the number of deaths (5160 deaths) in the last 6 months due to vaccination have occurred compared to deaths from vaccines in the last five years – 1997 to 2013 (2149 deaths in US in all vaccines combined).
Yet, Ol’ Joe claimed in February, and then again just two weeks ago, that these vaccines “are safe, they are safe.”  Pfizer showed that symptoms of myocarditis was higher in their clinical studies in young adults in their early testing, and yet they’ve still pushed this vaccine.  And two weeks ago, the CDC ignored these findings when they released their statement that the vaccine is safe for youth 12 years and older.  If what we are seeing in this group of young men is real, these statements will be the most reckless health recommendation ever to be spoken by a siting American president.
Transparency is the foundation of medical ethics.  First, COVID-19 is NOT a threat to young children or young adults. Forcing college students and employees to get the vaccine “or else” is a violation of civil liberties in the most egregious way.
Today on their own website, the CDC reports myocarditis and pericarditis are risk factors with these vaccines:
Since April 2021, there have been increased reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) of cases of inflammation of the heart—called myocarditis and pericarditis—happening after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) in the United States.”
The reports show that most of these cases have been mild and occur within a week of the second dose with both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. As of today, most employers and colleges refuse to give any COVID vaccine exemptions to their employees or students.
The only way this unethical behavior and totalitarianism stops is if we, the people, demand a change.  You and I must be willing to walk into the arena, whatever it may be—a new relationship, an important meeting, the boss’s office, the school board meeting or a difficult family conversation—with courage and willingness to engage. Rather than sitting on the sidelines and hurling judgment and advice, you and I must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen. Change will take vulnerability. It will require daring greatly.  I will require you to make a decision and then take a stand.