A Guide to Navigating Vaccine Research
Sifting through the million little snippets of news and research
I was recently asked by an individual online to link to all of the mRNA vaccines studies that addressed long-term health consequences. Initially, this request was frustrating to me, as more than 680,000 articles focused on mRNA vaccines can be found through a simple Google Scholar search. And more than 13,000 of those articles focus on the use of mRNA vaccines to prevent infectious diseases.
Is it necessary to read all of these articles to determine if mRNA vaccines are safe?
Absolutely not. I wrote a week ago about epidemiology being narrative. While there is a beginning, middle, and end to each of these articles, they also build on each other. In the introduction to a scientific paper, the authors are required to summarize the previous findings in other studies and clearly state how their study is both unique and how it is situated in the canon/history of existing research (on average, epidemiology papers cite/reference at least 25 previous studies in the introduction section). Looking at the entire history of mRNA vaccine development, one can learn that in the beginning, these vaccines were highly ineffective, meaning they did not produce immunity. I find it fascinating to see how the story developed and what steps were needed to make the vaccines stable enough for the RNA to not unravel before entering the body. However, knowing this does NOT inform me about vaccine safety.
If you want to know more about mRNA vaccine safety (or vaccine safety in general), the canon/history of epidemiological research (those 13,000 articles shown above) is NOT the place to search. I recommend following STAT News. You can read about how and why STAT was started here. And (even better) you can sign up for STAT newsletters. The authors at STAT are well versed in the canon/history of research. They write informative, well-referenced articles (research summaries, editorials on policy decisions, fact-checking pieces). Their collection of work is enough to help any individual make a well-informed decision about vaccine safety. If you’re on Twitter, follow one of their writers, Helen Branswell @helenbranswell. She covers all things COVID and is on top of all things vaccine safety. Alternatively, you can watch me on Erie News Now - I’m often answering questions about vaccine safety (and I have read a lot of the research that serves as evidence for the answers I provide).
What do you need to know in order to understand mRNA vaccines?
mRNA vaccines have been in development and thoroughly studied for more than two decades (hence the 13,000 articles); they are NOT new technology. mRNA vaccines for influenza were first trialed in mice in the 1990s. In 2013 the first human mRNA vaccine trial was initiated (rabies vaccine). It has taken years to get these vaccines to work (read: to create immunity). This is because mRNA is really unstable - meaning that the challenge is maintaining the integrity of the mRNA from the vile of vaccine material until it is injected into a human body. The discovery that a lipid nanoparticle — a teeny-tiny capsule of fat — could effectively transport the mRNA into the body without compromising or destabilizing the material made the COVID vaccines possible.
The ingredients of the mRNA vaccine include —
mRNA (the recipe for the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein)
fat (the lipid nanoparticle, which is comprised of 4 different types of fat)
sugars & salts (used to keep the vaccine stable while frozen and after it is thawed)
What about long-term side effects?
Both history and biology teach us that adverse effects associated with vaccines will occur soon after one is injected. I wrote about this in my letter to my daughter (the night before she received her first vaccine). Additionally, the ingredients of the mRNA vaccines do not stay in your body for very long.
In the past, heavy metals (most notably mercury, aka thimerosal) were used to preserve vaccines. Heavy metals can stick around in the body for a while and some can serious health effects. However, they are NO LONGER used in vaccine development; there are no metals in the COVID-19 vaccines. The ingredients of the mRNA vaccines are eliminated in a matter of days (maybe a week). No ingredient is hanging around in the body poised to do damage. And the spike proteins that are created are the same proteins that would be created if one was exposed to the virus itself. The only difference is that an individual will not get sick or diagnosed with COVID-19 (and risk serious disease, hospitalization, or death) if they produce the spike proteins with the vaccine. Illness with the SARS-CoV-2 virus can lead to the serious and long-term health effects of COVID-19.
The spike proteins are the same.
There is no evidence to suggest that long-term health effects caused by the mRNA vaccines are biologically possible. There is nothing left in the body post-vaccination to cause harm. NOTHING.
What is the side effect of getting vaccinated?
It is quite simple… those who get the vaccine tend to live.
This graph shows that when we “control for age” — meaning we mathematically eliminate the effect of age (because older people are more likely to die or get seriously sick than younger people) — the rate of COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths is significantly higher in the unvaccinated population compared to the vaccinated population.
BOTTOMLINE —
Get vaccinated. The vaccines are safe (in both the short & long-term) and highly effective. As vaccination rates increase throughout communities, we will see a decrease in the number of new cases; fever people will be hospitalized and fewer deaths will occur.
Find trusted sources of information. The internet can be a dark place and finding up-to-date and reliable summaries of research can be hard. Sifting through 1000s upon 1000s of articles in a multidecade history of research is a full-time job, and reading the entire history will not provide you with the information you need to understand that vaccines are safe and effective. Start reading (sign up for their daily newsletter) STAT News. Follow Helen Branswell! Subscribe to get updates from me here!
Ask questions and engage in dialog. I think we all need to step away from Facebook, Twitter, and the Google search engine. It is time to ask questions — take them to your physician. Find a local epidemiologist. Ask this epidemiologist mama (of two kiddos) your questions. Acknowledge what you know and don’t know. And engage in a conversation (not internet research or arguing). Remember that we share a common enemy — the SARS-CoV-2 virus — and there are clear steps we can all take to slow the spread of disease within our communities.
It all starts with getting vaccinated…
Do you have any data for people who have had covid in terms of reinfection or mortality rates? I understand for those who are not vaccinated the rates are much higher, but I'm curious about those who have some natural immunity and what the effects might be compared with someone who is vaccinated and has not had covid.