The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, BNT162b2, has not been approved or licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but has been authorized for emergency use by FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to prevent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for use in individuals 16 years of age and older. Can mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines cause prion disease or Alzheimer's? The neurodegenerative diseases alleged to have been caused by the Pfizer shot belong to a broad group of usually fatal diseases known as prion diseases, or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. ", "Prion diseases occur when normal prion protein, found on the surface of many cells, becomes abnormal and clump in the brain, causing brain damage," the Hopkins Medicine page explains. As 1,223 is around 6 percent of 21,325, people wrongly interpreted the data to mean you have around a one in 17 chance of dying after taking the vaccine. "You would think they would be the first to be affected if this statement was true.". 1. They are also more likely to have other health conditions that affect their immunity. The report states that of the billions of vaccines shipped worldwide between December 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021, there were 42,086 reported reactions. From the 927 confirmed symptomatic cases of COVID-19 in the trial, 850 cases of COVID-19 were in the placebo group and 77 cases were in the BNT162b2 group, corresponding to vaccine efficacy of 91.3% (95% confidence interval [CI, 89.0, 93.2]). The most common. Scientists consider the SARS-CoV-2 virus a "neurotropic" virus, because it can enter nerve cells. Neurodegenerative diseases, including conditions like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, occur when nerve cells in the brain or nervous system slowly stop working and die, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. A number of people on social media arrived at the figure after noting that 21,002 people had recovered to some extent after taking the vaccine. This point becomes important when we consider whether the COVID-19 vaccines might cause prion diseases. For some of the purported sequences Classen claims to identify, he even admits he needs "more sophisticated computers" to verify them as accurate. Dr. David Gorski, professor of surgery and oncology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, echoed Rasmussen in a Feb. 22 blog post for Science-Based Medicine. The 1,223 fatalities listed in the report are among 158,893 adverse effects reports from health officials from across the world. Calling Classens paper total garbage, UBCs Cashman explained that the mRNA in the vaccine never makes it to the brain cells in which neurodegeneration occurs.. The CDC and FDA announced on Friday that their surveillance system flagged a possible link between the new Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent Covid-19 vaccine and strokes in people . Jasmina Alatovic Nor is it referenced in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), which provides access to scientific journals considered to be of good quality. "In this paper the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was evaluated for the potential to induce prion-based disease in vaccine recipients." Prion diseases comprise several conditions. Neurodegenerative diseases share a lot of common symptoms. Loss of muscle control. According to researchers' report on bioRxiv.org, the omicron variant's high "environmental stability" might have helped it spread so rapidly. 1. Though he provides no other methodological details, this type of analysis typically involves comparing RNA code for similarities identified in sequences of RNA known to produce prions and is generally coupled with heavy statistical analyses to determine that outcome's likelihood. What are prions, and can these vaccines cause prion disease? The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. Some of them include: 3. Stating that Classen study "seems to be based on gibberish presented in a seemingly scientific manner," Yount said that mRNA vaccines have a longer history of testing in humans that started several years before the COVID vaccines, and these past vaccines were found to be safe and have not resulted in prion disease. In its article, the Geller Report cites as evidence a paper on Seneff's website. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. The article was shared as countries push to vaccinate their populations against Covid-19, which has killed more than 3.3 million people worldwide. Vaccines can give your body way to identify an infecting agent, and instructions on how to defeat itand potentially, avoid infecting others. New research highlights potential issues for people who have had COVID-19 and the risk of long-term cognitive issues. The majority of Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 - including 55% of . COVID vaccines that utilize mRNA such as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna jabs use the coronavirus' spike protein to " [teach] our cells to become autonomous vaccine production plants," the World Economic Forum reported. The journal is not indexed in PubMed.gov, a US database containing more than 32 million citations and abstracts under the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the agency for medical research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that everyone 12 and older get vaccinated against COVID-19, and the rollout is well underway: According to the CDC last week, around. "[T]he abnormal folding of the prion proteins leads to brain damage and the characteristic signs and symptoms of the disease," states CDC. Prion diseases can affect both humans and animals and are sometimes transmitted to humans by infected meat products. With the COVID-19 vaccine rollout advancing at about 2.77 millionaverage doses administered a day a steady increase since vaccinations began in late December a supposed research paper is rousing fear about the vaccine's safety on social media. The National File article is based on a single study, Covid-19 RNA Based Vaccines and the Risk of Prion Disease by J. Bart Classen, a licensed physician in Maryland, from the journal Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. The site is secure. The Pfizer-BioNTech updated (bivalent) booster can be given at least 2 months after the 2nd dose of the primary series or last booster to anyone 5 years old or older. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. (Microbiology & Infectious Diseases is an open-access journal published by SciVision Publishers, a potential predatory publisherintended for profitrather than academic peer-review.). Most were Pfizers and Modernas mRNA vaccines, though shots that use different technology are also available in the United States from Johnson & Johnson and in Canada from AstraZeneca. Scientific experts have said Classen's claim is highly speculative and lacks actual proof. Vaccines do not use the live virus that causes COVID-19. The prevalence and inci While medication can help manage and sometimes even slow progression, it can't stop it. Neither Pfizer nor Moderna, both of which manufacturemRNA-based vaccines, reported cases of prion or other neurodegenerative diseases. The information contained in this release is as of April 1, 2021. "Covid19 vaxines (sic) are associated with Prion's disease (sic), which you may better recognize Mad Cow Disease," writes Facebook user Rachel LeBert Cox in a March 23 post. If public health agencies detect a pattern in VAERS reports, they conduct follow-up studies to determine whether the vaccine was to blame. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. Dr. Classen has not demonstrated by any stretch of the imagination that the sequences in the Pfizer vaccine are special or unexpected beyond anything that occurs purely by chance," added Garry who was also involved in the vaccine development. Reports are not verified before they're published, and the CDCsays on its websitethat VAERS "is not designed to determine if a vaccine caused or contributed to an adverse event. Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that children shouldn't receive the COVID-19 vaccine because it could cause neurodegenerative disease. These data also provide the first clinical results that a vaccine can effectively protect against currently circulating variants, a critical factor to reach herd immunity and end this pandemic for the global population.. Doctors at five hospitals . So nobody knows if mRNA vaccines . Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. This is a fairly quick exercise because Classen asks us, in effect, to just trust him without actually showing any of his work. "I am not aware of any evidence of this association, and no cases were noted in the publications by CDCon vaccine safety in children and adolescents,"Dr.SonjaRasmussen, a professor in the departments of pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of Florida, said in an email. Additional adverse reactions, some of which may be serious, may become apparent with more widespread use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Available data on Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine administered to pregnant women are insufficient to inform vaccine-associated risks in pregnancy, Data are not available to assess the effects of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine on the breastfed infant or on milk production/excretion, There are no data available on the interchangeability of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine with other COVID-19 vaccines to complete the vaccination series. Vaccines as triggers of autoimmunity is a controversial subject. So even if in the unlikely event that spike binding released zinc it would be extracellular not intracellular. "The current RNA based SARSCoV-2 vaccines were approved in the US using an emergency order without extensive long term safety testing," the report declares. Responding to the false claims circulating on social media, Irish cancer researcher Dr. David Robert Grimes tweeted: "Why is Pfizer trending? This is not, to put it mildly, a "confirmation" of anything, even if National File asserts as much in its headline. For rare disease patients and their loved ones, better treatment options cannot come soon enough. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments. According to an analysis presented by a C.D.C. Association between type 1 diabetes and Hib vaccine, subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, updated March 31, ", National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Oct. 21, 2019, ", Johns Hopkins Medicine, accessed March 31, ", U.S. Food and Drug Administration, July 23, 2020, ", U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plan Health Inspection Service, June 2, 2020, ", U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Nov. 20, 2020, ", U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Nov. 30, 2020, ", Dr. Angela Rasmussen, March 31, Twitter interview.