Canada Adds Bell’s Palsy Warning to Pfizer COVID Shot
Health Canada, the Canadian government’s department responsible for national health policy, earlier this month updated the product information label for Pfizer/BioNTech’s experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) biologic (also known as BNT162b2 or “Comirnaty” vaccine) to reflect reported cases of Bell’s palsy—an immune mediated neurological disorder characterized by temporary muscle weakness or paralysis on one side of […]
Boy in Singapore Compensated for Heart Attack Linked to Pfizer’s COVID Biologic
Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Aug. 16, 2021 that it had awarded S$225,000 (just over $165,000) to the family of a 16-year-old boy in Singapore who suffered a heart attack six days after receiving the first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 biologic (also known as BNT162b2 or “Comirnaty” vaccine) on […]
Women Experiencing Enlarged Breast Lymph Nodes After COVID-19 Vaccination
Soon after the United States began rolling out experimental COVID-19 vaccines distributed under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), doctors began seeing an influx of female patients making mammogram appointments after the women experienced enlarged lymph nodes, known as axillary lymphadenopathy, in the armpit area after receiving a dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.1 Laura Esserman, MD, […]
Many Americans Worry About the Safety of COVID Biologics
A new poll conducted Yahoo! News/YouGov during July 13-15, 2021 found that 37 percent of unvaccinated Americans are more fearful of the three experimental COVID-19 biologics currently available in the United States than they are of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that can cause the disease. The survey of 1,715 adults in the U.S. found that only […]
Pfizer Plan for COVID Booster Shot Raises Safety Concerns
Opinion | On July 8, 2021, Pfizer, Inc. announced it was developing a booster dose for its experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) BNT162b2 biologic for COVID-19. It said that it had observed waning immunity among people who received the standard two-dose regimen of the product. The company said it planned to begin clinical studies of the […]
If You’re Vaccinated, You’re Protected… or Not
“If you’re vaccinated, you’re protected. If you’re unvaccinated, you’re not protected.” These words, or some slight variation of them, are increasingly being used by U.S. government officials to encourage Americans to get vaccinated for COVID-19. In a July 4, 2021 interview on ABC’s “This Week,” White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients was asked, “What does […]