Doubts about COVID vaccine study claiming mRNA harms [View all]

[struggle4progress]

As politicians move to ban mRNA vaccines in some states, research into vaccine side effects is going viral
By Elizabeth Hlavinka
Staff Writer
Published March 8, 2025 5:30AM (EST)

The COVID-19 pandemic is in the rearview mirror for many people, despite the fact that the virus still kills hundreds every week and could surge again if another mutated strain comes along, as witnessed multiple times in the last five years. Still, infections are at relative lows lately thanks in part to acquired immunity from infections and vaccines. Indeed, record-breaking vaccine development played a big role in keeping the SARS-CoV-2 virus at bay ...

Earlier this week, Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill that would prohibit the administration of mRNA vaccines, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also called for a permanent ban on mRNA vaccine mandates. Last month, Kentucky lawmakers introduced a bill that would make it illegal to give mRNA vaccines to children and would remove vaccine mandates by schools, hospitals and employers while an Idaho regional health department banned COVID vaccines in October.

Last month, researchers from Yale University published a study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, on the preprint server medRx, which rapidly circulated online among vaccine skeptics. The study said a small group of patients reported lingering symptoms similar to long COVID — including brain fog, fatigue, tinnitus and sleep issues — after receiving the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA COVID vaccine. (Four patients also received the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine which does not use mRNA.) It was quickly circulated online and used to support anti-vaccine conspiracies and misinformation.

But experts urged caution when interpreting these results before the study can be verified and peer-reviewed. For one, the study used a small sample size, with only 42 people (and 22 healthy control subjects) self-identifying their symptoms, explained Dr. E. John Wherry, the director of the Institute for Immunology and Immune Health at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the research ...

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/08/experts-raise-serious-doubt-about-elon-musk-hyped-vaccine-study-claiming-mrna-harms/