I am currently overseas with my family on a new work assignment. My wife and I had no intentions of receiving any covid vaccines any time soon, but recently the country in which we reside will begin essentially mandating them within a few months. So now we are stuck in a position where we either take the vaccines or go back home to the US. I want to have enough confidence to be able to take it, but as of now I'm not there yet. I would love to hear from those who are more knowledgeable than me.
- Is there any reason to believe that the AstraZeneca (which I have access to where I am) or J&J, which both supposedly use the viral vectors with DNA as opposed to the lipid with mRNA is safer? Since data is sparse, is there any mechanistic explanation or evidence? There is a blood clot issue I read about regarding the J&J and AZ vaccines, but elsewhere I read that the data actually show a similar # of clot cases with the mRNA vaccines.
- One of my biggest concerns has to do with my wife and the theory of female sterility from the vaccine. The theory is that since the spike protein that the vaccine tells your cells to make is very similar in structure to the Syncytin-1 protein, which plays a role in placentation. The body could create immunity to this similar protein and create fertility issues in women. I can google this theory and the best I ever get is that "there is no evidence to suggest that there is a link between sterility and the covid vaccine" which isn't very helpful considering there is so little data on the vaccine in the first place, we wouldn't know one way or another. Any thoughts on this? Is there anyone out there who actually understands the two protein structures and if they are similar enough that the body would or could do what this theory says?
- There is apparently over 50,000 covid vaccine injuries to date reported to the US Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, most of them from the mRNA vaccines. The reports range from death to mild injuries, although there aren't any more details. Has anyone read more about the injuries? Any insight? Although still low percentages, this is still a concern.
Thanks in advance. Like I said, I want to get to a confidence level where I am willing to take the vaccine. But the general theme is that there isn't enough data to answer a lot of my questions, which is the root of the issue. But I am a mechanism guy, so if someone can offer mechanistic explanations, that still helps.
- Is there any reason to believe that the AstraZeneca (which I have access to where I am) or J&J, which both supposedly use the viral vectors with DNA as opposed to the lipid with mRNA is safer? Since data is sparse, is there any mechanistic explanation or evidence? There is a blood clot issue I read about regarding the J&J and AZ vaccines, but elsewhere I read that the data actually show a similar # of clot cases with the mRNA vaccines.
- One of my biggest concerns has to do with my wife and the theory of female sterility from the vaccine. The theory is that since the spike protein that the vaccine tells your cells to make is very similar in structure to the Syncytin-1 protein, which plays a role in placentation. The body could create immunity to this similar protein and create fertility issues in women. I can google this theory and the best I ever get is that "there is no evidence to suggest that there is a link between sterility and the covid vaccine" which isn't very helpful considering there is so little data on the vaccine in the first place, we wouldn't know one way or another. Any thoughts on this? Is there anyone out there who actually understands the two protein structures and if they are similar enough that the body would or could do what this theory says?
- There is apparently over 50,000 covid vaccine injuries to date reported to the US Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, most of them from the mRNA vaccines. The reports range from death to mild injuries, although there aren't any more details. Has anyone read more about the injuries? Any insight? Although still low percentages, this is still a concern.
Thanks in advance. Like I said, I want to get to a confidence level where I am willing to take the vaccine. But the general theme is that there isn't enough data to answer a lot of my questions, which is the root of the issue. But I am a mechanism guy, so if someone can offer mechanistic explanations, that still helps.