How Much Faith Should West Virginians Have in Covid-19 Boosters?

At present the sickest people with COVID-19 infections are those who have received COVID vaccines. How did we get to this predicament?

• In West Virginia, COVID-19 vaccination is NOT preventing severe disease. As of July 15th, the majority hospitalized, two-thirds in the ICU, and 100% on ventilators are fully vaccinated (Figure).

· The COVID-19 jabs are much less effective against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. Six months after two doses, the COVID-19 jabs have NEGLIBLE effectiveness [negative 3.4% for Pfizer (Figure) and negative 10.3% for Moderna].

• Boosters have been disappointing due to reduced effectiveness against Omicron and rapidly waning immunity.

• Studies in the UK, Germany, and Canada have reported negative COVID vaccine effectiveness against Omicron; in other words, vaccination led to higher rates of COVID infections in the vaccinated compared to the unvaccinated.

• Due to the poor performance, an FDA committee recommended that vaccine makers create a bivalent vaccine booster with an Omicron BA.4/5 spike protein component. One of those voting AGAINST approval was Paul Offit, MD, a vaccinologist at Penn Medicine and one of the most visible US vaccine proponents. He was uncomfortable with the “scant evidence” on the bivalent vaccine effectiveness, and he was opposed to “rushing” the vaccine.

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