COVID-19 Vaccine Risk Assessment

This 18 minute video by independent journalist Spiro Skouras offers a well-documented assessment of the risks associated with the first-ever mRNA vaccine that has never been administered to humans on a broad scale. This video will help you weigh the costs (risk of potentially severe health complications from the vaccine) against the benefits (a reduction in the symptoms of COVID-19). Keep in mind, at this point no one knows whether vaccine will prevent transmittal of the disease.

it is interesting to note that this forthcoming peer reviewed study in Elsevier’s International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (impact factor ~4.5) is the first outpatient study of early antiviral (Hydroxychloroquine with zinc and azithromycin) treatment of COVID-19.  While the control and treatment groups are somewhat small, results indicate that hospitalization rates and fatalities fall substantially with the treatment. 

Treatment group hospitalizations: 4 of 144

Control group hospitalizations: 58 of 377

Treatment group fatalities:  1 of 144

Control group fatalities:  13 of 377

The differences were statistically significant.  This type of treatment has been used to safely treat Malaria for 60 years, and the cost is low. Other studies are also showing that there are effective low cost treatments for COVID-19. We have effective treatments…why don’t we use them? I prefer the tested treatment to a largely untested experimental vaccine.

Published by markskidmore

Mark Skidmore is Professor of Economics at Michigan State University where he holds the Morris Chair in State and Local Government Finance and Policy. His research focuses on topics in public finance, regional economics, and the economics of natural disasters. Mark created the Lighthouse Economics website and blog to share economic research and information relevant for navigating tumultuous times.

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