Covid-19 > 4 Pfizer Jabs not enough; Most Vax side effects not real - study; Inmates sue for medical experiment; No evidence for boosting kids

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Israel finds 4 Pfizer jabs ‘not good enough’ against Omicron

An Israeli study suggests that an additional booster failed to prevent

a large number of infections

FILE PHOTO. ©  Getty Images / Morsa Images

A fourth dose of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine showed dwindling effectiveness against the Omicron variant, according to a trial conducted in Israel, with one its lead researchers saying the immunization is simply “not good enough.”

A study involving 154 medical staffers at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv found that a fourth shot gave only marginal protection against the Omicron strain compared to previous mutations. 

“We see an increase in antibodies, higher than after the third dose. However, we see many infected with Omicron who received the fourth dose,” said Gili Regev-Yochay, one of the head researchers on the trial, adding that while “the vaccine is excellent against the Alpha and Delta [variants],” for Omicron “it’s not good enough.”

Despite the new findings, Israeli health officials already moved ahead with fourth doses for the elderly, the immunocompromised and medical workers beginning earlier this month, with some 500,000 receiving a second booster on top of an initial two-dose regimen as of Sunday.

Though the trial is still in an early phase and the hospital did not offer specific figures, Regev-Yochay said she made its preliminary conclusions public as boosters are a matter of “high public interest,” according to the Times of Israel. She noted that giving fourth doses to high-risk residents is “probably” still the best approach, but suggested the booster campaign should be limited to an even older age group than the current over-60 guideline.

Both the World Health Organization and the EU’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, have cautioned against the over-use of boosters, though for different reasons. The WHO has called for a more even distribution of vaccine doses around the world, observing that some nations are moving ahead with third and fourth shots before many in poorer countries receive their first. The EMA, meanwhile, pointed to potential adverse effects of booster shots last week, warning that repeated vaccinations in a short period of time could result in “problems with immune response.” 

One of the most vaccinated countries in the world, Israel was the first to roll out fourth vaccine doses as it saw a significant spike in coronavirus infections linked to the Omicron strain. Deaths and hospitalizations have only seen a slight uptick in recent months, however, in line with findings suggesting the latest ‘variant of concern’ produces milder symptoms than previous mutations. Despite the misgivings of world health bodies, Chile, Denmark and Hungary have since followed suit in administering fourth shots, while officials in Austria have recommended them on an “off-label” basis for healthcare personnel.

Most Covid jab ‘side effects’ are not caused by vaccines – study

Many people are so worried about Covid vaccine ‘side effects’ they actually feel them

even if they get placebo, new research claims

© Getty Images / franckreporter

Vast majority of Covid vaccine ‘side effects’ are caused by people's expectations rather than by the vaccine, Harvard Medical School researchers say, after analyzing the reports of more than 45,000 trial participants.

Various “systemic” side effects, such as headaches, tiredness, and joint pain were reported in both halves of the focus group: among those who received various Covid vaccines, as well as those who unknowingly received placebo. 

After analyzing the reports, scientists from the Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center came to the conclusion that the so-called “nocebo effect” – unpleasant sensations caused by anxiety or bad expectations – accounted for three quarters of all reported vaccine side effects.

The report, which was published in the JAMA Network Open journal, says that 35% of placebo recipients reported side effects after the first dose and 32% after the second one. Significantly more “adverse events” (AEs) were reported in the vaccine groups, but so called “nocebo responses” accounted for “76% of systemic AEs after the first Covid-19 vaccine dose and 52% after the second dose.”

The scientists note that, although the reasons for vaccination hesitancy are “diverse and complex,” concerns about potential side effects from the Covid-19 vaccines “seem to be a major factor” and “public vaccination programs should consider these high nocebo responses.”

One of the scientists involved in the research, Harvard Medical School professor Ted Kaptchuk, explained the science behind the “nocebo effect.” He pointed out that “nonspecific symptoms,” such as headache and fatigue, are listed in many information booklets as typical side effects of Covid vaccines.

“Evidence suggests that this sort of information may cause people to misattribute common daily background sensations as arising from the vaccine or cause anxiety and worry that make people hyper alert to bodily feelings about adverse events,” Kaptchuk said.

I'm sure that happens a lot, nevertheless, as a conspiracy theorist, I wonder who funded this research, as if I didn't know.

Prisoners claim they got incredibly high doses of Ivermectin as Covid treatment

Inmates say they suffered severe side effects and were subject to “medical experimentation”

© Getty Images / Andy Sacks

Four Arkansas county jail inmates have taken legal action after claiming they were given “incredibly high doses” of horse deworming drug ivermectin as a Covid-19 treatment without their consent.

According to the complaint, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the prisoners were initially told the drugs consisted of vitamins, antibiotics and steroids. They only became aware of the true composition of the “drug cocktail” in July 2021.

The inmates believe Washington County Detention Center staff “knowingly and intentionally” ignored the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) warnings. They said the ivermectin was given “without prior informed consent as to the nature, contents, or potential side effects.”

They accused Dr. Robert Karas, who was responsible for jail healthcare, of administering “incredibly high doses of the drug” that could be dangerous for humans. 

According to the complaint, Karas, who for many years “enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship” with local sheriff Tim Helder (who is also listed as a defendant in the case) had begun “both publicly and privately espousing the virtues of the use of the drug Ivermectin.” 

Inmates said they suffered side effects “consistent with the overuse of Ivermectin,” such as vision issues, diarrhea, bloody stools, and stomach pains.

“To add insult to injury, Plaintiffs were subject to the payment of fees for medical examinations they sought after suffering side effects from the Ivermectin treatment,” reads the lawsuit.

The ACLU's Arkansas legal director, Gary Sullivan, said that “no one - including incarcerated individuals - should be deceived and subject to medical experimentation.”

The inmates accused Karas of “conducting research as to [ivermectin's] efficacy against the disease.”

Karas confirmed in September that 254 inmates have been treated for Covid with ivermectin, but denied that he misled them. He said medics were not initially required to discuss drugs with inmates, but that a “more robust informed consent form” was introduced later, AP reported.

Small doses of the controversial ivermectin are approved to treat some conditions in humans, but the FDA issued a warning last year against using the anti-parasite drug as a Covid treatment.

Of course, the FDA is run by Big Pharma, and they don't want competition. Also, if Ivermectin was approved as an anti-Covid-19 vaccine, all the Big Pharma vaxes would have had to go through complete trials rather than getting emergency approval while still in experimental stage.

It's unfortunate Karas was so reckless as to administer incredibly high doses. The trial might actually have done some good.

WHO says ‘no evidence’ for boosting children & teens

World Health Organization says Covid-19 boosters should be priority

for highest-risk populations instead

A teenager gets a Pfizer Covid-19 booster at a vaccine clinic in Bellows Falls, Vermont, January 14, 2022.

©  AP / The Brattleboro Reformer / Kristopher Radder

There is currently no evidence that Covid-19 booster jabs should be administered to healthy children and adolescents, the WHO’s top scientists said. The organization is still trying to work the appropriate booster schedule.

“The aim is to protect the most vulnerable, to protect those at highest risk of severe disease and dying, those are our elderly population, immunocompromised with underlying conditions and also health care workers,” WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said at a news briefing on Tuesday, adding that “there’s no evidence right now” for administering them to otherwise healthy children and teens.

The WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization will meet later this week to consider how governments should think about boosters, Swaminathan said. 

Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO’s executive director for health emergencies, said the organization hasn’t figured out yet how many doses of the jab people may ultimately need.

“I think people do have a certain fear out there that this booster thing is going to be like every two or three months and everyone’s going to have to go and get a booster. And I don’t think we have the answer to that yet,” Ryan said.

SAGE may eventually redefine how many doses will make up the “primary series” of shots, Ryan added, explaining that most healthy people may need just two, but the elderly or immunocompromised could require three or four.

Last week, the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-Co-VAC) said that a vaccination strategy “based on repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable,” urging member countries to prioritize primary vaccinations for high-risk groups over universal boosting.

TAG-Co-VAC experts also said that current vaccines focus on reducing severe disease and protecting healthcare systems, while there is an ongoing need for vaccines that prevent infection and transmission of the virus.

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Sleep With Your Cell-Phone Beside Your Bed? - You Won't After This!

9th Grade Students Gain the Attention of Scientists After Their Experiment Reveals a Dark Truth About WiFi

We have long encouraged students to find ways to connect with their school work, making it interesting and personal, holding their attention longer and allowing them to see more success.

This was the case at a school in northern Jutland, where a group of 9th-grade students recently embarked on a biology experiment inspired by their own personal experiences with concentrating. Lea Nielsen, one of the students, explained: “We all think we have experienced difficulty concentrating in school, if we had slept with the phone next to our head, and sometimes also experienced having difficulty sleeping.”

From left: Lea Nielsen, Mathilde Nielsen, Signe Nielsen, Sisse Coltau and Rikke Holm.

Photo: Kim Horsevad

Curious about the shared experience, the group of girls designed an experiment to investigate the impact of wi-fi radiation on living cells. Specifically, they chose to use cress seeds. Taking 400 seeds, they separated them out across 12 different trays. Six of the trays were placed in each of 2 rooms. Both rooms were kept at the same temperature, and both sets of trays were given the same amount of water and access to sunlight throughout the experiment.

The one difference between the two rooms, creating the basis for their experiment, is that the trays in one room were placed next to two Wi-Fi routers. The Wi-Fi routers broadcast the same type of radiation that can be observed coming from our cellphones, allowing the students to recreate the impact of sleeping with your phone on your bedside table, next to your head.

The results? After 12 days it was shocking to see the difference between the two sets of trays. While the cress seeds in the first room were growing well, appearing healthy and flourishing in their environment, (see right) the same could not be said in the second room. The seeds that were placed next to the router showed no real growth at all. Some of the seeds could even be observed showing signs of mutation or dying off entirely (see below).

The experiment was enough to open the students’ eyes about their cellphone use and whether or not it is safe to bring their phones to bed at night. “It is truly frightening that there is so much affect, so we were very shocked by the result,” Nielsen stated. “None of us sleep with the mobile next to the bed anymore. Either the phone is put far away, or it is put in another room. And the computer is always off.”

Not only was the experiment received well by the girls’ school, but since the word got out they have started to receive international attention as biologists and radiation experts acknowledge the importance of their discovery.

One expert that has shown a great deal of interest in the experiment, even going as far as planning his own follow-up experiments, is Olle Johansson, a professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. He will begin his assessment into the girls’ findings by repeating the experiment with his research colleague Professor Marie-Claire Cammaert at the Universite libre de Bruxelles.

Johansson was highly impressed by the girls’ efforts. He praised them, saying: “The girls stayed within the scope of their knowledge, skilfully implemented and developed a very elegant experiment. The wealth of detail and accuracy is exemplary, choosing cress was very intelligent and I could go on.”

What’s next for the girls? Johansson made it clear that he wouldn’t hesitate to work with these talented, intelligent students moving forward: “I sincerely hope that they spend their future professional life in researching because I definitely think they have a natural aptitude for it. Personally, I would love to see these people in my team!”

Now This is Truly Scary

Mind hack: Scientists use magnets to change attitudes 

on immigration, religion

© Tom Tingle / The Arizona Republic / Pool / Reuters

Researchers from the University of York have used magnetic energy to suppress humans’ ‘threat-response’ functions and dramatically change people’s attitudes to immigration.

Psychologists used magnetic force to safely shut down the region of the brain associated with “threat-response functions” and conducted a series of tests where volunteers were asked questions about their beliefs.

Scientists found the people were less likely to have negative views when the magnetic force was applied to the posterior medial frontal cortex, positioned a few inches up from the forehead.

In the study, half of participants were given a low-level placebo-like level of magnetic energy that did not affect their brain, while the other half received enough energy to lower activity in the target area.

Volunteers were then asked to think about death, after which they were asked questions about their religious beliefs and attitudes on immigration.

Researchers from the University of York and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), discovered those whose frontal cortex was temporarily shut down reported 32.8 percent less belief in God, angels or heaven.

Volunteers were screened prior to the investigation to ensure they held religious beliefs.

The participants were also 28.5 percent more positive in their feelings toward an immigrant who criticized their country.

Dr. Keise Izuma said volunteers were reminded about death because people are more likely to turn to ideologies when they think of dying.

“We decided to remind people of death because previous research has shown that people turn to religion for comfort in the face of death. As expected, we found that when we experimentally turned down the posterior medial frontal cortex, people were less inclined to reach for comforting religious ideas despite having been reminded of death,” he said.

Volunteers were asked to respond to negative and positive emotional aspects of religion, in particular to rate their belief in the Devil, demons and Hell, in addition to God, angels and heaven.

Participants were also given two essays to read, both supposedly written by immigrants. One essay was extremely complimentary to the host country, while the other was extremely critical.

Scientists found that when the magnetic force temporarily shut down the ‘threat-response’ part of the brain, people were more likely to have positive feelings towards the immigrant who was critical.

We think that hearing criticisms of your group’s values, perhaps especially from a person you perceive as an outsider, is processed as an ideological sort of threat,” said Izuma.

“One way to respond to such threats is to ‘double down’ on your group values, increasing your investment in them and reacting more negatively to the critic.”

“When we disrupted the brain region that usually helps detect and respond to threats, we saw a less negative, less ideologically motivated reaction to the critical author and his opinions,” he said.

UCLA’s Dr. Colin Holbrook, who was lead author of the report, said the findings were “striking.”

“These findings are very striking, and consistent with the idea that brain mechanisms that evolved for relatively basic threat-response functions are repurposed to also produce ideological reactions,” he said.

Unfortunately, the report doesn't say whether, or how long the effect lasted. I'm assuming it lasted only as long as the experiment lasted. Nevertheless, with the incredibly fast advent of multi-cultural tolerance and religious non-tolerance (unless you're Muslim), this finding could lead to some very frightening scenarios. Guess I need some treatment. I wonder if someone has already been applying this to liberal Europeans.