World Health Organization chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said:
I don’t believe we have the evidence on any of the vaccines to be confident that it’s going to prevent people from actually getting the infection.
What is a vaccine then? If not to prevent infection?
She also said:
I would say in a four to five-year timeframe we could be looking at controlling this.
I do not understand how these vaccines can contribute to herd immunity when they may not even provide immunity. When they may not prevent transmission.
In the spring, when the weather warms and people go back outside, will the case numbers drop? Will fewer cases be a result of weather or vaccinations?
Nonetheless, even with an effective vaccine, even with herd immunity, “the destiny of the virus is to become endemic,” that is, regularly found in populations for several years.
Fanatic Cook 
People are acting like this vaccine is a once-and-done. That this will all be over by the summer. It’s not, it won’t.
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I’ve seen a number of articles pointing out the defects in the vaccines, esp. in relation to the duration of whatever immunity they give you. Hurrying a vaccine onto the market for political reasons was a bad idea from the get-go.
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Thank you for posting this.
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Might it be that these mRNA vaccines, which are unique in that they can be produced very quickly, were advanced to appease President Trump and his Operation Warp Speed … and his desire to get them out before the election?
“The capability to produce mRNA so rapidly is one reason these vaccines are out front.”
Want to Know More About mRNA Before Your COVID Jab?
— A primer on the history, scope, and safety of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics
It would be troubling to think that something that’s designed to have an immediate physical impact on millions of Americans was done for political reasons.
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“… an mRNA vaccine has never been on the market anywhere in the world,”
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In early trials of mRNA vaccines, “immunogenicity was “more modest in humans than was expected based on animal models, a phenomenon also observed with DNA-based vaccines, and the side effects were not trivial.”
We’re seeing both of these with the Covid vaccines.
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“A possible concern could be that some mRNA-based vaccine platforms induce potent type I interferon responses, which have been associated not only with inflammation but also potentially with autoimmunity,” they wrote. “Thus, identification of individuals at an increased risk of autoimmune reactions before mRNA vaccination may allow reasonable precautions to be taken.”
An autoimmune reaction is the body attacking its own tissues. I didn’t know there was this concern. What are the “precautions” being taken? These reactions may not show up for months.
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Thank you for posting this. Let’s not forget too the possible financial benefits to those who are involved in various ways. I’ve become very cynical these past years.
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I agree with everything you say, Bix, as well as with Marj. And I also thank you for posting these.
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