Farrar responds to Marshall's letter

In my guest column printed in the Jan. 27 and Feb. 3 issues of the Pathfinder, I only addressed the issue about whether the vaccine can prevent transmission – it cannot. My letter said nothing about the efficacy (reducing symptoms) and safety (as yet not fully understood).

That parenthetical comment about safety is warranted for two undisputed reasons:

1. Because the full safety packages have not been submitted to the FDA by either Pfizer or Moderna, and

2. The CDC’s own database called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System or VAERS lists more than a hundred thousand “adverse events” (including several thousand deaths) following administration of the vaccines (most submissions to VAERS by physicians regarding their patients). That is why the vaccines continue as EUAs (Emergency Use Authorization) rather than with full FDA approval.

I am not anti-vaxx, as long as the vaccine is being given to people who are at risk. My wife got the vaccine and I supported that because she has an underlying condition (at risk) and therefore the risk/benefit consideration was in the vaccine’s favor.

For most people, it is not.