This is not an article on the inherent safety of vaccines due to all the stuff they put in them. Maybe I will do that later. This zeros in on the efficacy of the Flu Vaccine.
First, the data. It comes from a presentation of Dr Cammy Benton, MD.
- Flu is a combination of many different viruses, one of which is a corona virus. So death due to corona virus is not new at all.
- Deaths listed at the CDC from influenza (one of the flu viruses), are reported along with all cause pneumonia. So, the 60,000 or so deaths reported every year in the U.S. from flu are really resulting from COPD, cancer and other illnesses that end in pneumonia and death. On the CDC website (National Vital Statistics), the actual Flu positive deaths are only between 2000 and 3000 every year.
- In children, the number is between 80 and 100 every year, not countless thousands.
- Will the vaccine keep us out of the Hospital? An NIH study concluded in 2020, reported that there was no evidence that vaccination reduced hospital care. And so did two other major studies. In fact, with children (8-18), those that got the vaccine showed a three fold increase risk in hospitalization due to flu-like symptoms.
- Does the vaccine reduce transmission rate? A CDC funded study and others found no decrease risk of transmission/spread.
- How about vaccine effectiveness? Due to viral mutations and genetic drift, a CDC funded study indicated a 65% failure of the vaccine to prevent the flu between 2014 and 2018.
- According to the Clinical Infectious Disease Journal report in 2013, repeat doses every year increase vaccine failure risk.
- Department of Health and Human Services study for 33 years to assess flu mortality between 1968 and 2001, could not correlate increase in vaccination coverage after 1980 with declining mortality rates with any group so they conclude that the observational study substantially over estimates the benefit of vaccination. Same thing with an NIH study. And a Cochran (one of the most reputable study groups) study concluded, those over 65 really see no benefit what so ever from the vaccine.
- Another Cochran review study for health care worker vaccination programs found no decrease in complications due to respiratory infections or all cause mortality over the age of 60. They said there is no evidence to support the vaccination of health care workers to prevent influenza.
- A DoD study, before COVID 19, in the 2018-2019 season, showed those that were vaccinated had a 36% increased risk of corona virus infections, not the corona -19, a different corona virus. Can we conclude that it increases risk for COVID-19? Well, it is a corona virus.
What can we conclude? Just considering this data alone, the Flu is not the huge threat that public policy and social media would have you believe. If you are below age 65, you might see a 35% effectiveness of the flu vaccine. If you are lucky enough to be in that 35%, then you would conclude that it would be worth the shot to not get sick (remember, this does not take into account other potential side effects of modern vaccines). But maybe to skip a year and do every other year, since repeat doses every year seem to lower effectiveness. If you are over 65, there seems to be little reason to get the shot. If you are under 18, it seems to make you worse.
At any rate, the flu is not as bad as we have been led to believe. Maybe a better approach is to just take care of yourself/your children and maintain a healthy immune system. There are many ways to boost your immune system (read my book on Amazon, Connecting the Dots, for a better treatment of this topic), including regular moderate exercise, increased Vitamin D/C levels, increased mushrooms or Beta Glucan, Zinc and other minerals, hot/cold therapy, stress lowering, intermittent fasting, getting off refined sugar and breath work. As mentioned in my blog on the pandemic, we will never, ever get ahead of mutating viruses with our vaccinations, so we might as well face the facts and accept that it is up to us to reform our lives, make better choices and take responsibility for our own health. For me, I can't remember when, if ever, I have had the flu, or a flu shot.
Does this same advise apply to the COVID vaccine? Don't know yet. It is so new, we are still collecting mounds of data, plus there are two completely different types of vaccines available, one traditional style where you are getting a dormant virus and the other, a miracle of modern bio medicine where you are causing our own protein factories at the cellular level to produce a virus-like protein that causes our immune system to react and produce an antibody to the virus. So this is new medicine and no one knows the longer term effects. So stand by. As soon as I know them, I will get them out.
Yours in health, Dr Bob