{"id":934,"date":"2021-08-15T15:01:54","date_gmt":"2021-08-15T20:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?p=934"},"modified":"2022-09-17T15:55:07","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T20:55:07","slug":"vaccination-card-folly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?p=934","title":{"rendered":"Vaccination Card Folly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do Vaccination Cards Keep Us Safe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I answer that question, I\u2019d like to tell a personal story.\u00a0\u00a0I took a single dose Janssen vaccine March 15, 2021.\u00a0\u00a0I measured my spike protein antibodies on May 20 to make sure that the vaccine worked; my test was positive with an\u00a0index level<\/a>\u00a0of 1.4.\u00a0\u00a0Last Thursday, August 12, I measured my antibodies again.\u00a0\u00a0They were negative.\u00a0\u00a0I have a vaccination card that I can use to sit in a\u00a0New York City restaurant<\/a>, attend a concert at\u00a0SFJAZZ<\/a>, live on a\u00a0university campus<\/a>, or work at a\u00a0hospital<\/a>\u00a0that has mandated vaccines.\u00a0\u00a0Even if\u00a0H.R. 4980<\/a>\u00a0becomes law, I will be able to travel on an airplane in the United States.\u00a0\u00a0Yet not even five months since my vaccination, there is no longer evidence of antibody-based immunity in my blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My story is another example of the folly of making universal vaccination the primary objective of the pandemic response.  Vaccine mandates by restaurants, employers, airlines, colleges, and entertainment venues are based on the flawed assumption that vaccinated people are safe, clean, and not dangerous to others.  There is undeniable evidence that breakthrough infections<\/a> occur, that the vaccinated can spread the disease<\/a>, and that vaccinated individuals can die<\/a> of the disease.  It\u2019s becoming clear that eradication<\/a> is no longer possible.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also mounting evidence that vaccines are associated with significant side effects<\/a> that affect the health and wellbeing of individuals.  Expect more evidence to emerge.  We do not yet know the whole story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t have all the answers\u2014nobody does.  Our understanding of both the virus and the vaccines are so far from complete that it\u2019s impossible for anyone to make sweeping recommendations, no matter their position, no matter their intelligence.  But there is one thing we know for sure.  Clear objectives drive sound decisions.  Before we can win this war, we must agree on a sensible objective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our desired outcome should be keeping as many people alive<\/a> as possible.  The life, health, and wellbeing of all individuals are paramount.  When we give primacy to vaccination status, we lose sight of our noble objective, and we divide people into uncooperating groups.   To the extent that vaccines further our objective, we should use them.  To the extent that early treatments further this objective, we should use them.  To the extent that therapies and treatment protocols have not been fully studied by science, we should fund studies publicly.  Although we can count on the free market to sponsor research when there\u2019s the prospect of a large profit, wouldn\u2019t it be a shame to overlook regimens that can keep people alive just because there\u2019s no money to be made?  But we should never confuse any of these tools with our primary objective. We must allow people to make choices, and we must allow doctors to make personalized decisions in the best interest of individual patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eradication is no longer possible, but survival is.  We must learn to live with the virus.  Have faith.  Have courage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do Vaccination Cards Keep Us Safe? Before I answer that question, I\u2019d like to tell a personal story.\u00a0\u00a0I took a single dose Janssen vaccine March 15, 2021.\u00a0\u00a0I measured my spike protein antibodies on May 20 to make sure that the vaccine worked; my test was positive with an\u00a0index level\u00a0of 1.4.\u00a0\u00a0Last Thursday, August 12, I measured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,3,6,4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-13","category-covid-19","category-science","category-testing","category-vaccine"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":306,"url":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?p=306","url_meta":{"origin":934,"position":0},"title":"Antibody Tests after Vaccination","author":"Kevin Homer, MD","date":"April 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The CDC recently updated\u00a0guidelines for interpretation of SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests\u00a0after infection and vaccination.\u00a0\u00a0There is currently\u00a0no recommendation to measure antibodies after vaccination\u00a0to determine vaccine effectiveness.\u00a0\u00a0Despite this, I know vaccinated individuals who measure antibodies anyway, and they are surprised when antibody tests come back negative. Okay, full disclosure.\u00a0\u00a0It was me.\u00a0\u00a0And my wife.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2021"","block_context":{"text":"2021","link":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":372,"url":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?p=372","url_meta":{"origin":934,"position":1},"title":"Which Vaccine Causes the Greatest Antibody Response?","author":"Kevin Homer, MD","date":"June 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s not even close.\u00a0\u00a0In terms of generating the highest S-antibody response, Moderna is the clear winner.\u00a0\u00a0Pfizer comes in second, and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) finishes in last place.\u00a0\u00a0Here\u2019s the data that backs this up. The same volunteers we tested to figure out\u00a0antibodies after vaccination and disease\u00a0were separated by vaccine type\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2021"","block_context":{"text":"2021","link":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Pfizer-Janssen-vs.-COVID.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Pfizer-Janssen-vs.-COVID.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Pfizer-Janssen-vs.-COVID.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Pfizer-Janssen-vs.-COVID.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":352,"url":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?p=352","url_meta":{"origin":934,"position":2},"title":"Vaccinate the Previously Infected? A Risk without Benefit","author":"Kevin Homer, MD","date":"June 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Vaccination of the previously infected is a risk without benefit because there\u2019s no significant difference between S-antibody levels stimulated by SARS-CoV-2 infection when compared with vaccine.\u00a0\u00a0 Using the same group of volunteers from our study to determine\u00a0antibody types stimulated by vaccine and\/or COVID, we measured the level of S-antibodies in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2021"","block_context":{"text":"2021","link":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1074,"url":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?p=1074","url_meta":{"origin":934,"position":3},"title":"COVID Serology","author":"Kevin Homer, MD","date":"September 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The immune system is a big complex machine.\u00a0\u00a0Medicine tries to simplify the machine to make it understandable and to manipulate it to our advantage.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why we measure antibody levels in the blood.\u00a0\u00a0The measurement of antibody levels in the blood is called\u00a0serology.\u00a0\u00a0Serology doesn't measure the whole immune system, but we do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2021"","block_context":{"text":"2021","link":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":342,"url":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?p=342","url_meta":{"origin":934,"position":4},"title":"Antibodies after Vaccination and Disease","author":"Kevin Homer, MD","date":"June 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last time, we built a mental\u00a0model of the SARS-CoV-2 virus\u00a0and used that model to make predictions of antibody test results.\u00a0\u00a0This time we will see how that model squares against real-world observations. Here\u2019s the table we created last time: InfectedUninfectedVaccinatedS+ N+S+ N-UnvaccinatedS+ N+S- N- With their permission, I tested more than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2021"","block_context":{"text":"2021","link":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1775,"url":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?p=1775","url_meta":{"origin":934,"position":5},"title":"Vaccination Does Not Prevent Long COVID","author":"Kevin Homer, MD","date":"December 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Government health agencies say vaccination prevents Long COVID. Here is why they are wrong.","rel":"","context":"In "2022"","block_context":{"text":"2022","link":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/long_haul.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/long_haul.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/long_haul.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/betterpathology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/long_haul.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=934"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":937,"href":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934\/revisions\/937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betterpathology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}