Daniel Dvorkin<p><a href="https://qoto.org/tags/Covid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Covid</span></a> causes what we in the biz call "<a href="https://qoto.org/tags/cardiovascular" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cardiovascular</span></a> events," among its other nasty effects. <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/Heart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Heart</span></a> attack, <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/stroke" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>stroke</span></a>, pulmonary <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/embolism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>embolism</span></a>, deep vein <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/thrombosis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thrombosis</span></a>. All things you should try to avoid.</p><p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49634-x" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">nature.com/articles/s41467-024</span><span class="invisible">-49634-x</span></a></p><p>The covid <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/vaccine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>vaccine</span></a>—any of the currently approved vaccines—helps protect against such events. A <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/mechanism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mechanism</span></a> isn't yet clear: the obvious hypothesis is that it works by reducing the incidence and sincerity of covid, and therefore reduces the effects of the disease. Say it with me now: further research is needed. Send me a pile of cash and I'll be happy to get on that, BTW.</p><p>(It also helps protect against <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/cancer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cancer</span></a>, by an entirely different mechanism. I can natter about that if anyone wants.)</p><p>But the effect itself is clear. Has been from the start of the <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/mRNA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mRNA</span></a> vaccine era, really. Now a very large-scale study has confirmed it. There will be more studies, as there should be. They will show the same result. I'd bet my fortune on that, if I had a fortune, because then I'd have an even bigger fortune. Have I mentioned lately that <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/scientists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scientists</span></a> need to eat?</p><p>As it is, all I have to pledge is my life and my sacred honor. I take both of those pretty seriously.</p><p>Of course this runs directly counter to the <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/antivax" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>antivax</span></a> narrative. Based on a transitory and maybe illusory increase in clotting risk from an early vaccine that's no longer on the market (Johnson & Johnson) they've built an entire mythology about "the <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/clot" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>clot</span></a> shot." Lately they've added "<a href="https://qoto.org/tags/turbo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>turbo</span></a> cancer," which is not a thing that exists, to the canon.</p><p>So when dedicated antivaxers see any of the large and ever-growing number of studies showing protective effects against more than the <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/infection" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>infection</span></a> itself, especially against the exact same problems they claim the vaccine causes, they react with mockery and/or rage. It's all they know how to do.</p><p>Years of bitter experience have taught me there's no point in trying to reason with them. I still hold out hope that at least some antivax sentiment isn't that dedicated, that a lot of people are scared of getting vaccinated out of the general unease brought on by ignorance.</p><p>Oh yeah: the Methods section in the linked article provides details on data collection and analysis. It looks good to me, and I have a whole lot of experience in study design. Note that no vaccine manufacturers provided <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/funding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>funding</span></a>. For a full list of funding sources, see the Acknowledgements.</p><p>I don't suppose I have many if any antivaxers left in my audience. If I do, well, I guess there's a reason you're still here. And if you like me or trust me or respect me at all, please pay attention to my words.</p><p>For everyone else, if what I've written here is useful, please do with it what you can.</p>