My COVID Vaccine Research

I'm composing this blog for my own benefit and the benefit of anyone who is trying to sort out the confused mess that has become our vaccine response. I intend to update this post as I get more information. So you can subscribe to my channel where I will repost this blog when I add to it or check back on your own if you want to see what I come across.

Before getting into my research, let me first comment about my approach and biases: First, I am going to draw from diverse sources to compile "point-counterpoint" information. I am going to use real science textbooks to draw definitions and explain concepts as needed. And I am going to prioritize pre-covid sources because the politics of the pandemic have corrupted and confused much of our inquiry and findings. Second, I am neither "provaccine" nor "antivaccine" in my biases; I don't believe that vaccines are universally "good" or "bad". I approach all vaccines with caution - as I do all medical treatments - and want to know something about how they work and the processes involved so that I can make informed decisions. 

Two Preliminary Questions

I have already written about my perspective on COVID Vaccines and shared my conclusions about whether or not one could get COVID from the mRNA vaccines, and about whether or not mRNA can modify DNA. I encourage you to read my post if those are questions that you are currently sorting through, but the short answer to both is "no". These vaccines lack the other 28 proteins necessary to replicate the SARS-Cov-2 virus. And mRNA only possesses the ability to "carry instructions", not "write code" (hence the name, mRNA or "messenger RNA"). 

Spike Proteins

One of the biggest concerns that I'm seeing raised centers around research from the Salk Institute, which suggests that spike proteins cause vascular disease and blood clots, and shows that COVID is primarily a vascular disease that damages the vascular system at cellular levels. 

According to the Salk Institute: 

"Circulation research... shows conclusively that COVID-19 is a vascular disease, demonstrating exactly how the SARS-CoV-2 virus damages and attacks the vascular system on a cellular level. The findings help explain COVID-19’s wide variety of seemingly unconnected complications, and could open the door for new research into more effective therapies... While the findings themselves aren’t entirely a surprise, the paper provides clear confirmation and a detailed explanation of the mechanism through which the protein damages vascular cells for the first time. There’s been a growing consensus that SARS-CoV-2 affects the vascular system, but exactly how it did so was not understood. Similarly, scientists studying other coronaviruses have long suspected that the spike protein contributed to damaging vascular endothelial cells, but this is the first time the process has been documented."

Spike proteins have been documented causing damage to vascular endothelial cells, which compose the tunica intima (innermost) lining of your blood vessels. These endothelial cells are made of epithelial tissue, which is the kind of tissue that comprises your skin, and can be easily damaged. 

Exploring Creation with Advanced Biology - The Human Body (Second Edition: P. 373):

These concerns should not be dismissed as unreasonable since the potential for Sars-Cov-2 spike proteins to cause cellular damage to vascular endothelial is entirely justified because epithelial tissue is very sensitive and easily damaged. 

According to research, the damage appears to be caused by effects on the mitochondria, which are energy producing organelles in the cells. These spike proteins cause the mitochondria to change their shape, which reduces their function and damages or kills the cell. And this is the basis of concern for the new mRNA vaccines since they cause your body to temporarily produce these spike proteins to teach your immune system to recognize the Sars-Cov-2 virus and kill it before developing the COVID disease. 

From the Salk Institute: 

In the new study, the researchers created a “pseudovirus” that was surrounded by SARS-CoV-2 classic crown of spike proteins, but did not contain any actual virus. Exposure to this pseudovirus resulted in damage to the lungs and arteries of an animal model—proving that the spike protein alone was enough to cause disease. Tissue samples showed inflammation in endothelial cells lining the pulmonary artery walls. The team then replicated this process in the lab, exposing healthy endothelial cells (which line arteries) to the spike protein. They showed that the spike protein damaged the cells by binding ACE2. This binding disrupted ACE2’s molecular signaling to mitochondria (organelles that generate energy for cells), causing the mitochondria to become damaged and fragmented. Previous studies have shown a similar effect when cells were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but this is the first study to show that the damage occurs when cells are exposed to the spike protein on its own. If you remove the replicating capabilities of the virus, it still has a major damaging effect on the vascular cells, simply by virtue of its ability to bind to this ACE2 receptor, the S protein receptor, now famous thanks to COVID,” Manor explains. “Further studies with mutant spike proteins will also provide new insight towards the infectivity and severity of mutant SARS CoV-2 viruses.”

The full study can be found at AHA Journals. 

Comments from J. Patrick Whelan MD PhD further elucidate concerns regarding the new vaccines and child safety. I strongly encourage reading his comments to better grasp the issues that form the basis for Dr. Whelan's concerns.

In response to these concerns, Science Based Medicine presents the following counterpoint: 

To be clear, the safety data on the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines are now extensive, with hundreds of millions of doses give and months of data, without any significant side effects apparent... The vaccine-induced proteins do not appear to cause any harmful effects. This may be because the vaccine is administered in the muscle, and so muscle cells are the ones taking up the mRNA and making spike proteins. There is a vigorous immune response which neutralizes the spike proteins before they can cause any harm. This is very different from a virus replicating throughout the body.

An excellent explanation with visual helps about how these new mRNA vaccines work can be found from The Irish Times. 

Science Based Medicine's response to the concerns of this research appears to be twofold: First, millions of Americans and people from around the world have already been vaccinated and provided the case study demonstrating the safety of these vaccines. Second, the reason they give why the spike proteins contained in these vaccinations are not causing damage is because they are administered in the muscle, where a vigorous immune response neutralizes the spike proteins before they can enter the vascular system and cause harm. 

My takeaway from their response is likewise twofold: First, I am appalled by their first response because their rebuttal is essentially that they have already given people the shot and everything worked out for them, so it must be safe. But, the results of this experiment could have gone completely different (and still could) and many people's lives could have been ruined (and still could be)! Second, the mechanism they suggest for immune response in the muscular tissue sounds promising and appears sound, but is also incomplete and leaves me with too many unanswered questions. They simply pose the theory and present no evidence or additional insight to give me reason to believe that this immune response is playing a protective role in the process. 

My conclusion is that their response to this problem is insufficient to give me full confidence in the safety of the vaccine on this particular point. Vascular damage and disease can take years or even decades to begin exhibiting signs. Just because people are not "dropping dead" instantly in the streets doesn't mean their vascular systems are not being damaged right now. I felt the research showing cause for concerns was extensive and thorough, while the responses I have found to this research were dismissive or incomplete. 

So, while some people may be convinced by the primary answer that those who have taken the vaccine appear alright right now, I am not convinced by that answer because my understanding is that vascular damage could take years or even decades to begin manifesting symptoms. And I am not comfortable risking extensive damage to my vascular system when I am confident that therapeutics are fully capable of treating COVID should I incur a serious case. I also think their response paints too rosy of a picture about the data so far. 

The Magnet Test 

One of the questions that have been raised about the safety of COVID vaccinations centers people who have posted videos suggesting magnets stick to their arms after receiving their COVID vaccinations. I want to take some time to deal with this question. And I was expecting this question to be more involved because the list of ingredients look scary at first blush, but I quickly discovered that processing through the list of ingredients is not as complicated as it might look.  

When we consider the listed ingredients of these vaccines (archived list), we find that these vaccines are composed of mRNA materials, lipids, salts, and sucrose.

None of these materials are magnetic. Lipids are macro-biomolecules that are soluble in hydrocarbons, which include things like fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins (among other things). Lipids play roles in storing energy, signaling, and acting as structural components of cell membranes. Obviously none of these materials possess magnetic properties. 

Therefore one of two things are true: either we do not possess the full list of vaccine materials, or the claim to magnetism is fraudulent. 

Assuming the first premise, let's think through this question logically: the amount of metallic material necessary to be magnetic would be significant. One proof-of-concept test that could be performed would be to place 0.5 mg of liquid magnetic material behind the foreskin of your thumb and then use ordinary house magnets to see if they can stick. In my research, I saw various sources suggesting more than 1 gram of magnetic material would be necessary for this test to work. 

Assuming the second premise, let's think through these videos logically: there are no clean, up close, side shots of these magnets. We don't see any skin-tenting expected if magnets were pulling on metallic material inside the skin. And no one touches the sides of the magnets to demonstrate that they are actually holding on. 

My conclusion is that the magnet test is a hoax. 

As I find more information or do research on other questions about the vaccine, I will post my findings here. So subscribe to my channel if you want to see more.