Are COVID-19 Vaccines ‘Leaky’? Asks Article in Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons


TUCSON, Ariz., March 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Paradoxically, COVID-19 is surging in the most highly vaccinated countries. The most popular explanation is that the vaccines are “leaky.” This means that the vaccine does not suppress mutation of the virus, allowing some “variants” to escape and become the dominant viruses in circulation. Lee Merritt, M.D., questions this theory in the spring issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Coronaviruses are unusual in that they mutate more slowly than most RNA viruses, she states. Moreover, vaccine developers purposely target the most highly conserved—least variable—region of the genome specifically to minimize the problem of variant escape.

People tend to think of viral escape as being like bacteria developing antibiotic resistance: The drug kills off the sensitive bacteria, so resistant ones take over and spread, she explains. However, no study has demonstrated that COVID vaccines prevent transmission.

“So how could resistant ‘variants’ arise without selective pressure?” she asks.

From an evolutionary standpoint, variants would be expected to be less virulent, yet increased vaccination rates are associated with increased COVID mortality and morbidity. The Delta variant, for example, has one of the lowest case fatality rates, 0.3 percent.

Dr. Merritt suggests that toxicity of the vaccine itself, rather than viral variants, is the simplest and most plausible explanation for rising death rates.

The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons is published by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943.

 



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