Thread by @BpsmithUk

Good News *but*:
- Pfizer's claims aren't yet scientific evidence
- "Effective" doesn't mean "safe"
- "Placebo" vaccine may be alerting immune system & "flattering" vaccine
- Trial only half complete
- 43,000 not enough to cover all groups for safety theguardian.com/world/2020/nov…

(Note on "Too few": To declare a vaccine "safe & effective", it must work on every racial type (~10), at every age group (8), for both sexes (2) & despite major underlying conditions (20) - & when you combine them, with "significant" numbers in each, you need 10x more volunteers)

(1/2 Why does it matter? Well, what if the vaccine is approved & after a year in use we find that it protected the general working population (age 0-60) *except for doctors, nurses, vets & teachers of BAME ethnicity* (all of whom are exposed to high viral loads)...?)

(2/2 Or, to give a different example, what if the vaccine failed to protect people with immune-compromising conditons at all - such as diabetes, with type 2 often associated with obesity, 10% of the world population & 25-30% in UK/USA? Or those on statins/blood pressure meds?)

Point to consider:
Any vaccine introduces material into the body to stimulate immune system. Normally they're 10yrs in testing & problems show up.
Pushing COVID vaccines through in a year may work - but it may miss over-stimulated immune systems causing more autoimmune diseases