The Business of Vaccines

Sorry to rain on the vaccination parade but here is what the politicians are not telling you… 

The vaccines we are using for Covid are ‘leaky’. That ‘leakiness’ means they protect most people from severe illness or death but the vaccines DO NOT PREVENT TRANSMISSION. Therefore, even the vaccinated still need to adhere to the public health protocols – including avoiding travel. Yet, because of the pressure from the travel and tourism industry, countries are busily opening their borders to vaccinated travelers without testing or quarantine requirements. That just does not make sense and will spread variants more easily. In addition, vaccinated people tend to think they are now in the clear blissfully unaware that they can still spread the virus. In fact, because the vaccinated are mostly resistant to infection, many will be asymptomatic. Being asymptomatic, not knowing they have the virus, the vaccinated will spread it in this state of blissful unawareness. A really good vaccine would not only lower morbidity but also prevent transmission like previous vaccines have done. The current vaccines are better than nothing but they are not the panacea they are being made out to be. 

Secondly, the protection from the vaccines is temporary. The experience of countries such as Israel which was one of the first to reach herd immunity, is that the vaccine protection begins to wane after 6 – 8 months. This means that annual boosters will be required – ad infinitum?   

How much do vaccines cost? Initially the vaccine makers were willing to sell the vaccines for US$16 – $19 per dose – a cost not affordable by most of the world. However, because of the emergency, the US government (Trump’s) stepped in and made an agreement with the vaccine makers to buy millions of doses - at a discount. Other countries, WHO, PAHO and other health organizations followed the US’s lead which created a market of billions for the vaccine makers. The more the vaccine makers can sell, the cheaper the price. The price of vaccines is now about US$2 - $3 per dose. Therefore, the vaccine makers are raking in billions. 

I live in Canada where most are vaccinated with at least two doses and some like myself have three doses. However, less than 1% of people in low- income countries are fully vaccinated compared to countries like Canada where the latest vaccine rate according to the Government of Canada website is +70%. Poor countries and developing countries like Jamaica cannot afford to pay to vaccinate their populations so they have to wait on vaccines donated from richer countries. Even when a struggling, poorer country like Jamaica tries to buy some vaccines, they can’t buy much so they go to the back of the line. According to Amnesty International, the vaccine makers refuse to prioritize orders from poorer countries as it is more profitable for them to supply the larger orders of the richer countries. 

Some experts say this virus crisis could drag on for two more years so the cost of vaccination could eventually come to trillions when one considers the need for boosters. This diversion of trillions of dollars to Big Pharma means that there is less for other things: food for the hungry, homes for the homeless, medicine for the sick. If you have disposable income, invest in the vaccine makers. Governments need to fund huge research projects to develop less leaky vaccines to replace the current poor quality, leaky vaccines as well as prophylactics and medicines for Covid and the variants. For too long we have outsourced medical research to the for-profit private sector. This was not always so.

According to Documentary Film Maker Michael Moore, the vaccine makers refused to participate in initiatives to boost global vaccine supply to poorer countries. However, the best laid plans of mice, men and vaccine makers sometimes go awry. Some people are now saying no to the vaccines. The vaccine makers cannot have that. No way! So, now another, new unholy alliance has been formed between governments and Big Pharma to mandate vaccination with the tacit approval of mainstream media and social media companies. If you do not vaccinate, you will not be able to travel, work, study, eat at restaurants or go to leisure activities. This unholy alliance mandating vaccination has been gladly accepted by the corporate sector for reasons that have me baffled considering that the current vaccines do not prevent transmission. An unvaccinated person may be a danger to himself but he is no more dangerous to others than an unvaccinated person. In fact, a vaccinated person may be infected but because of their immunity, they could be asymptomatic so, ironically, a vaccinated person may spread the virus more than an unvaccinated person.  

Making Covid vaccination compulsory has aroused some in the church causing a split in the Christian ranks. Brogad said God made the vaccines.

Photo Credit: Michael Moore

However, others say the vaccines are the mark of the devil. Then, there is the United Independents’ Congress, the UIC. Cleverly riding the wave of a general lack of trust in government and vaccine hesitancy, reliable sources tell me that those who have never voted and voters for the PNP and the JLP are joining the UIC in droves. Several singers and entertainers have echoed the UIC's call and come out against mandatory vaccination. The UIC’s YouTube Channel has skyrocketed to over two thousand subscribers overnight. Thousands more are viewing the UIC channel which I suspect may cause the Government of Jamaica in alliance with Big Pharma to get YouTube to shut down the UIC channel shortly. The Holness government is overreacting to the UIC by having the police pepper spraying and arresting its leader and some supporters. The mandating of vaccines could bring down the Andrew Holness government. There is news of a rift in the cabinet about mandatory vaccination

As it is now becoming obvious here in Canada and other countries, any protection from the virus will require ‘herd immunity’ in the region of +90% with annual boosters. Consequently, governments have not only guaranteed the vaccine market to the vaccine makers, they are going to try and increase it to +90% of the total human population. 

Photo of a Canada Vax sign by Raymond Grant

Governments have insulated the vaccine makers from legal liability for their product. No other medical product enjoys freedom from legal liability. Vaccination is BIG business monopolized by a few, a business which is slated to get much bigger. Like all big businesses and monopolies, the vaccine business needs legal liability to protect patients, more government regulation and more government oversight - not less.

As a friend of mine just told me: You should give Brogad and his colleagues the benefit of no doubt whatsoever. An honest government would recognize COVID as a coronavirus with an animal reservoir that can never be eradicated, push herd immunity by vaccinating senior citizens and other at-risk folks as much as possible, and then focus on treating the virus with everybody else who gets it as efficiently (common antiviral drugs openly available) and as effectively (monoclonal antibodies for everybody who still has symptoms if antivirals don’t work) as possible. This does not fit in with the vaccine makers narrative as they would make less money. Be aware!

Raymond D. Grant

(Fully Vaccinated - 3 doses)