The Morning: The side effects of Covid vaccines

Plus, Donald Trump's trial, Taiwan and the definition of a song.

View in browser|nytimes.com May 3, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We're covering Covid vaccine side effects — as well as Donald Trump's trial, Taiwan and the definition of a song. Shaun Barcavage Hannah Yoon for The New York Times 'I'm not real' Let me start with a disclaimer: The subject of today's newsletter will make some readers uncomfortable. It makes me a little uncomfortable. The Times has just published an article about Americans who believe they suffered serious side effects from a Covid vaccine. More than 13,000 of them have filed vaccine-injury claims with the federal government. My colleague Apoorva Mandavilli tells some of their stories in the article, including those of several people who work in medicine and science: Ilka Warshawsky, a 58-year-old pathologist, said she lost all hearing in her right ear shortly after receiving a Covid booster shot. Dr. Gregory Poland, 68 — no less than the editor in chief of Vaccine, a scientific journal — said that a loud whooshing sound in his ears had accompanied every moment since his first Covid shot. Shaun Barcavage, 54, a nurse practitioner in New York City, has experienced a ringing sound in his ears, a racing heart and pain in his eyes, mouth and genitals for more than three years. "I can't get the government to help me," Barcavage said. "I am told I'm not real." This subject is uncomfortable because it feeds into false stories about the Covid vaccines that many Americans have come to believe — namely, that the vaccines are ineffective or have side effects that exceed their benefits. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate, has promoted these stories, as have some Republican politicians and conservative media figures. "The scale of misinformation," Dr. Joshua Sharfstein of Johns Hopkins University told Apoorva, "is staggering." So let me be clear: The benefits of the Covid vaccines have far outweighed the downsides, according to a voluminous amount of data and scientific studies from around the world. In the U.S. alone, the vaccines have saved at least several hundred thousand lives and perhaps more than one million, studies estimate. Rates of death, hospitalization and serious illness have all been much higher among the unvaccinated than the vaccinated. Here is data from the C.D.C., in a chart by my colleague Ashley Wu: Source: Our World in Data, C.D.C. | Numbers for the group "All" are age adjusted. | By The New York Times Not only are the vaccines' benefits enormous, but the true toll of the side effects may be lower than the perceived toll: Experts told Apoorva that some people who believe Covid vaccines have harmed them are probably wrong about the cause of their problems. How so? Human beings suffer mysterious medical ailments all the time. If you happened to begin experiencing one in the weeks after receiving a vaccine, you might blame the shot, too, even if it were a coincidence. So far, federal officials have approved less than 2 percent of the Covid vaccine injury-compensation claims they have reviewed. Still, some ailments almost certainly do stem from the vaccines. The C.D.C. says some people are allergic (as is the case with any vaccine). Both the C.D.C. and researchers in Israel — which has better medical tracking than the U.S. — have concluded that the vaccines contributed to heart inflammation, especially in young men and boys. Officials in Hong Kong — another place with good health care data — have concluded that the vaccines caused severe shingles in about seven vaccine recipients per million. Honesty and trust These side effects are worthy of attention for two main reasons. First, people who are suffering deserve recognition — and the lack of it can be infuriating. Dr. Janet Woodcock, a former F.D.A. commissioner, told The Times that she regretted not doing more to respond to people who blame the vaccines for harming them while she was in office. "I believe their suffering should be acknowledged, that they have real problems, and they should be taken seriously," Woodcock said. The second reason is that public health depends on public trust, and public trust in turn depends on honesty. During the pandemic, as I've written in the past, government officials and academic experts sometimes made the mistake of deciding that Americans couldn't handle the truth. Instead, experts emphasized evidence that was convenient to their recommendations and buried inconvenient facts. They exaggerated the risk of outdoor Covid transmission, the virus's danger to children and the benefits of mask mandates, among other things. The goal may have been admirable — fighting a deadly virus — but the strategy backfired. Many people ended up confused, wondering what the truth was. The overall picture Here's my best attempt to summarize the full truth about the Covid vaccines: They are overwhelmingly safe and effective. They have saved millions of lives and prevented untold misery around the world. They're so valuable that elderly people and those with underlying health conditions should be vigilant about getting booster shots when they're eligible. For most children, on the other hand, booster shots seem to have only modest benefits, which is why many countries don't recommend them. And, yes, a small fraction of people will experience significant side effects from the vaccines. Eventually, scientific research may be able to better understand and reduce those side effects — which is more reason to pay attention to them. Overall, Covid vaccines are probably the most beneficial medical breakthrough in years, if not decades. I encourage you to read Apoorva's article. ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Trump on Trial Donald Trump Doug Mills/The New York Times The jury in Donald Trump's criminal trial heard audio — secretly recorded by Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen — that seemed to show Trump's involvement in the hush-money payments to two women who allegedly had affairs with him. In one recording, Cohen claimed that Trump hates "the fact that we did it," referring to paying off Stormy Daniels. In another, Trump and Cohen discussed the deal with Karen McDougal. The jury also saw texts from 2016 in which Daniels's former lawyer acknowledged that the hush money might have helped Trump win the election. "What have we done?" he wrote. Prosecutors asked the judge to hold Trump in contempt for again violating a gag order. Jimmy Kimmel joked about texts that mention his show being entered into evidence. "Why was I not asked to testify?" he said. More on Politics In North Carolina, a swing state, President Biden announced more funding to replace toxic lead pipes. He also met with the families of police officers killed this week in Charlotte. Biden, defending America's history of immigration, called Japan and India — U.S. allies — xenophobic and said that China and Russia "don't want immigrants." Senator Bob Menendez's lawyers want a psychologist to testify at his corruption trial that traumatic experiences explain the cash he stockpiled. Campus Protests In a televised statement, Biden condemned violence and intimidation on college campuses. "There's the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos," he said. In recent weeks, more than 2,000 demonstrators have been arrested or detained on campuses across the U.S., according to a Times tally. The House passed a bill that would crack down on antisemitic speech at colleges. About one-third of Democrats voted no, and some far-right Republicans criticized it as a threat to Christian teachings. A teakettle, sleeping bags and guard shifts: This is what it was like inside a building at Columbia occupied by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Universities including Brown agreed to consider ending investments linked to Israel in response to protests. It's a gamble that risks angering influential donors. Israel-Hamas War In southern Gaza.  Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Hamas's political leader said the group was studying Israel's latest cease-fire proposal with a "positive spirit" and would soon resume in-person negotiations. Some senior Israeli officials are weighing a postwar plan for Gaza in which Israel would share oversight of the enclave with an alliance of Arab nations. The war strategies of Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas's leader, Yahya Sinwar, leave little room for compromise, The Wall Street Journal reports. More International News In Dajia, Taiwan. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times In Taiwan, Times reporters joined the faithful on pilgrimages honoring Mazu, sometimes known as the Goddess of the Sea. The U.S. accused Russia of using chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops, in violation of a global ban. At least 29 people died after several days of heavy rain in southern Brazil. Business and Economy Workers in the Gulf of Mexico. Erin Schaff/The New York Times Oil companies, betting that the world is not yet ready to move past fossil fuels, have expanded drilling into deeper waters. (See photos of life aboard a facility 80 miles out to sea.) The restaurant chain Dave & Buster's, which features arcade games like Skee-Ball, announced that it will soon allow customers to gamble on the games. Sony Pictures and the private equity company Apollo Global Management formally expressed interest in acquiring Paramount for around $26 billion. Other Big Stories A judge declared a mistrial in a lawsuit from three Iraqi men who said they were tortured at Abu Ghraib prison two decades ago. The Kentucky Derby will take place tomorrow. The breakdown of 12 horses after the event last year has led to existential questions about the sport. Opinions New York City police infringed on First Amendment rights when they blocked journalists from witnessing their raid on Columbia University, Mara Gay writes. Gerrymandering turned Michigan into a bastion of minority rule — until democracy activists fought back and won, Ari Berman writes. Here are columns by David Brooks on how the protests help Trump, Michelle Cottle on Biden's wise words about the protests and Michelle Goldberg on Kari Lake's abortion stance. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS The Grand Palais in Paris during the 1924 Olympic Art Competition. Costas Dimitriadis Archives, Collection Katia Iakovidou and Yiannis Anagnostou Medals: For decades, the Olympics included art competitions. The winning entries are largely forgotten. 'Queer food': Scholars gathered to discuss the role gender and sexuality play in the food space. (Snacks were plentiful.) Night sky: The Eta Aquarids meteor shower, a result of debris from Halley's Comet, will be at its peak this weekend. Here's how to watch. Lives Lived: Peggy Mellon Hitchcock was born into privilege but enthusiastically supported the 1960s counterculture. She offered Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert her brother's mansion after they lost their jobs at Harvard for experimenting with psychedelic drugs. Hitchcock died at 90. SPORTS N.B.A.: The New York Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in a thrilling game on the road. The Knicks will face the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the playoffs. N.H.L.: The Toronto Maple Leafs fended off elimination and forced a Game 7 against the Boston Bruins in a tense 2-1 win. Kentucky Derby: Larry Demeritte, the trainer of long-shot West Saratoga, will become the first Black trainer with a Derby entrant since 1989. ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Rob Verhorst/Redferns, via Getty Images; Let's Get It On: written by Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend A new story by Ben Sisario, The Times's music industry reporter, explores the surprisingly complicated answer to what seems to be a simple question: What is a song? When it comes to copyright — and the multimillion-dollar lawsuits that come from it — a song is often defined by only the notes written on a piece of sheet music, and not by the much fuller recording. "It is completely divorced from actual music-making practice," said Joseph P. Fishman, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School. More on culture Times Book Review editors gathered their picks for the best books published since 2000. Hip-hop's popularity is growing in China. Artists there must strike a balance between creative expression and appeasing censors, The A.P. reports. TikTok and Universal Music Group reached a new licensing deal, ending a three-month stalemate that blocked songs from pop's biggest stars from the platform. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Megan Hedgpeth. Roast simple miso salmon as part of a traditional Japanese breakfast spread. Snuggle into bed with a comfy duvet. Buy a gift for an occult enthusiast. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was motorway. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David P.S. For World Press Freedom Day, A.G. Sulzberger, The Times's publisher, and Joseph Kahn, the executive editor, wrote a letter calling attention to missing and detained journalists across the globe. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. 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