Part of the problem may be that I can be unduly long-winded so here, as succinctly as I can manage are the principal reasons for my reservations (I don’t say ‘hesitancy’):
1. The new vaccines have not been adequately trialed and assessments of safety and efficacy based on such trials that have taken place are of dubious validity. We should be appalled that essentially experimental vaccines are being rolled out on a global scale.
2. The record of some of the pharmaceutical companies making these vaccines, notably Pfizer, is one of proven corruption and does not inspire trust. Nor does the past and current performance of the British government in this crisis inspire trust.
3. There has been no public discussion of the relative merits of the vaccines and no discussion that takes objections to any or all of them into account.
4. Questions have been raised about suspected adverse reactions to vaccinations, in particular questions concerning blood clotting, found in a small number of recipients. Concern about this clotting has led some countries to temporarily suspend their rollout of the Oxford Astrazenica vaccine. Further, in an open letter to the European Medicines Agency a number of doctors and scientists “question whether cardinal issues regarding the safety of the vaccines were adequately addressed prior to their approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA)” and suggests a mechanism whereby the vaccines might cause the blood clots reported.
5. Besides concerns about adverse reactions in the short term we might be concerned about the long term implications and possible effects of a long term vaccination programme on the natural immune systems of populations as well as individuals.
6. I have seen no evidence that vaccinations administered during the past three months have resulted in a fall in mortality, morbidity or the rate of infections.