Orthodox Reflections

When a future historian writes the history of American Orthodoxy’s response to COVID, it will include a long list of missed opportunities. Thanks to Public Orthodoxy and the Orthodox Theological Society in America, we can now add an article titled Which Vaccine Should I Receive? to that list. The article introduces an FAQ document on COVID vaccines prepared by three Orthodox Christian health experts – Drs. Hermina Nedelescu, Catherine Creticos, and Gayle Woloschak. The piece is very pro-vaccination, which is unfortunate as a balanced-treatment of this topic would have better served the Orthodox community.

While quite a bit of the material included in the article is suspect, what the authors left out is actually worse than what they put in. Nowhere in this article did the authors endorse the basic human right to voluntary, informed consent for all medical procedures. The Russian Orthodox Church explicitly supports this right, as do ethical physicians around the world. From a moral perspective, it is essential that all final decisions on medical treatments, including vaccinations, be made by the patient or the patient’s parents in case of a minor:

Informed consent involves the basic human right to consent or refuse a medical treatment or procedure, including vaccination. The consent must be voluntary. If a patient, or parent of a patient, is coerced or threatened in any way into consenting for vaccination (including statutory or government mandated exclusion from school), then the “consent” obtained is actually coerced consent, not informed consent.

 

We view vaccines as pharmaceutical drugs and/or medicines, and we respect everyone’s right to the informed consent (or informed refusal) of drugs and/or medicines. Therefore, this organization is not ideologically pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine, but rather is pro-health, pro-ethics, and pro-informed consent in vaccination (like any other medical procedure).

It is absolutely immoral and so totally contrary to the teachings of the Orthodox Church to force, directly or indirectly, patients to submit to vaccination against their will. Given the current political climate, affirming this basic right should be the starting point for any discussion of vaccines within an Orthodox framework. A patient should receive a vaccine only if, after reviewing all the information available, he or she believes that the vaccine will be medically beneficial to him or her.

Curiously, personal medical benefit was not even listed as a reason in this article to get vaccinated. These were the reasons given:

Vaccination against Covid-19 has become an urgent priority because vaccinating a significant portion of the population as quickly as possible will (1) save lives, (2) reduce illness, and (3) potentially help stop the spread of the virus.

Save lives? Whose lives? Clearly this an argument for the “greater good,” rather than one aimed at a free individual making a healthcare choice. As with any medical procedure, vaccines involve risk of adverse effects. An Orthodox Christian reading this expert advice is supposed to bear those risks to save other people’s lives? What about your own life, and the lives of all the people who depend upon you being safe and well? Don’t they matter?  Our Orthodox experts even admit that vaccination is not guaranteed to “stop the spread” of the virus:

Do I still need to wear a mask after I receive the Covid-19 vaccine?
Answer: Yes. The reason for this is because the endpoint or goal of the Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials were to prevent severe Covid-19. Therefore, we do not yet know whether the vaccine will prevent transmission of virus. However, we will find out soon.

It would be much a stronger argument if the experts could tell you that getting the vaccine will save you from severe illness or death. That would at least be a logical reason to risk getting a vaccine approved for emergency use, but not yet fully tested. Unfortunately, the experts can’t really make that argument for 99% of the population. In an article on Orthodox Ethos,  Hagiorite Monk Paul, a biologist and medical doctor, explained why a COVID vaccine is not needed except, possibly, for those at highest risk:

The particularly low mortality rate of the disease, but also its distribution by age, clearly denote that vaccination, whenever it becomes feasible, must be targeted. Recent studies which have estimated the number of deaths in relation to the actual number of people exposed to the virus – based on serological tests (antibody tests) in a specific geographical area – have determined that this percentage is of the order of magnitude of seasonal flu (certainly <1%)

 

Based on the above, even if a safe and effective vaccine is produced (something especially difficult for corona viruses’ biology), it can be justified for administering it only to high-risk groups, as is done with the seasonal flu vaccine. Needless to say that it is not justified for administering it to children – who are in their vast majority asymptomatic, nor to people who have been exposed and are immune to the virus (positive antibody test), given that they already have what the vaccine would have given them.

If you are elderly with significant co-morbidities, then vaccination may be worth considering. The vaccine makes little to no sense for the general population. There is no guarantee that the vaccines will “stop the spread” nor do we even know how much protection is provided from personal infection.

In addition, the virus is apparently going away on it its own. Since January 8th, “cases” are down 77%. It is likely, based on the numbers, that as many as 2/3rds of Americans have already had the virus, recovered from mostly mild or no symptoms, and are thus already immune without a vaccine. The reduction in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths led one writer in the WSJ to observe:

But the consistent and rapid decline in daily cases since Jan. 8 can be explained only by natural immunity. Behavior didn’t suddenly improve over the holidays; Americans traveled more over Christmas than they had since March. Vaccines also don’t explain the steep decline in January. Vaccination rates were low and they take weeks to kick in.

 

My prediction that Covid-19 will be mostly gone by April is based on laboratory data, mathematical data, published literature and conversations with experts.

Why Risk Babies and Mothers?

The Orthodox writers we quoted earlier clearly encourage everyone to get vaccinated, whether it makes logical sense or not. This includes pregnant women, who were not even intentionally part of the vaccine safety studies.

In fact, the Orthodox experts admit the following about pregnant mothers, “In summary, there is no strong safety evidence but no evidence of harm either. There are plans to include pregnant women in upcoming trials. Pregnant women should discuss vaccination with their physician.” 

It is quite stunning that Orthodox Christian medical experts are willing to risk babies and their mothers when they admit there is no strong safety evidence. One would have thought an abundance of caution would prevail concerning the lives of babies. Sadly, even as we await more trials, evidence of harm is showing up for pregnant women and their babies.

Similarly, these experts dismiss concerns over potential vaccine impacts on female fertility based on 36 pregnancies that occurred during the vaccine trials. That is a very small, and accidental data set on which to base any conclusions. Since young, fertile women are at almost absolute zero risk from the virus, why take any chances at all?

Downplay Potential Risks

This thinly tested, hastily-developed, experimental group of vaccines (emergency use authorization is not full FDA approval) is proving to be a hard sell. The facts of the situation leave vaccine advocates in a serious dilemma – how can we convince everyone to accept such unknown risks for little to no personal benefit?

One way to make vaccines more enticing is to downplay the potential risks. Our Orthodox experts claim the COVID vaccines, despite the haste in which they were developed, are safe and effective:

Will I have adverse reactions to the vaccine?
Answer: Serious reactions (e.g. anaphylaxis) against the mRNA vaccines are quite rare, about 1 in 100,000 for the Pfizer vaccine, and 1 in 400,000 for the Moderna vaccine. However, some mild reactions are common, including a sore arm, swollen lymph nodes, fever, fatigue, body aches, or numbness or tingling in the arm. These typically start a few hours to up to 72 hours after the injection, and usually resolve after 1-2 days. Some people get swelling or redness at the injection site a week later after the Moderna vaccine, and this also goes away. If needed, acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen or can be used for these reactions

Let us note that the common mild reactions listed above are frequently more severe than the symptoms most people infected with the corona virus experienced. That being said, are the vaccines really safe and well-tested?

Not really:

As of February 4, 2021, the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) had received 12,697 injury reports and 653 deaths following COVID-19 vaccination.

 

Of the cases reported between December 14, 2020, and February 4, 2021, 3.69% were life threatening and the number of deaths account for 5.14% of the total reports. The Pfizer vaccine accounted for 58% of deaths; Moderna’s accounted for 41%.

 

What’s more, when you look at vaccine-related deaths between January 2020 and January 2021, you find that COVID-19 vaccines account for a staggering 70% of the annual vaccine deaths, and that’s while having been available for less than two months. The first doses of Pfizer vaccine were given in mid-December 2020, while Moderna’s vaccine rolled out during the last week of December 2020.

 

While these numbers are staggering, they’re likely only a tiny fraction of the actual number of adverse events. According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study, fewer than 1% of vaccine adverse events are ever reported to VAERS.

 

This is primarily because VAERS reporting is voluntary. Many don’t even know it exists, or that you don’t have to be a medical professional to file a report. This would mean that there may, in reality, be over 1 MILLION COVID vaccine injuries, since 99% typically go unreported.

There are also potential long-term effects to consider. These could take years to manifest themselves, especially in children who absolutely do not need this vaccine. Does it make sense to risk the lives and health of everyone to combat a disease that is a serious threat to only a tiny segment of the population?

Coerced Vaccinations

Well, it doesn’t make sense. Despite the best efforts of many experts, such as our Orthodox writers, the public has learned much about the risks and lack of rewards for the vaccines. As a result, much of the public is primed to reject vaccination. About 60% of employees at long-term care facilities declined the vaccines, along with almost 20% of the residents (who are the only people likely to benefit from them). In many places, as much as 50% of frontline medical staff (doctors and nurses) have refused the vaccines. Overall, the number of Americans stating they will refuse vaccination varies by poll, but is somewhere between 32% and 40%.

The number of people opting out of the vaccines is likely to grow as more states return to normal, more adverse vaccine events are publicized, and COVID continues to decline as a concern. Clearly, those encouraging widespread vaccination are playing a weak hand that is getting weaker all the time. Which is why the threat of good, old fashioned coercion is growing.

While this could change, so far the ruling elites have opted for indirect coercion instead of outright force. If you prove you are vaccinated, you can have your life back. Otherwise, prepare for your lockdown nightmare to continue. NYU medical “ethics” professor Arthur Caplan explained this on CNN to host Fareed Zakaria:

Caplan argued that allowing people to have their freedoms returned after lockdown is the most “powerful incentive” to push the vaccine.

 

“If you promise people more mobility, more ability to get a job, more ability to get travel, that’s a very powerful incentive to actually achieve fuller vaccination,” Caplan told Fareed Zakaria.

 

“But there are going to be communities and areas of the country where it starts to make sense due to high availability of the vaccine to say, ‘you wanna come back to work in person? Gotta show me a vaccine certificate. You wanna go in a bar, a restaurant? Gotta show me a vaccine certificate,’” he added.

 

When asked about the dangers of a two tier society, and who can get access to the vaccine, Caplan stated “I think there will be some inequality in the U.S., but hopefully it’ll wash out quickly as the supplies increase very rapidly, I think they’re going to.”

Multiple countries and even New York are working on implementing vaccine passports: “Embattled New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his state would be installing a digital vaccine passport requirement to attend sporting venues, movie theaters, and some businesses in a March 2 press release posted on his website.”

Does anyone believe that it would be necessary to force people to take a vaccine if COVID were piling up bodies in the streets? The mere fact that such coercion is considered necessary tells you all that you need to know about the actual “threat” posed by the corona virus.

Unfortunately, our Orthodox authors completely missed an opportunity to condemn coerced vaccinations. Vaccine coercion is totally contrary to Orthodox teaching as shown by the Russian Orthodox Church soundly rejecting vaccine passports and all other forms of digital control:

“That is why the Church is categorically against the use of digital technologies in ensuring total control over the human person,” said Patriarch Kirill.

 

Earlier, the Synod of ROC declared that the use of digital identifiers and wide collection of personal data has to be controlled by the society and the Church as a public institution.

One would have thought that a paper published by the Orthodox Theological Society in America might have mentioned this threat to human liberty, and the fact that such policies are anti-Orthodox. It might also be worth mentioning that some Orthodox bishops are openly speculating that such technological control could be key to unleashing the reign of the anti-Christ. To us, that seems kind of important.

Play the Long Game

The hard sell techniques used to push the vaccines are going to get uglier. Big Pharma and the government-health complex are fully invested in promoting the vaccines. As they get increasingly desperate to keep pushing product into the arms of a resistant public, expect the following to ramp up:

• Threats – Get vaccinated or you can never go back to normal, have a job, fly on a plane, see a movie, visit your parents, etc.
• Enticements – Get vaccinated and you can “gather” with other vaccinated people, you can see your elderly relatives, you can get back to normal, you can have a job, you can go out to eat, you can travel, etc.
• Moral Bullying – Get vaccinated or you don’t love your neighbor, you’re a bad Christian, you want to kill granny, you are tempting God, etc.
• Isolation – You are the only one objecting, everyone else is doing it, why are you anti-social, can’t you just be like everyone else, etc.
• Insults – You anti-vaxxers are crazy, you are anti-science, you reject medicine, you want people to die, etc.
• Increased COVID Nonpharmaceutical Interventions – Since you crazy people won’t get vaccinated, time for double masks, masks at home, more lockdowns, more restrictions, more curfews, quarantines – all because you selfish people won’t get with the program and take a safe, effective vaccine!

This could be tough, especially for those in Blue States or Covidiot countries. But the political winds have definitely shifted, as evidenced by more states opening up and more governors standing up to the Federal Government. The free states / nations will do just fine going forward. Their example, and the drop in infections everywhere, will make it hard to keep feeding the hysteria. If you believe the vaccine is good for you, then by all means receive it. If you don’t want it, however, familiarize yourself with medical and religious exemptions and be prepared to play for time as the political situation resolves itself – hopefully in favor of freedom and human rights.

Perhaps over time, even Orthodox academics will recognize that as a good thing.

Irene is a clinical educator with over 25 years of health care experience. She is a member of the Greek Archdiocese of America.