One of the most common questions I continue to get from the over-60 crowd is, “Should I get the shingles vaccine, Zostavax?” All that Big Pharma TV advertising does not go unnoticed.
When I first studied this vaccine several years ago, I said that the only reported problem that I could find with the vaccine was an occasional allergy. But, at the same time, I warned my readers about the dangers of vaccines in general.
I also reinforced the idea that Zostavax worked only half the time. And even when it worked, the effect lasted only four to five years.
So, my general opinion about the vaccine was that while I was not going to get it, I could see no compelling reason why my readers should not as long as they know the limitations of the drug.
Now, all that has changed.
Before I get into the newly discovered problems with Zostavax, let me give you the main reasons why I don’t trust vaccines in general:
One, the money is huge. In 2016, Zostavax pulled in $749 million in sales for Merck. And where this kind of money is involved, corruption is likely to tag along.
The movie, Vaxxed, which you can access online at www.vaxxedthemovie.com, documents a very disturbing level of corruption at the United States CDC (Centers for Disease Control) with respect to accurately reporting the relationship between the MMR vaccine and the autism epidemic. If we can’t trust the CDC to tell us the truth about the MMR vaccine, why should we trust them about anything? And I won’t even go into the COVID-19 so-called “vaccines” here.
Two, unbelievably enough, the Big Pharma lobbyists talked the United States government into making sure that the pharmaceutical companies that produce vaccines cannot be sued for any damages from their product. This law guarantees that no matter how dangerous a vaccine might be, the company that produces it will do nothing but make money and have literally no liability at all. This arrangement does nothing but encourage more corruption.
Three, there are literally no long-term studies on the effects of any vaccine. You take them at your own long-term risk. A good example of this is the Zostavax vaccine. Other than the occasional chance of an allergic reaction, the Zostavax vaccine was supposed to be safe when I first wrote about it years ago. But, as you are about to see, in only a few years that has changed. And some very serious side effects have occurred that were not known even a few years ago. Makes you wonder what else will surface in the next few years.
Zostavax uses a live strain of virus to make the vaccine. The problem with using a live strain of virus in a vaccine is that it has a possibility of causing the disease that it’s supposed to prevent. An example of this is the fact that the only cases of polio now being reported in the United States are cases that are caused by the polio vaccine itself.
The varicella virus that they use to make Zostavax causes chicken pox, shingles, meningitis, and encephalopathy. So, the reality is that Zostavax has the potential to cause all of these diseases. And now, wait until you hear this.
In August of 2014, although for some unknown reason you didn’t hear this on the Zostavax TV ads, the FDA approved changes to the Zostavax warning label indicating that the vaccine caused not only chicken pox but also shingles, the very disease it was supposed to prevent! And that’s not all.
In February of this year, the FDA approved another label change to include the possibility of an eye disorder called necrotizing retinitis. This is a disease that’s caused by different viruses including the varicella virus in Zostavax. It can lead to blindness if not aggressively treated.
Another eye disorder was reported by WebMD in January 2016. They reported that 20 individuals (children and adults) developed keratitis within a month of receiving Zostavax. Keratitis symptoms for adults developed within 24 days of vaccination, while symptoms in children began within 14 days of vaccination. This disorder causes inflammation and scarring of the eye tissue, and can lead to permanent vision loss if not treated quickly.
According to Philadelphia attorney Marc J. Bern, there are “thousands of complaints” about Zostavax that have yet to be filed. In a statement to FiercePharma.com, Bern said that the injuries run “the gamut from contracting shingles as a result of the vaccine all the way to serious personal injuries such as blindness in one eye, individuals who have serious paralysis in their extremities, brain damage, all the way to death.”
In an additional comment, Bern stated that he thought “Merck has failed terribly … to warn about the very serious side effects and the failure of the vaccine to do what they claim it does.”
So, should you get the shingles vaccine? It’s up to you. But with this kind of record, I don’t recommend it. Here’s what I recommend instead. First, stay healthy. Stay in top cardiovascular condition, eat healthy foods, avoid drugs, treat any problems naturally, and have a healthy lifestyle.
Next, if you get shingles, find a doctor who can give you ozone therapy. When it’s given early in the course of the disease, it will knock it out before it causes you too much distress.