FAA medical and Covid 19 Vaccine
 

HI

Hope well.

Please confirm that the Sinovac type vaccine has not been approved and cannot be taken with FAA medical certification.

From ALPA,Government Authorizations

As of February 27, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for the following COVID-19 vaccines:

• Pfizer-BioNTech (authorized December 11, 2020)
• Moderna Therapeutics (authorized December 18, 2020)
• Janssen, produced by Johnson & Johnson (authorized February 27, 2021)

The FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine has adopted policy changes allowing the use of the three vaccines listed above by holders of FAA-issued airman medical certificates or medical clearances, with the following conditions:

• A 48-hour no fly/no safety-related-duty interval must be observed after each dose.
• Before returning to duty, pilots should be free of any significant side effects from the vaccine.

Currently, the FAA only allows the Pfizer, Moderna, and Janssen COVID-19 vaccines for use by medical certificate holders. Other COVID-19 vaccines will be individually considered by the FAA following granting of each FDA EUA. Pilots should not participate in trials of other manufacturers’ COVID vaccines at this time.

Read more from FAA.

In early December, the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended prioritizing the initial phase of the vaccination. Priority would be given to frontline health workers, along with residents and workers in long-term care facilities.

Suggest if that does not answer your question you phone FAA AMCD and ask as this was dated 7th May.

I do hope this site will not be invaded by anti vaxxers.

The vaccines are not under trial. They have undergone full phase 3 testing and the data has been analysed. The emergency use authorisation relates to the sign off by the FDA which is a truncated process. The 3 vaccines listed above are well into the tens of millions and there is scant evidence of any significant side effects on the US website or in any published papers. If you become 'sick as a dog' you need to see a doctor because it wont be the vaccine. You may find you have been struck by lightening which is far more likely.

As a potential passenger of yours I question what gives you the right to refuse vaccination and put me and other passengers at risk.

The reality is that vaccination is the only way out of this mess. The vaccines are safe and effective against all known variants. The only people at risk post vaccination are those who are immunosuppressed but they get some protection and it is vital they are vaccinated as they are the source of mutations.

Radgirl

Will you please stop referring to anyone sceptical about the hastily produced vaccines as "anti-vaxxers".

I spend a lot of time talking to vaccine hesitancy people. I am but one of many, and as a result over 90% of the UK population want to be vaccinated. These people want information and they want their questions answered. It is totally justified and I would never criticize. Landflap IMHO is not a vaccine hesitancy person. If having listened to the facts he is happy that his claims of trials, questions as to authorisation and risks of serious illness have no grounding in fact, I am more than willing to accept I am wrong.

Hastily means rashly or too quickly and often carelessly, but these vaccines went through the proper trials, following the requirements set down in advance by the FDA. Vaccines are not drugs. The length of time it takes to demonstrate they prevent illness of death depends upon the number of cases in the population so in the pandemic of 2020 it was possible to get statistically valid data quickly. Since then millions of people have been followed to confirm that data. They demonstrate that with Pfizer for example the efficacy is even higher than demonstrated and also that the safety profile of the trials is correct. Your description is wrong. AZ and similar vaccines have demonstrated a low level of clots but a level a trial would not demonstrate. That is why we follow vaccines and drugs in use. If we wanted to eliminate the risk of any drug or vaccine producing such rare side effects we would effectively never license anything and return to the dark ages.

Could you provide a link to the long term trial data?

My last post on this

No I can provide no data on the long term trial because there is no long term trial. Phase 3 is I can assure you totally finished. All authorities monitor drugs and vaccines and this is no exception so we are required to report any side effects. The US publish it on https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html. Looking at for example all doses of Pfizer (they are administering the best part of 500,000 doses a day) there are no deaths. There are 683 events. Many are allergy but note even these patients dont seem ill enough for admission.

The UK data is at https://www.gov.uk/government/public...card-reporting. From 53 million doses the only repetitive issues have been the well publicised clots and 296 allergic reactions. My understanding is none were fatal. No deaths have been contributed to vaccination although some elderly individuals near the end of their life did die shortly after vaccination.

So there is no trial but more analysis than most drugs could provide in decades simply due to the amount of vaccine being given - 11 BILLION doses a year by the end of 2021. If you think the vaccine is dangerous or unproven I dont think you can claim ANY drug or vaccine to be safe. Compare these data with the risk of dying from covid. Tell me how else we stop the pandemic and return our economies let alone aviation to normal.

And Landflap I have absolutely no issues with you refusing the vaccine. I am fully vaccinated and so you pose no risk. It is indeed your choice. However I as a healthcare professional have a wider responsibility to others so I must call you out when you claim others should not take the vaccine for reasons that are not based on the facts. You claim the side effects are being hidden but how? Have our governments gagged every single doctor? They must have missed me out!

Again, confused and hot-headed response with a slam of the hissy door. You claim "Landflap" places you & passengers sat risk (post 4 ) but in post 9, claime he is NO RISK. Gosh, wouldn't want to be in your surgery Doc as you approach with that fearful needle asking "What right" do I think I have for "refusing" the jab ! Prefer to sit behind LF any day.

On thread though ; excellent response Scarecrew. Very valuable to the Opener "Pinhead". Gosh, frightening pseudonym though !

If the mods will allow one last post to answer Slowjet, and I agree lets stay on thread and good post Scarecrew:

Sorry you think my post with references and summaries was hot headed.but you are free to think that. I have already pointed out I do not think anyone should be forced to be vaccinated but I do think it inappropriate for people to go to work unvaccinated where the lack of vaccine could effect those they are responsible for, be it pilots and cabin crew putting passengers at risk or doctors and nurses putting patients at risk. The use of 'me' was inappropriate as I am vaccinated but I used it metaphorically. Sorry if I confused you. We must of course remember that although the vaccines used in the West are very effective, they do not provide full protection for adults that are immunosuppressed nor for those who are still waiting to be offered a vaccine. Hope this clears up this point and you can concentrate on my main message which is this is not a trial and the vaccines are safe.

I think this issue is now exhausted.