Phizer's vaccine ingredient list

FACT SHEET FOR RECIPIENTS AND CAREGIVERS

EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION (EUA) OF
THE PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE TO PREVENT CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19)
IN INDIVIDUALS 16 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER

You are being offered the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to prevent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2. This Fact Sheet contains information to help you understand the risks and benefits of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, which you may receive because there is currently a pandemic of COVID-19.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine is a vaccine and may prevent you from getting COVID-19. There is no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccine to prevent COVID-19.

Read this Fact Sheet for information about the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. Talk to the vaccination provider if you have questions. It is your choice to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine is administered as a 2-dose series, 3 weeks apart, into the muscle.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine may not protect everyone.
This Fact Sheet may have been updated. For the most recent Fact Sheet, please see

www.cvdvaccine.com.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GET THIS VACCINE

WHAT IS COVID-19?

COVID-19 disease is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. This type of coronavirus has not been seen before. You can get COVID-19 through contact with another person who has the virus. It is predominantly a respiratory illness that can affect other organs. People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported, ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus. Symptoms may include: fever or chills; cough; shortness of breath; fatigue; muscle or body aches; headache; new loss of taste or smell; sore throat; congestion or runny nose; nausea or vomiting; diarrhea.

WHAT IS THE PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE?

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine is an unapproved vaccine that may prevent COVID-19. There is no FDA-approved vaccine to prevent COVID-19.

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The mRNA

Pfizer’s vaccine is the first on the market that consists of actual genetic information from a virus in the form of messenger RNA, or mRNA, a type of molecule whose usual job is to transport copies of genetic instructions around a cell to guide the assembly of proteins. Imagine an mRNA as a long ticker tape carrying instructions. It's fairly delicate stuff, and that's why Pfizer's vaccine needs to be kept at around -100 °F (-73 °C) until it's used.

The new vaccine, delivered as a shot in the arm muscle, contains an RNA sequence taken from the virus itself; it causes cells to manufacture the big “spike” protein of the coronavirus, which the pathogen uses to glom onto a person’s cells and gain entry. On its own, without the rest of the virus, the spike is pretty harmless. But your body still reacts to it. This is what leaves you immunized and ready to repel the real virus if it turns up.

The mRNA in the vaccine, to be sure, isn’t quite the same as the stuff in your body. That’s good, because a cell is full of defenses ready to chop up RNA, especially any that doesn’t belong there. To avoid that, what’s known as “modified nucleosides” have been substituted for some of the mRNA building blocks.

But Pfizer is holding back a little. The spike gene sequence can be tweaked in small ways for better performance, by means that include swapping letters. We don’t think Pfizer has said exactly what sequence it is using, or what modified nucleosides. That means the content of the shot may not be 100% public.

The lipids

The Pfizer vaccine, like one from Moderna, uses lipid nanoparticles to encase the RNA. The nanoparticles are, basically, tiny greasy spheres that protect the mRNA and help it slide inside cells.

These particles are probably around 100 nanometers across. Curiously, that’s about the same size as the coronavirus itself.

Pfizer says it uses four different lipids in a “defined ratio.” The lipid ALC-0315 is the primary ingredient in the formulation. That’s because it’s ionizable—it can be given a positive charge, and since the RNA has a negative one, they stick together. It's also a component that can cause side-effects or allergic reactions. The other lipids, one of which is the familiar molecule cholesterol, are “helpers” that give structural integrity to the nanoparticles or stop them from clumping. During manufacturing, the RNA and the lipids are stirred into a bubbly mix to form what the FDA describes as a “white to off-white” frozen liquid.

Salts

The Pfizer vaccine contains four salts, one of which is ordinary table salt. Together, these salts are better known as phosphate-buffered saline, or PBS, a very common ingredient that keeps the pH, or acidity, of the vaccine close to that of a person’s body. You’ll understand how important that is if you’ve ever squeezed lemon juice on a cut. Substances with the wrong acidity can injure cells or get quickly degraded.

Sugar

The vaccine includes plain old sugar, also called sucrose. It’s acting here as a cryoprotectant to safeguard the nanoparticles when they’re frozen and stop them from sticking together.

Saline solution

Before injection, the vaccine is mixed with water containing sodium chloride, or ordinary salt, just as many intravenously delivered drugs are. Again, the idea is that the injection should more or less match the salt content of the blood.

No preservatives

Pfizer makes a point of saying its mixture of lipid nanoparticles and mRNA is “preservative-free.” That’s because a preservative that’s been used in other vaccines, thimerosal (which contains mercury and is there to kill any bacteria that might contaminate a vial), has been at the center of worries around over whether vaccines cause autism. The US Centers for Disease Control says thimerosal is safe; despite that, its use is being phased out. There is no thimerosal—or any other preservative—in the Pfizer vaccine. No microchips, either.

The vaccine is still known by the code name BNT162b, but once it’s authorized, expect Pfizer to give it a new, commercial name that conveys something about what’s in it and what it promises for the world.

We thank the following people for explaining the vaccine ingredients: Jacob Becraft and Aalok Shah, Strand Therapeutics; Yizhou Dong, Ohio State University; Jason Underwood, Pacific Biosciences; Andrey Zarur, Greenlight Biosciences; Charles L. Cooney, MIT; and the communications staffs of Pfizer and Moderna Therapeutics.

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Antonio Regalado

1 Revised: 25 February 2021

A provocative and fact 

based idea from Todd William.

updated .

Provocative Ideas

Todd William

Shared publicly  -  Oct 12, 2015

 

The Value of Viewing Humanity with a Scientific Mindset

My seven year old son recently asked me what it means that all known life forms share a common ancestor.

It occurred to me how fascinating this revelation is, especially for those who have not read up on biology. So I decided to blow his mind.

”You know how our family tree works? Well if you were to go back far enough, you would find we are related to just about everyone.”

”But if you kept following the tree back,, say about 200 million years, you would find that you are actually related to the dog!


Science v Dogmatism

If you haven't studied biology, this is a pretty unexpected claim. My son’s initial reaction to this was some serious skepticism. So I explained that the scientific evidence is overwhelming, but also emphasized that he is under no obligation to  take my word for it.

Should he decide one day to take up biology and discover what it is about DNA and genetics that leads to this conclusion, he is welcome to make up his own mind. This is the beauty of science!

But this also brings up a point we should all heed: the core difference between science and dogmatism.

If you're putting up your hand and saying "ridiculous" at the first sign of anything you don't agree with - you're dogmatic. If you don't understand but are willing to learn why people think the way they do,  then you're scientific.


Ego

Whether one is willing to accept an evolutionary process as a possible explanation for the existence of consciousness is typically a matter of ego. For some it’s difficult to even consider the possibility that we're merely the lucky product of a complex process.

But dismissing this notion outright requires ignoring the findings of thousands upon thousands of biologists, anthropologists, genealogists, paleontologists, geologists, zoologists, botanists, embryologists, biochemists, and other fields of study that have compiled years of data that's been studied, tested, and examined from all over the world and the scientific spectrum.

Yet consciousness is viewed as the final frontier of human essence, that which makes us special. Thus there is a dogmatic trend to refuse to understand the scientific understanding of evolution.

This phenomena is not new. Consider the battle of mindsets that ensued when the idea of earth not being the center of the universe was put forth.

What is most important to remember is that personal preference has never had a role in truth. Nature is unconcerned with the human ego.


Being Special for the Right Reasons

Perhaps it’s time to consider that humans are not special for all the dogmatic ideals - but for more extraordinary reasons. There is a view that doesn’t require pretending to know the truth or ignoring any evidence.

The fact is, we can ponder these questions, share our ideas, and reflect on our feelings about them in spite of the possibility that our entire existence may merely be the result of a complex yet natural genetic process.

Now that is special.



For more intriguing ideas like this, visit:
www.the-thought-spot.com

A MESSAGE FROM A VERY GOOD MAN.

Mekhala Basu

Zen Mindfulness, Love and Compassion.

April 17, 2020  · 

Fight With Compassion

"Sometimes friends ask me to help with some problem in the world, using some “magical powers.” I always tell them that the Dalai Lama has no magical powers. If I did, I would not feel pain in my legs or a sore throat. We are all the same as human beings, and we experience the same fears, the same hopes, the same uncertainties.

From the Buddhist perspective, every sentient being is acquainted with suffering and the truths of sickness, old age and death. But as human beings, we have the capacity to use our minds to conquer anger and panic and greed. In recent years I have been stressing “emotional disarmament”: to try to see things realistically and clearly, without the confusion of fear or rage. If a problem has a solution, we must work to find it; if it does not, we need not waste time thinking about it.

We Buddhists believe that the entire world is interdependent. That is why I often speak about universal responsibility. The outbreak of this terrible coronavirus has shown that what happens to one person can soon affect every other being. But it also reminds us that a compassionate or constructive act—whether working in hospitals or just observing social distancing—has the potential to help many.

Ever since news emerged about the coronavirus in Wuhan, I have been praying for my brothers and sisters in China and everywhere else. Now we can see that nobody is immune to this virus. We are all worried about loved ones and the future, of both the global economy and our own individual homes. But prayer is not enough.

This crisis shows that we must all take responsibility where we can. We must combine the courage doctors and nurses are showing with empirical science to begin to turn this situation around and protect our future from more such threats.

In this time of great fear, it is important that we think of the long-term challenges—and possibilities—of the entire globe. Photographs of our world from space clearly show that there are no real boundaries on our blue planet. Therefore, all of us must take care of it and work to prevent climate change and other destructive forces. This pandemic serves as a warning that only by coming together with a coordinated, global response will we meet the unprecedented magnitude of the challenges we face.

We must also remember that nobody is free of suffering, and extend our hands to others who lack homes, resources or family to protect them. This crisis shows us that we are not separate from one another—even when we are living apart. Therefore, we all have a responsibility to exercise compassion and help.

As a Buddhist, I believe in the principle of impermanence. Eventually, this virus will pass, as I have seen wars and other terrible threats pass in my lifetime, and we will have the opportunity to rebuild our global community as we have done many times before. I sincerely hope that everyone can stay safe and stay calm. At this time of uncertainty, it is important that we do not lose hope and confidence in the constructive efforts so many are making."

 Hello Gentle People:

 Today, March 14, 2020, many people around the world are letting their guard down. They want to stop wearing protective masks and they believe a vaccine will protect them from SARS-CoV-2. 

  A few of those poor fools are even protesting, in the streets, the wearing of masks. Maybe they have not learned that the vaccines developed last year against Covid-19, may not work this year on the variants of Covid-19. They may not understand that a third wave of infection is around the corner because the damn disease continues to run rampant around the world. It is created by fools who do not wear masks or disinfect their hands when walking and talking in public. The disease continues to kill people today and will continue to kill people tomorrow until an all purpose vaccine is finally produced which will eradicate deadly viruses once and for all! Meanwhile, and until hospitals give us an all clear signal, wear your masks even if it takes another year.

  One more important point. Pollution is a breeding ground for viruses. The more you drive internal combustion engines and pump Carbon Monoxide into the air, the warmer becomes our climate and the  more viruses proliferate. If you are a callous and cold blooded polluter with no sense of moral or ethical integrity, at least allow your survival instinct to protect you from a deadly virus such as Sars-Cov-2s and death...temporarily.

N.J.R.

Attention Greenpeace, Old-Growth trees in British Columbia need your help!

Photos Raise Alarm Over Old-Growth Logging in British Columbia

Photographer TJ Watt hopes his before-and-after images will spur people to action.

Fact checked by

There are few sights as magnificent as an ancient tree. The towering cedars, firs, and spruces of Canada's Pacific Northwest can reach diameters of up to 20 feet as they grow over hundreds of years. Some are a thousand years old. They provide wildlife habitats, sustain immense biodiversity that's still being discovered, and store up to three times more carbon than younger forests. 

The old-growth forests of British Columbia remain the world's largest intact stand of temperate rainforest, but they are under threat from logging. Despite the provincial government's promises to protect old-growth forests, an area equivalent of 10,000 football fields is razed every year on Vancouver Island alone. This is a devastating loss that TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance tells Treehugger makes no sense whatsoever.

Watt is a photographer from Victoria, B.C., who has spent countless hours bushwhacking through forests and driving the logging roads of Vancouver Island to capture images that convey both the sheer grandeur of these trees and the unfortunate destruction they face. A recent series of before-and-after shots – depicting Watts standing next to massive trees that are later reduced to stumps – has captivated and alarmed viewers around the world. Indeed, it's what brought Watt to Treehugger's attention and started our conversation. 

There are few sights as heartbreaking as the death of an ancient tree. When asked why he thinks these pictures have resonated so deeply, Watt said, "It's not like it's a black-and-white photo from 1880. This is full color, 2021. You can't feign ignorance about what we're doing anymore. It's just wrong." He points out that it will be the year 3020 before we see anything like it again, and yet logging companies keep decimating them with the government's permission.

A gorgeous pair of cedars destroyed. TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance

Watt hunts for these endangered behemoth trees by using online mapping tools that show where there are pending or approved cutting operations and by spending time in the bush, looking for flagging tape. It's an ongoing challenge. "There's essentially no public information saying where five-year logging plans are, but we are essentially looking for the exact same thing [as the logging companies] – the biggest and best trees, those grand old growth forests – except that I'm looking with the goal of preserving them, and they're looking with the goal of cutting them."

Old-growth trees are desirable for their sheer size (logging companies get more wood for less work) and the tight growth rings that make for beautiful clear wood. But this ancient wood often ends up being used for purposes that wood from second-growth forests could do just as well, minus the environmental damage. 

"There are ways to manage second-growth forests to gain characteristics that old-growth forests have," Watt explained. To start, "let them grow longer. There are also new engineered wood products that mimic the quality and characteristics of old wood without having to use old wood. Pine can be pressure-treated to look like old-growth western red cedar." And so often wood gets painted over, which makes it pointless to use a beautiful clear grain in the first place.

The "race against time" theme comes up several times in the conversation with Watt. He expresses deep frustration with the B.C. government's failure to protect these forests. "All the latest science is saying we don't have time to spare. We need to enact immediate deferrals in most at-risk areas so that we don't lose most of these precious places." Delays should be avoided because the logging industry "sees the writing on the wall" and is racing to cut down the best logs as fast as it can. 

TJ Watt stands next to another ancient tree, tragically logged. TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance

Watt laments how the government portrays logging, lumping productivity classes together. "It's true that there's a fair bit of old forest, but what's rare is productive forests with big trees." These are different from low-productivity old-growth forests, where the trees "look like little broccolis on the coast," stunted by exposure to wind or growing in inaccessible boggy or rocky places, and therefore not commercially valuable. Watt made a curious analogy:

"Combining the two is like mixing Monopoly money with regular money and claiming you're a millionaire. The government often uses this to say there's still more than enough old-growth forest to go around, or they talk about the percentage of what remains, but they're neglecting to address [the differences between productive and non-productive old-growth forests]."

A recent report called "BC's Old Growth Forests: A Last Stand for Biodiversity" found that only 3% of the province is suitable for growing big trees.1 Of that tiny sliver, 97.3% has been logged; only 2.7% remains untouched.1

Watt isn't opposed to logging. He realizes we need wood for all sorts of products, but it shouldn't come from endangered old-growth forests anymore. "We need to move to a more value-based industry, not volume-based. We can do more with what we cut and gain forestry jobs. Right now we're loading raw unprocessed logs onto barges and shipping them to China, Japan, and the US for processing, then buying them back. There could be more training and jobs programs created to mill that wood here. Mills here can be retooled to process second-growth wood." He wants to see the government supporting First Nations communities in the shift away from old-growth logging: 

"These remote communities have entered into agreements around old-growth logging and wouldn't necessarily have gone that way if it weren't the main economic incentive for them to provide revenue for communities. The government needs to have a solution and support Indigenous areas, help create new tribal parks, give them a fair choice to define their future – not make them choose between sacrificing jobs and revenues or protecting their forests."

He hopes his photography will inspire other citizens to take action, too. "Facts, figures and graphs don't have same impact. We need science and research behind these campaigns, but photos translate it into instant comprehension for people." Many people have reached out to Watt to say they've become environmental activists for the first time after seeing the before-and-after shots. 

"It is gut-wrenching to go back to these places I love," Watt said, "but photography allows me to convert that negative energy and anger into something constructive." He urges viewers to take five minutes to get in touch with politicians and let them know what's on their mind. "We hear from people in politics that the more noise we make, the more support it gives them on the inside to move this along. The B.C. Green Party gets ten times more emails on the issue of old-growth than any other topic in the province. It gives them ammunition when going up against the forestry minister." 

If you're unsure of what to say, the Ancient Forest Alliance has plenty of resources on its website, including talking points for calling politicians' offices. There's a petition asking the government to implement an Old-Growth Strategy that would address many of the issues Watt discusses.

He ends the conversation with a reminder of people's ability to make a difference. "All of our success comes from people's belief that they can effect change." Just because we're up against a multi-billion dollar industry with tons of lobbyists that want to keep the status quo in place doesn't mean we can't be successful. Really, when you think about it, we have no choice but to keep going. We must be the forest's voice.

GOD PROTECT ALL NON BELIEVERS

The Problem with Peer Group Pressure. 

 Education is not a weapon and neither is it a protection against peer group pressure. Peer group pressure is created by an authoritarian based society which could be: political, religious, economic or social and the pressure to conform is often imposed upon freedom loving and non-conformist individuals, by authorities dedicated to creating compliance and conformity. 

  The instinctive fear of isolation and the need for acceptance within a family or group, keeps most individuals obeying and following the "norms" of a family and of a society. Sometimes, however, rebels are created through neglect and isolation. They still have a need for social acceptance and love, but often, through neglect, are forced to find acceptance within other groups. This is how rebel groups are formed.

 It is ignorance and fear created by neglect which guide their social interactions. Fear of domination keeps them outside what is considered the normal parameters of a larger society and so, searching for social acceptance, they create their own small and sometimes dangerous societies.

 The deep and instinctive need for social acceptance is manipulated by peer group pressure. Even provided with years of fact-based education and alternative concepts, an individual is subject to peer group pressure and to the beliefs of the crowd. Individual capitulation is often the result. 

  The belief in a God or Gods is a good example. There is absolutely no logic in religion but religious beliefs continue to spread through word of mouth and propagated generation after generation from parents to children in spite of the creation of fact based educational systems. When standing in a large crowd of patriotic people, intelligent scientists will stand up and shout God save the Queen along with everybody else, even if he or she does not believe in the concept of a God.

 The crowd creates the peer group pressure simply by overwhelming numbers. And who could blame the scientist for joining the crowd? Shouting anything else in that context would immediately brand the contrarian as a heretic and he or she could be burned at the stake of public opinion. Real bonfires with victims tide to a stake occurred for centuries but today individuals with creative intelligence and imagination are slowly integrated into society, even if they refuse to believe in a God as an almighty creator of everything. 

 And so I end this little essay with the words...God save all non-believers, for they speak the truth! 

Confusing, isn't it? Grin!

N.J. R.