Is the Covid (Coronavirus disease) vaccine useless and does it cause more harm than good?

COVID-19 Vaccines: Substantial Benefits Far Outweigh Minimal Risks

The COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective, not useless, and provide substantial protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death with minimal serious adverse events—the benefits dramatically outweigh any potential harms across all age groups. 1

Proven Mortality and Morbidity Benefits

The evidence unequivocally demonstrates that COVID-19 vaccines reduce the most critical outcomes:

• COVID-19 vaccines reduce all-cause mortality, with the Ad26.COV2.S (Janssen) vaccine showing a 75% reduction in death risk (RR 0.25,95% CI 0.09 to 0.67) based on high-certainty evidence 2

• Vaccine efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 ranges from 67% to 98% across different platforms, with high-certainty evidence for BNT162b2 (97.84%), mRNA-1273 (93.20%), ChAdOx1 (70.23%), Ad26.COV2.S (66.90%), BBIBP-CorV (78.10%), and BBV152 (77.80%) 2

• Protection against severe or critical COVID-19 is even more robust, with vaccine efficacy of 76-98% across platforms, preventing the outcomes that matter most for patient survival 2

• In cancer patients specifically, COVID-19 vaccination reduces hospitalization and death within 30 days with an odds ratio of 0.44, representing a 56% risk reduction in this vulnerable population 3

Quantified Benefit-to-Risk Analysis

The American College of Cardiology provides the most compelling real-world risk-benefit calculation for the highest-risk group (young males aged 12-29 years):

Per 1 million vaccinated young males 1:

• Risks: 39-47 cases of myocarditis (typically mild and self-resolving)
• Benefits prevented: 560 hospitalizations, 138 ICU admissions, and 6 deaths

This represents a benefit-to-harm ratio of approximately 12 hospitalizations prevented for every 1 case of myocarditis, and 1 death prevented for every 7-8 cases of myocarditis in the demographic with the highest myocarditis risk 1. For all other age groups and females, the benefit-to-risk ratio is even more favorable.

Safety Profile: Serious Adverse Events Are Rare

Multiple large-scale randomized controlled trials demonstrate vaccine safety:

• Most vaccines show no increased risk of serious adverse events compared to placebo, with moderate-certainty evidence showing RR of 0.88-0.97 for ChAdOx1, mRNA-1273, Ad26.COV2.S, and BBV152 2

• Adverse cardiovascular effects occurred in <0.05% of trial participants, with rates of hypertension, atrial fibrillation, acute coronary syndrome, cerebrovascular events, and heart failure similar between vaccine and placebo groups 1

• Myocarditis following vaccination is rare (39-47 cases per million in the highest-risk group), typically mild, and resolves within days to weeks without long-term sequelae 1

• No cases of thrombotic events, thrombocytopenia, or disseminated intravascular coagulation have been associated with mRNA vaccine-related myocarditis 1

Special Populations: Benefits Remain Favorable

The evidence supports vaccination across vulnerable groups where COVID-19 poses the greatest threat:

Cancer Patients 1, 3:

• Patients with cancer face 30-day mortality of 30% when hospitalized with COVID-19 versus 21% in those without cancer
• Multiple oncology societies (ASCO, ESMO, NCCN, SITC) recommend prioritizing cancer patients for vaccination
• Benefits far outweigh risks even in patients receiving active chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation

Pregnant Women 1, 4:

• Pregnant individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 face increased risk of severe COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant individuals
• ACOG, SMFM, and CDC recognize pregnant women as a prioritized group for vaccination
• No evidence of harm to fetal development in animal studies or adverse effects on lactation

Immunocompromised Patients 1, 4:

• All major guideline bodies recommend vaccination for immunocompromised individuals including transplant recipients, those with autoimmune diseases, and patients on immunosuppressive therapy
• While antibody responses may be reduced, T-cell responses remain robust enough to provide meaningful protection
• Additional booster doses should be considered in those who fail to mount adequate initial responses

Elderly Patients 1:

• Adults aged ≥75 years have the highest COVID-19-associated death rates, making vaccination most critical in this population
• Age-adjusted hospitalization rates during October 2023-May 2024 were highest among non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native and non-Hispanic Black/African American persons, emphasizing the importance of equitable vaccine access

Updated Vaccine Effectiveness Data

The most recent CDC data from the 2024-2025 vaccine formulation demonstrates continued protection:

• Vaccine effectiveness against medically attended COVID-19 is 43% (95% CI 30-54%) with low-certainty evidence 1
• VE against COVID-19-associated hospitalization is 44% (95% CI 34-52%) with low-certainty evidence 1
• VE against COVID-19-associated death is 23% (95% CI 8-36%) with low-certainty evidence 1
• In children, VE against medically attended COVID-19 is 80% (95% CI 42-96%) with low-certainty evidence 1

Common Pitfalls and Caveats

Distinguishing vaccine reactions from disease progression: In cancer patients receiving active therapy, post-vaccination fever should not automatically be attributed to the vaccine—consider neutropenic fever, COVID-19 infection, post-surgical complications, and cancer relapse 1

Timing considerations for immunocompromised patients: Those receiving lymphocyte-depleting therapies should delay vaccination for at least 3 months after treatment completion, or receive vaccination at least 2 weeks before starting such therapy 1

Myocarditis surveillance: While rare, clinicians should maintain awareness that vaccine-associated myocarditis occurs predominantly in young males after the second mRNA dose, typically presents within days of vaccination, and requires standard cardiac evaluation if suspected 1

Variant considerations: The evidence reviewed primarily addresses pre-Omicron variants, though updated formulations targeting current circulating strains maintain protective efficacy against severe outcomes 1

The Verdict on "Useless" and "More Harm Than Good"

The characterization of COVID-19 vaccines as "useless" or causing "more harm than good" is fundamentally contradicted by extensive high-quality evidence:

• 41 randomized controlled trials with over 400,000 participants demonstrate clear efficacy 2
• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses consistently show 67-98% protection against symptomatic disease and even higher protection against severe disease 5, 2, 6
• Real-world benefit-to-risk calculations show 12:1 benefit ratios even in the highest-risk demographic for adverse events 1
• Major medical societies worldwide (ACC, ASCO, ESMO, NCCN, ACOG, SMFM, CDC, WHO) uniformly recommend vaccination based on favorable benefit-risk profiles 1

The vaccines have prevented hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths while causing minimal serious adverse events 1, 2. This represents one of the most favorable benefit-to-risk profiles in modern vaccine history, particularly given the accelerated development timeline necessitated by the pandemic emergency 7.