Bill Harvey: The second horse is red

I could have cheered when, at a recent press briefing, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam addressed growing fears about vaccine side effects by pulling out an information leaflet from a pack of over-the-counter paracetamol. His needing to do this, however, is a timely reminder of the dangers in reporting data.

Consider the following:

Covid-19 vaccines have significant side effects, some serious. This is true. But so do pretty well all drugs and most foodstuffs. And the more they are used, the longer the list of adverse drug responses (ADRs). What is missing here, of course, is the numbers involved and the factors influencing the likelihood of ADRs. And if you want to reassure worried patients, the info leaflet for aspirin should do the trick. One glance at this makes you realise just how comparatively safe the vaccine is.