COVID vaccine mandates and mRNA vaccines

Mandates: Many countries have introduced mandates for COVID vaccines (as of mid 2023: 55 countries as an occupational mandate and only 10 countries as a national mandate: Italy, Greece, Austria, Costa Rica, Turkmenistan, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Tajikistan, and South Sudan). Many countries have mandated vaccines for travel.
* Specifically, in Romania, vaccines were never mandated by the government. As of July 2021, four different vaccines were available (2 mRNA and 2 non-mRNA vaccines) for those that wished to take them voluntarily. Not surprisingly, Romania ranks #16 in the world at COVID deaths per capita with a death rate triple the world average and double the world average at COVID cases per capita. Also, Romanians considerably lagged the world in COVID vaccination rates (about 0.88 vs 1.7 vaccines per capita) and effectively stopped vaccinating against COVID in early 2022 (long before the rest of the world as it continued vaccinating until late 2023). As of April 2024, Romanians are still not obliged to vaccinate against COVID (per insp@gov.ro).

mRNA vaccines: There are studies that show that mRNA vaccines are no more dangerous than non-mRNA vaccines despite the rumors. What I find fascinating is that some people think that an mRNA vaccine is a lot more dangerous because it targets specifically the immune system, as it introduces foreign mRNA into our bloodstream thus creating undesired autoimmune reactions. Newsflash: non-MRNA vaccines also target the immune system and MAY create undesired autoimmune reactions just like common viral and bacterial infections do. As of mid-2024, according to a study published in NEJM, in the long run, COVID vaccines appear to have helped against long COVID. Here is an explainer from CDC about the adverse effects from the vaccination.

Polio reemerges in Gaza after 25 years

BBC reports that polio reemerged in Gaza after 25 years.

Saramago’s recipe

Receita Tome-se um poeta não cansado, Uma nuvem de sonho e uma flor, Três gotas de tristeza, um tom dourado, Uma veia sangrando de pavor. Quando a massa já ferve e se retorce Deita-se a luz num corpo de mulher, Duma pitada de morte se reforce, Que um amor de poeta assim requer.

Rețetă Se ia un poet neobosit, Un nor din vis și o floare, Trei stropi de tristețe, un ton aurit, O venă sângerândă de teroare. Când dă aluatu-n clocot și se zbate, Se toarnă lumina unui trup de femeie, Se dospește cu un praf de moarte, Căci iubirea de poet asta cere.

Recipe Take an untired poet, A dream cloud and a flower, Three drops of sadness, a golden hue, A vein bleeding with terror. When the dough boils and twists Light is poored on a woman's body, A pinch of death ferments it, That is what a poet's love requires.