Elon Musk blasted for making controversial Covid vaccine declaration
Elon Musk has been ridiculed for arguing that it is not clear whether a second Covid vaccine booster shot "helps or hurts".
The SpaceX founder made his bizarre remark on Twitter – the social media platform that he has owned since October.
His comments came in response to a post from the Slashdot Twitter account, which describes itself as a platform for News For Nerds and Stuff that Matters, covering areas such as tech, software, engineering and bitcoin, with more than 370,000 followers.
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The tweet, promoting a report shared by an anonymous reader, read: "Moderna CEO: 400% Price Hike on COVID Vaccine 'Consistent With the Value'."
Musk, who boasts 125.4million followers, went on to reply: "This seems extortionately high. It also isn’t clear whether, all things considered, a second booster helps or hurts."
His response attracted 37,000 likes and also prompted some supportive comments with one tweeter posting: "I just don't feel the boosters are worth it if you are under 60."
Another, without any explanation or evidence to back up the statement, added: "Leaning towards the latter."
But there was also a lot of criticism directed at the Tesla CEO in the replies below.
One person retorted: "How would it hurt? If you want to talk about blood clots, there's no evidence it causes higher than the base rate among various age groups and ample evidence that actually contracting Covid causes higher than base rate blood clots. As to who it helps, look to the elderly first."
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Another argued: "It helps and doesn’t hurt. There is data that immunity wanes after 6-12 months. Booster helps restore immunity. Lots of data to support it."
A third said: "I was a pharmaceutical rep with a CMR degree. A second booster definitely helps, never hurts (except at the injection site, which is the same for all injections of any type). By the way, I have had 3 Covid boosters and 450 vaccines in my 76 yrs – therefore extremely healthy."
Others called on the 51-year-old business magnate to be more responsible with his public statements.
"Tank strategy and vaccine efficacy are not your area of expertise," one replied. "A casual tweet from you reaches tens of millions. You should refrain from tweeting glib unsubstantiated information on critical topics."
Another wrote: "Could you let the experts make statements as to the effectiveness of meds, the people who spend time in labs studying the stuff, please. You have enough to do without adding to other people's fears and paranoias. If there are no facts, no need for opinions you have no facts for."
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