Metacritique of Influential Studies Purporting COVID-19 Vaccine Successes: Part 1 - Watson et al

Despite a dearth of articles critically examining major COVID-19 vaccine studies, this review evaluates the widely cited Watson et al, which claimed that over 14 million lives were saved globally by COVID-19 vaccines. Several issues were identified that generally invalidate its conclusions and raise doubts about the actual success of the global vaccination program. These include the use of inaccurate estimates of effectiveness and safety due to inadequate counting windows; lack of recognition of waning effectiveness and eventual negative effectiveness; failure to account for confounding variables; exaggerated infection and case fatality rates; insufficient consideration of vaccine-related risks; and possible financial or political conflicts of interest. Multiple lines of evidence are highlighted that suggest the risks of COVID-19 vaccines may outweigh the benefits, particularly in young and healthy populations. Keywords: COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines, counting windows, risk-benefit analysis, negative effectiveness