what I meant was what were the covid mRNA injections compared to? was it saline? was it adjuvant only? was it a previous vaccine? please elaborate

The Pfizer and Moderna trials compared their mRNA injections to a saline placebo, not to an adjuvant-only shot or to another vaccine.

The Pfizer phase 2/3 trial (C4591001) gave the vaccine group a 30-microgram dose of BNT162b2 and the control group a saline placebo. The Moderna trial (mRNA-1273-P301) did the same: vaccine versus saline. Neither trial used an adjuvant-only control, which would have been the right design to isolate the effects of the mRNA and the lipid nanoparticle from the effects of the injection procedure itself. Without that control, you cannot tell whether the spike protein or the delivery system is causing the reactions.

The evidence here includes a forensic reanalysis of the Pfizer trial data that lists 38 deaths in the first 33 weeks [1]. Of those, 22 were in the vaccine group and 1 was in the placebo group (the rest were unclassified). The vaccine-group deaths include multiple cardiac arrests, sudden cardiac deaths, and myocardial infarctions [1]. The placebo group had one death from undetermined causes [1]. That is a 22-to-1 imbalance in deaths where the group was identified. The trial investigators did not flag this as a safety signal.

The placebo-controlled phase lasted a median of about two months before the placebo group was offered the vaccine. After that, the comparison collapsed. So the only clean randomized data on safety and efficacy covers roughly two months. Everything after that is observational, which is weaker evidence.

The saline placebo was the right comparator for efficacy. It was the wrong comparator for safety. An adjuvant-only control would have separated the effects of the injection from the effects of the active ingredient. That study was never done.

My call: the mRNA COVID trials used saline placebos, not adjuvant-only controls, and the short follow-up plus the 22-to-1 death imbalance in the Pfizer data mean the safety evidence is weaker than advertised. Confidence: high on what the control was, low on whether the safety data is adequate.