CONTROL GROUP

Contents

— Talking about our research
— Vaccinated versus Unvaccinated
— Why is it important to know my vaccination status?
— How do I record my vaccine history?
— Need help with your account?
— Do you know your blood group?

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Talking about our research

Welcome to the October 2024 Newsletter!

The Control Group vaccine study has been running for over three years now, and we are excited with how the project is progressing. Over 40,000 people have been regularly contributing to the Control Group study over the last 12 months. As a result, we have been able to publish the third edition of the Control Group research paper, “The Quarterly Report“.

In this report, we review the demographic makeup of the participants in the Control Group study, and then we delve deeper into our statistics: we look at changes in the health of participants since the last report, and respond to some of questions participants in the study put to our data analytics team.

Some of these questions include; “What information do you have on the vaccination status of children?”, “What types of new conditions were reported this quarter?”, and “Is there any detectable link between childhood vaccines and common health complaints?”

In the last 3 months, the most common health problems report by participants has been ‘upper respiratory’ and ‘lung’ complaints, and it seems the likelihood that parents give their children their childhood vaccines is beginning to decrease.

To read our latest data release, click here.

A heartfelt “thank you” to our subscribers!

To all our subscribers, thank you! You truly are the lifeblood of the Control Group.

If you have not yet subscribed, please consider doing so, for little more than a Starbucks per month you can also help ensure the long-term viability and success of this project.

You will find a link to subscribe at the top of your dashboard.

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Vaccinated versus unvaccinated

Many participants ask that we release data comparing the health of the COVID unvaccinated to the COVID vaccinated ­– but we can only do that if we have clear data about who has and has not been vaccinated.

This question is at the heart of everything we do, and understanding the long-term health differences and similarities between the vaccinated and unvaccinated is why we established a ‘control group’ vaccine study.

For example, in the latest Control Group ‘Quarterly Report’, our research team were asked, “How many children had the COVID-19 vaccine?”

Our team found that almost no-one under the age of 19 received a COVID vaccine, but around 25 per cent of 15-19 year olds had been the recipient of some other vaccine in their life:

The upper chart in picture above demonstrates that almost no-one under the age of 19 in the Control Group cohort received one or more COVID-19 vaccine. This can be attributed to the general understanding that the SARS-CoV-2 is highly unlikely to cause severe disease in healthy children and that vaccines for COVID-19 were either unavailable or not recommended to children in some countries.

The lower chart of the two charts depicts a diminishing vaccine uptake in children and adolescence over the last twenty-years.

The reason behind there being less data around vaccine uptake in children of a younger age could be attributed to the reporting style of participants, who; do not register their child in the study until they are older, are limited in the time they can spend filling out the survey when they are caring for infants and toddlers, or fill out the survey for themselves as teenagers but do not know their childhood vaccine statues. These figures, however, may also be indicative of a growing number of parents who are refusing to vaccinate their children since the era of COVID-19 mandates due to increased awareness of the potential long-term effects of other vaccines.

But the answer to some questions may not always be as simple.

In our last report, our research team were also asked, ‘Is there a link between childhood vaccinations and asthma, hay fever, or other autoimmune disorders?’

We were unable to provide a definitive answer to this question for two reasons:

1. The Control Group is a long-term study

In medical research terms, a long-term study is anything between 4-5 years (Phase 3) with the monitoring of long-term side effects in a large cohort (Phase 4) being an open-ended enquiry but generally spanning a frame between 15—50 years.

The Control Group vaccine study is a Phase 4 style study – the project has been running for 3 years which means it is still too early to publish any definitive ‘results’ to our original questions: ‘What are the long-term side effects (if any) to the COVID vaccines?’

2. A majority of Control Group study participants have not filled in the ‘Vaccination’ section of their health report

We know from speaking to our participants that a majority of our cohort rejected the COVID-19 vaccine and therefore class themselves as ‘unvaccinated’ – but the same people also report having previously been the recipient of childhood vaccines, boosters and travel inoculations.

Despite this, our database reports that only 20 per cent of participants report ever having had any kind of vaccine (be it their childhood, travel, flu or COVID vaccines).

This tells us that the large majority of participants in the Control Group study have not logged their vaccine status.

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Why is it important to know my vaccination status?

To distinguish potential side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines, researchers must be able to identify and eliminate long-term side from other vaccines (and medications and lifestyle choices) in order to draw a clear correlation between the taking the COVID-19 vaccine and experiencing a certain side effect (or NOT taking the vaccine and NOT experiencing side effects!)

Before any meaningful data can be provide on the prevalence and nature of vaccine side-effects, the Control Group need to understand which of its participants have had;

1. any of the COVID vaccines
2. any flu vaccines
3. any travel vaccines
4. any childhood vaccines

If you have not recorded any vaccinations in your health record, our data will list you as NEVER vaccinated – which may not actually be the case!

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How do I record my vaccine history?

You can help us provide better data insights – like the ones contained in this newsletter – by recording your vaccine history.

We have made it easy for you to record your vaccine status by creating a ‘Childhood Vaccinations’ option.

You do not know what specific childhood vaccines you had in order to report that you did have SOME childhood vaccines.

• Simply go to your Health Record
• Click the ‘Vaccinations’ link, or scroll down to the Vaccinations section
• Click the green ADD button
• Type ‘childhood’ in the SEARCH to see the CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS option
• Select this and complete the rest of the questions
• This tells us you have been previously vaccinated, though you may not know what with.

You can also do the same with the flu vaccines by searching and selecting ‘Flu / Seasonal Influenza’ option in the menu.

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Need help with your account?

Are you struggling to get back into your Control Group account?

Do you need help navigating the system or updating your health record?

The Control Group support team offer 1-to-1 video calls to help you navigate your account and update your health record.

To book a slot, please email support@controlgroup.coop

Alternatively, use our online ‘How-to-page’.

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DO YOU KNOW YOUR BLOOD TYPE?

Discover your blood type instantly from the comfort of your own home with the EldonCard finger-prick test, and add it to your Control Group profile!

INSTANT RESULTS – EldonCard is the most trusted and accurate diagnostic tool for point-of-care (near patient-testing) and home-testing of blood typing of the ABO-, and Rhesus systems.

The Home Blood Type Test Kit contains everything you need to test your blood type:

• EldonCard for blood test
• Single use sterile lancet
• Pipet (dropper)
• Alcohol prep pad
• Four EldonSticks
• Illustrated instructions
• EldonFoil

Find the EldonCard blood type test kit at the Control Group Shop – UK DELIVERY ONLY

Order the test kit here: https://controlgroup.uk/product/blood-type-test/

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Diny
Co-founder
Control Group