Adenovirus vectors may be common, but adenovirus vector vaccines are not. That's what killed Jesse Gelsinger back in '99, which basically stopped recombinant DNA therapy stone cold in its tracks for fifteen years. Adenovirus vector vaccines were tried against ebola in 2014 and 2015 but they're still pending approval while the mRNA vaccine kicked up in the wake of the 2014 outbreak has already been approved.

This is what bit genentech and the rest in the ass in 1999: adenoviruses are everywhere so adenoviruses should be no problem. But they have been in the past. My buddy Dr. Strangelove actually did his thesis on replacing adenoviruses with ebola for gene therapy so no wonder he ended up at Ft. Detrick. I have my suspicions that neither the AstraZeneca nor the J&J would have been approved so quickly if we weren't under emergency conditions, which also increases my concern - if these are the side effects we're catching now, what side effects aren't we catching a year from now?

I agree - vanishingly small percentage impacted, much higher stakes, but we might end up saying "you'll almost certainly be fine, we happen to know your platelet count, but if you're totally freaked out we'll write you a note to try and increase your chances of getting the Pfizer or Moderna" as if it'll actually do anything.

We've definitely got more anti-maskers among our clients than we do those with chronically low platelets, and we've been gleefully pointing out that "pregnancy" has been a "preexisting condition" warranting cutting the line for the past couple months.