Yeah, this is one of those rare issues where I find myself squirming on the fence. Of course, I agree in principle. All ideas, even bad ideas, should be heard and refuted rather than suppressed.

My hesitation here is that there's an unprecedented global emergency that has millions of people scared and desperate and irrational. It's very hard to argue against the idea that vaccines are the most safe, sensible and practical path to contain it.

So publishing research that suggests that these obviously safe vaccines aren't safe, into an environment where people are claiming COVID is a hoax even as it kills them, could very reasonably be argued to be irresponsible.

I'm not saying data on side-effects shouldn't be published. I very much agree that it should be. And indeed it is available through VAERS. But context is king. I think it should absolutely be underlined how rare serious side effects are. And, of course, how much rarer they are than side effects from catching COVID.