I had hoped not to do another Covid-19 post, but here I am - doing one!
As I noted in a previous post, I have been amazed at the sheer panicked response to this virus. I guess since I do not watch any TV news, nor ever watched a press conference by anyone concerning the virus, maybe I have missed some of the worst hyperbole. Maybe since I actively work on my health and especially my immune system regularly I have not been as affected by it. I am not sure.
Let me start out by saying I am not an anti-vax'er, at least by my standards. I do have and get the DPT and MMR vaccines. I have been vaccinated against polio and smallpox. I have also had the Covid-19 vaccine, and am what is still referred to today as "fully vaccinated" with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. (more in a moment on that). In the spirit of disclosure, I have never gotten a seasonal influenza shot, and at this time I cannot ever see myself getting one. Currently I am also not planning on getting a Covid-19 vaccine booster shot. (FYI, I do realize that those last statements makes me an "anti-vax'er" in many's eyes) Vaccines that do not confer immunity and need to be taken very frequently (annually or more often) are not appealing to me at all nor do they make medical sense with what I know of the immune system/response in humans.
I have a statement that sums up my thoughts on this after many, many hours of study. (to clarify, I get a regularly read The Lancet, the British Medical journal; I also regularly go to the National Institutes of Health - NIH website, the Center for Disease Control - CDC website, the World Health Organization - WHO website (not so much of late), and other medical/health websites very regularly) The statement is:
A "vaccine" that does not confer immunity, and whatever benefits it does offer last for only 5 - 7 months, is not a "vaccine" at all!
In fact, a "vaccine" that has that result does not meet the CDC's own definition of a vaccine.
OK, moving on. There are about 7,800 deaths that have been reported to VAERS from the vaccines as of today. (which is interesting as when I looked at it a month ago there were @12,000 - but that is another issue - we will go with the 7,800). These are deaths directly attributed to the vaccine and its side effects. Now, statistically that is a very low number when compared to the total vaccines given. Just one reference though, the H1N1 vaccine was scrapped and withdrawn years back when 41 people died. (again, I will note that it was in a MUCH smaller population of people that had received the vaccine, but...) That speaks to the "totally safe..." comments that you hear in the promotion of the vaccines.
Kind of on this subject, I wonder why anyone believes ANYTHING that the "experts" say on this virus? Almost every single statement or prediction on the virus has been proven wrong or they have just restated the "facts" and moved on like nothing happened. The subterfuge started with vaccine-god Fauci in February and early March of 2020 when he said that masks were not a good idea for the general populations and that he did not see a scenario where it was a good idea to have people wearing masks all the time. It continued with the Mayor of New York - Cuomo, the Mayor of San Franciso - Breed, as well as our esteemed Speaker of the House - Pelosi, were telling people to get out and about there was no reason to fear. This was in late February and into mid-March 2020 as well. Then we had the "two-week shutdown". After 18 months in some places, the two-weeks is almost up! On the vaccine front, we were told by our "experts" not to mix the vaccines. We were told to make sure you have your second dose within the 3 to 4 week window. We were told they are all equal, fully safe and tested, and good to go.
To the subject of "fully tested" and safe - the vaccine was run through trials and testing faster than any vaccine in history. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccine use a very new technology that has never been used in a human vaccine before. Yet, they can tell us that these vaccines are "fully tested" and safe. Now, I will agree that as far as immediate effects and symptoms, they are as safe as most medicines. My issue is, no one has any idea what effect these vaccines will have on the body and its systems years or decades from now. What if instead of a vaccine, we called the Pfizer and Moderna shots - genetic manipulation? That is actually a more fitting name than vaccine. Would you still get the shots?
If you have ever watched any late night or Sunday morning TV, you have probably seen ads with a serious announcer asking "have you or your family ever taken xxxx(insert drug here), and suffered xxxx(insert side effect or damage here)? If so call this number now to see if you qualify for compensation." These drugs were all "fully tested" and safe - until they weren't. There have been vaccines pulled from the market over the years, just like drugs have. (again, to be fair - not many vaccines, but a couple like the H1N1 I referenced above). Quite a few drugs and vaccines don't make it out of human trials. The issue here is, these vaccines were given human trials that were much, much shorter than is normal. Who knows where will be with side effects in 5 years or more?
Another blanket statement: If you are over 50, or over 35 or so with co-morbidities - GET VACCINATED FOR COVID. It is shown pretty conclusively that vaccination helps prevent deaths and serious illness from the virus. However, if you look at the deaths and hospitalizations of those healthy individuals under 35, and especially under 25 - this virus is not a great threat. As for vaccinating children for this virus, I personally think after all the research I have done and the fact that there have been very, very few deaths under 20 - I would not - in fact I think it is crazy to do so!
This is turning out to be a very long post. I have learned in the 13+ years I have been writing blogs that the longer the posts, the less readers. However, there is much more to say. So here we go.
We have been told that the vaccines prevent deaths and serious illness. That was very true with the original virus and the first few variants. With Delta and the new Delta variant (yes there are at least 2 Deltas), not so much. FYI, it is not discussed often, but there are MANY variants that have been identified - Alpha was the original, then Beta, Gamma, Epsilon, Eta, Iota, Kappa (and its variants), Mu, Delta (and it's new variant "Delta +" or Delta AY lineage) The original vaccines were developed from the Alpha line. Very briefly, (and very unscientifically) they worked by making the body aware of the spikes that the virus used to attach itself to the ACE 2 receptors in the body. (as an aside, the reason for the lung and circulatory issues with Covid-19 is due to the fact that those areas of the body contain a lot of ACE 2 receptors) Viruses have one mission - to make more viruses. Viruses are parasites of a sort, they cannot live without a host. To make more viruses, they mutate to remain effective. There is no conscious thought to this, it just happens. Most of the mutations are not productive. However viruses replicate so often that mutations happen very quickly comparatively. The mutations that make it are those that are more infectious - they allow the viruses to find and set-up in more hosts, and in some cases - those that are less deadly. That may seem counter-intuitive. But if you think that viruses need a host and they exist to create more viruses, they need to be able to have a host that lives long enough for them to spread themselves around. If a host can remain mobile and functional, that contributes to their success. If the virus kills the host, that is not good from a virus's standpoint.
Now what will be seen as a controversial statement by some (maybe most): Vaccines, especially ones that do not completely stop the spread and do not confer immunity, actually can cause viruses to mutate quicker. The mutations that survive are those that the virus does not affect. As I understand it, the Delta variant is so successful because it changed the spike (or eliminated that one - I am still doing research on that) that the vaccine has the body look for. That is the limitation of these mRNA vaccines - they are very specific. That can be good I guess in some cases, but bad in this case where the immunity/defense is based on a small portion of the virus. When that changed, the vaccine is much, much less effective. Imperfect or partial vaccines cause only the viruses that can beat the vaccine to live. So vaccines actually enhance the successful mutations.
Let's move on to that - effectiveness. The vaccine is now estimated to be less than 50% effective against the most prevalent variants. Some scientific articles I just read say it is under 40%. When a vaccine is well under 50% effective it may be doing more harm than good going forward. We have real life testing of this now - Israel is fully vaccinated by definition - @95% (I have seen a figure as high as 97%). However, they have had more cases recently than early this year when a small portion of the population had been vaccinated. Although deaths have dropped, they are still seeing many deaths, almost all among vaccinated people. Singapore is over 75% vaccinated and has had a huge increase in both cases and deaths. As we get areas in the USA that are highly vaccinated, we are seeing the same things. As I said above, if you are over 50 and/or have co-morbidities, get the vaccine. But, the idiotic claim that full vaccination with these vaccines is going to stop this virus are just that - idiotic claims.
Now to a favorite - masks. The mask is good if the wearer is symptomatic. However, for a well person to wear a mask may cause more issues than solve. Why? First, it can cause a false sense of security and they may participate in more risky behaviors, Second, masks when repeatedly worn are breeding grounds for bacteria and certain viruses themselves. Third, unless you are wearing a true N95 mask, viruses are not stopped by the mask. Yes, a water droplet with viruses contained would be stopped, but look at the second point I made. If you look at States, counties, and cities with mask mandates - over time there is almost no difference in infection rates. Yes, the spikes may have been delayed or accelerated, but the infection rates are very similar. In school systems where some counties have had mask mandates and adjoining counties have not - there is no statistical difference in infection rates. Masks are theater for the most part. That being said - if a business or building wants you to wear a mask and you don't want - go elsewhere or wear the mask. In almost every case, the person you will give a hard time to had/has nothing to do with the policy. They may not like it any better than you do, but they want the paycheck!
Sorry for the length. As always this has been extensively researched. To the best of my knowledge it is all factual except for where I identified it as my opinion. Every fact I present is one that I have verified with at least 2 sources. This post represents about 12 - 14 hours of pure research and well over an hour of writing. Speaking of sources, they are out there. It is not easy finding data that goes against the norm, they are mostly on scholarly or true medical sites, but they are out there. If I can find them, so can you if you desire. You can chose to believe and trust me, or find the facts for yourself.
Be kind, be safe.
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