Hi Kirk,
I really don't want to hijack your thread and start a whole debate on this, as frankly I'm tired of debating this subject, but I do think it should be pointed out that people can have differences of opinion on this, and it does not mean they are "refusing to make society safer" just because they don't see things the way you do. In fact, we may believe quite the opposite, and speaking for myself, I definitely do.
To your point about the variants and mutations, there are a number of notable virologists (Nobel prize winners among them) who believe these vaccines, due to their leaky nature, are actually contributing to the issue of rapid mutations and variants. Look up antibody dependent enhancement or ADE if you're interested to learn more about that. In doing so, I think you'll also discover that other coronavirus vaccines have been denied in the past because they have exhibited exactly this tendency, and it has been particularly troublesome for coronaviruses. Given that history, I'm not exactly sure why we're so sure we should expect different results with these vaccines, particularly when we have no long-term data to demonstrate otherwise. Anyhow, again, my point isn't really to open this debate, but to show there's room for reasonable doubt and differing opinions, and with potential consequences that many of us consider more than just small, incremental risks (both on personal and global health levels).
I would also question your assertion about the unvaccinated shedding the virus more, as I really have not seen any convincing data to back this assertion. This is something that I often hear repeated, but have yet to see any scientific data backing this up. For sure, the vaccines are effective symptomatically and that has been demonstrable, but the Covid case rates have not seemed to correlate well with highly-vaccinated countries. Just take a look at what took place recently in Israel, or what is taking place in Singapore right now, with its >85% vaccination rate. This recent study from the UK Health Security Agency showing Covid infection rates are higher among almost every age group for the vaccinated than the unvaccinated is also interesting: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk (look at the chart on p. 12).
I heard Fauci himself (not that he hasn't flip-flopped so many times that I find any credibility in him) say that the vaccinated could carry as high of viral loads as the unvaccinated, and this is why they flipped back to the mask recommendations. A quick google search on this turned up this study funded by CDC which seems to support this finding: medrxiv.org.
I think you've tried to be fair in your assessment of ivermectin, but I'm not sure why you're so fond of calling it "horse paste". Sure, that's one of its many uses, as well as for dogs and lots of other livestock, but it's also a Nobel-prize winning medicine that's been used for humans for over 40 years now. I guess it's disappointing to see so many people playing into the obvious shame campaign promoted by the mainstream media. It is clearly the intent of this branding, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I've even seen you use it at least once in this context. Have you considered maybe it, and its users, deserve better than that?
Assuming Merck gets approval for its new antiviral drug that this administration is pushing to fast track (after all, it is patented and there's plenty of money to be made by all those lobbyists and politicians), will you call it a "horse pill"?
nature.com
"Molnupiravir began as a possible therapy for Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus at Emory University’s non-profit company DRIVE (Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory) in Atlanta."
You just can't make this stuff up...Of course, you won't hear a word about this being horse medicine from the FDA or from mainstream media, there's too many lobbyists behind it and it has the admin's stamp of approval with all the money that can be milked by the burgeoning pharma lobbyists and their crooked cohorts:
https://thenationalpulse.com/exclusive/pfizer-and-moderna-increase-lobbying-efforts/
Ok sorry, I got carried away and went longer than planned. I really was just trying to get you to consider another viewpoint, and that others believe they're doing the right thing too, not only for themselves, but for this country as well. |
