It has been five long years since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 as a US public health threat. It will be a longer five years if we don’t protect independent scientific and public health expertise.
I have no problem understanding your cogently written post. However, many of the biased and even more of the undereducated in society will not even access the post or any others like it. The biased and undereducated individuals that I encounter daily claim that they don’t need to know such things and therefore the information doesn’t matter. They also claim that there is only fake news. Fewer than 5% of the people that I work with would or could read your post. We are doomed. Btw - I work in healthcare.
I am realistic about how many people these posts will reach - but one never knows which sparks will matter and to whom. Each of us can and should speak up. Collectively, our voices make a difference. The reality is that misinformation and efforts to dismantle American leadership in science impacts all of us. There are plenty of college-educated individuals who firmly believe in anti-vaccine misinformation and plenty of individuals with a college degree who firmly believe in timely vaccinations. But the rise of misinformation is a real threat. I believe there is hope for change, as long as we do not remain silent. Those of us working in the sciences, medicine, and public health have expertise that is critical to share as widely as possible, especially now.
Thank you for sharing this information. I lost my Dad to Covid a few weeks before the vaccine came online. He was a pretty tough 85 year old. The thing that killed him were the lies of a president, that he never thought in a million years would try to kill the people in his own country. My dad started parroting the statement that it was no different than the flu, and the flu kills millions every year. My extended family is in New Jersey and I in Oregon, I felt helpless. I agree with you, that the future is not yet written and I believe it’s up to each of us now to pass on the information and try to enlighten our neighbors and anyone we come in contact with who will give us a chance to speak. I still wear a mask and for me it’s a conversation starter, the fact is that I haven’t had the common cold in 5 years is amazing! My neighbor has 2 children and I just found out that they are unvaccinated, well, I educated her and explained how she has to understand that our government and science are under attack. My country siding with the dictators is not normal!! Thank you, again for not giving up on us and I will try my best to fight for the country that my grandfather died for. 🙏
I work in healthcare data. This is a great post. To Lisa‘s point, this may not reach many MAGA voters. The current administration’s antiscience crusade, Bob Kennedy, and the general anti-intellectual bent of our society, make this a much greater uphill climb than it should be. That said, this article will find a home, and while it may not be read by enough people, it will be spoken of and referred to and will have a positive effect. Every single step that can be taken, must be taken. This is a brilliant reminder of a time many people have already forgotten, or worse, refused to look at with clear eyes ever again. Thank you for a great peace and please keep this issue vibrantly alive.
The truth is that the vaccines, the mRNA based ones, were NOT safe or effective. Covid didn't pose much of a threat to most reasonably healthy ppl and the CDC didn't bother to gather real data like who died FROM covid vs who died WITH it. Even as it became clear that the vaccine posed a viable threat toward young men especially our government thought it prudent to try and mandate it. The Biden admin turned the whole debacle into a political battle. The policies were ill conceived and not science based. Dissenting scientific voices were silenced. Our own government funded the gain of function research in Wuhan and Fauci knew exactly what it was. It wasn't novel to him. The treatment protocols in hospitals killed more ppl than covid. They gave most of the remdesivir which us a particularly toxic drug that had negative side effects mimicking Covid symptoms. The use of ventilators made a number of patients worse and the whole time the safest, most efficient drug was ivermectin. It was prohibited through dubious manipulation by thr unholy alliance of the pharmaceutical industry and our government health agencies. This isn't hard stuff. Also it was determined that asymptomatic Covid did not cause the spread of disease.
The majority of covid patients were told simply to stay home, self medicate and call back if you got worse. If it's such a deadly virus why were doctors not trying every possible means to treat ppl? Why were differing medical opinions stifled?
Wrecking the economy caused undue stress upon the public at large. That had negative health consequences and undermined public trust in all of our "public health officials". There were certainly not billions of covid deaths. Maybe we should adhere to our own laws and NOT do dumb stuff like make animal viruses transmissible to ppl or more deadly.
We might well face evermore dangerous plagues in the future but if public trust isn't restored then all those of you who are so arrogant as to think that the general public can't think or comprehend plain language will have no one to blame but yourselves when they dismisss your advice.
I have no problem understanding your cogently written post. However, many of the biased and even more of the undereducated in society will not even access the post or any others like it. The biased and undereducated individuals that I encounter daily claim that they don’t need to know such things and therefore the information doesn’t matter. They also claim that there is only fake news. Fewer than 5% of the people that I work with would or could read your post. We are doomed. Btw - I work in healthcare.
I am realistic about how many people these posts will reach - but one never knows which sparks will matter and to whom. Each of us can and should speak up. Collectively, our voices make a difference. The reality is that misinformation and efforts to dismantle American leadership in science impacts all of us. There are plenty of college-educated individuals who firmly believe in anti-vaccine misinformation and plenty of individuals with a college degree who firmly believe in timely vaccinations. But the rise of misinformation is a real threat. I believe there is hope for change, as long as we do not remain silent. Those of us working in the sciences, medicine, and public health have expertise that is critical to share as widely as possible, especially now.
Thank you for sharing this information. I lost my Dad to Covid a few weeks before the vaccine came online. He was a pretty tough 85 year old. The thing that killed him were the lies of a president, that he never thought in a million years would try to kill the people in his own country. My dad started parroting the statement that it was no different than the flu, and the flu kills millions every year. My extended family is in New Jersey and I in Oregon, I felt helpless. I agree with you, that the future is not yet written and I believe it’s up to each of us now to pass on the information and try to enlighten our neighbors and anyone we come in contact with who will give us a chance to speak. I still wear a mask and for me it’s a conversation starter, the fact is that I haven’t had the common cold in 5 years is amazing! My neighbor has 2 children and I just found out that they are unvaccinated, well, I educated her and explained how she has to understand that our government and science are under attack. My country siding with the dictators is not normal!! Thank you, again for not giving up on us and I will try my best to fight for the country that my grandfather died for. 🙏
I work in healthcare data. This is a great post. To Lisa‘s point, this may not reach many MAGA voters. The current administration’s antiscience crusade, Bob Kennedy, and the general anti-intellectual bent of our society, make this a much greater uphill climb than it should be. That said, this article will find a home, and while it may not be read by enough people, it will be spoken of and referred to and will have a positive effect. Every single step that can be taken, must be taken. This is a brilliant reminder of a time many people have already forgotten, or worse, refused to look at with clear eyes ever again. Thank you for a great peace and please keep this issue vibrantly alive.
The Prez is doing no one favors by shutting down scientific agencies… by not allowing the CDC and others to have outgoing missives.
I wonder all the time “what is going on out there, that we aren't allowed to know?”
Those cuts were not due to fraud or abuse, nor were they just to save us money.
The Prez doesn't want another pandemic to ruin his “legacy.” The doofus thinks when tens of thousands begin to die that he can decree it fake news.
This is scary.
The truth is that the vaccines, the mRNA based ones, were NOT safe or effective. Covid didn't pose much of a threat to most reasonably healthy ppl and the CDC didn't bother to gather real data like who died FROM covid vs who died WITH it. Even as it became clear that the vaccine posed a viable threat toward young men especially our government thought it prudent to try and mandate it. The Biden admin turned the whole debacle into a political battle. The policies were ill conceived and not science based. Dissenting scientific voices were silenced. Our own government funded the gain of function research in Wuhan and Fauci knew exactly what it was. It wasn't novel to him. The treatment protocols in hospitals killed more ppl than covid. They gave most of the remdesivir which us a particularly toxic drug that had negative side effects mimicking Covid symptoms. The use of ventilators made a number of patients worse and the whole time the safest, most efficient drug was ivermectin. It was prohibited through dubious manipulation by thr unholy alliance of the pharmaceutical industry and our government health agencies. This isn't hard stuff. Also it was determined that asymptomatic Covid did not cause the spread of disease.
The majority of covid patients were told simply to stay home, self medicate and call back if you got worse. If it's such a deadly virus why were doctors not trying every possible means to treat ppl? Why were differing medical opinions stifled?
Wrecking the economy caused undue stress upon the public at large. That had negative health consequences and undermined public trust in all of our "public health officials". There were certainly not billions of covid deaths. Maybe we should adhere to our own laws and NOT do dumb stuff like make animal viruses transmissible to ppl or more deadly.
We might well face evermore dangerous plagues in the future but if public trust isn't restored then all those of you who are so arrogant as to think that the general public can't think or comprehend plain language will have no one to blame but yourselves when they dismisss your advice.