phloydius
Veteran Member
Would note that the person came to San Francisco on Nov 22, and started quarantine today.
CORONA Main Coronavirus thread
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Would note that the person came to San Francisco on Nov 22, and started quarantine today.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
East African, Middle Eastern Migrants Apprehended in Texas near Border
Agents continue to apprehend migrants from a multitude of nations who cross the border illegally from Mexico into Texas.
www.breitbart.com
East African, Middle Eastern Migrants Apprehended in Texas near Border
U.S. Border Patrol/Del Rio Sector
BOB PRICE1 Dec 202120
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents continue to apprehend migrants from a multitude of nations who cross the border illegally from Mexico into Texas. Recent apprehensions include migrants from what Border Patrol classifies as “special interest” nations including East African, Middle Eastern, and Asian nations.
Over the Thanksgiving week, Del Rio Sector agents apprehended migrants from Eritrea, Lebanon, Syria, and Tajikistan, according to information obtained from Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials. Newly appointed Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Jason Owens tweeted a photo showing the apprehension of a large group of mostly Venezuelan migrants who also illegally crossed from Mexico into Texas.
“We encounter individuals from all over the world attempting to illegally enter our country,” Chief Owens said in a written statement. “Our agents are focused and work hard to ensure that we detect, arrest, and identify anyone that enters our country in order to maintain [the] safety of our communities.”
Eagle Pass Station agents apprehended one female and five males from Eritrea and one male from Uzbekistan near Eagle Pass, Texas, on November 24, officials stated. Eritrea is located in northeastern Africa along the Red Sea. It borders Ethiopia, Sudan, and Djibouti.
Two days later, Del Rio Station agents apprehended two men — one from Syria and one from Lebanon. The following day, Eagle Pass Station agents apprehended a man from Tajikistan.
These apprehensions of foreign nationals add to the 28,111 migrants from more than 50 nations apprehended by Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents in October — the first month of the new fiscal year. November apprehension numbers are not yet available.
During all of FY21, Del Rio Sector agents apprehended migrants from 106 different nations, officials reported.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Does that make him the @realThanksgivingturkey ?
marsh
On TB every waking moment
COVID HOLY GRAIL DISCOVERED… Antibody 35B5 neutralizes all Variants…
Chinese scientists discover Antibody that neutralizes all Covid variants SOURCE — RT Chinese scientists claim to have isolated an antibody which can effectively neutraliz…
citizenfreepress.com
COVID HOLY GRAIL DISCOVERED… Antibody 35B5 neutralizes all Variants…
Posted by Kane on December 1, 2021 4:26 pm
[The source of this is R/T]
Chinese scientists discover Antibody that neutralizes all Covid variants
SOURCE — RT
Chinese scientists claim to have isolated an antibody which can effectively neutralize all strains of Covid, referencing both lab experiments and those performed on a living organism.
Chinese scientists suggested they may have the panacea to the Covid scamdemic.
The authors claim that monoclonal antibody 35B5 has been shown in both in vitro (laboratory or test-tube experiment) and in vivo (performed on living organism) studies to neutralize wild-type Covid-19 as well as variants of concern (VOCs). The in vivo tests were carried out on humanized mice.
The scientists noted that the antibody also works on the highly mutated Delta variant.
“35B5 neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 Covid by targeting a unique epitope [part of the antigen molecule which the antibody attaches itself to] that avoids the prevailing mutation sites,” the study explains. In other words, 35B5 targets a unique part of the virus that does not change during the mutation process.
By targeting part of the virus which is not impacted by the mutations identified in circulating VOCs, antibody 35B5 demonstrated capacity for “pan-neutralizing efficacy” across multiple strains. These findings, the scientists argue, could be “exploited for the rational design of a universal SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.”
The part of the antigen targeted by antibody 35B5 is also present in the Omicron variant.
Read the official study here… https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.29.470356v1.full.pdf
thompson
Certa Bonum Certamen
MUST WATCH - Dr. Anthony Fauci Busted, Cannot Explain Why The U.S. Banned Travel From African Countries With Zero Cases of Omicron Variant - The Last Refuge
Sometimes the truth is hard to spot. It’s like that little out of place thing peeking out from under the boulder of lies atop it. Everyone focuses on the boulder, because it was purposefully placed there to get attention. However, every once in a while someone -usually a new voice in the...
theconservativetreehouse.com
MUST WATCH – Dr. Anthony Fauci Busted, Cannot Explain Why The U.S. Banned Travel From African Countries With Zero Cases of Omicron Variant
December 1, 2021 | Sundance | 87 Comments
Sometimes the truth is hard to spot. It’s like that little out of place thing peeking out from under the boulder of lies atop it. Everyone focuses on the boulder, because it was purposefully placed there to get attention. However, every once in a while someone -usually a new voice in the crowd- notices that little part they didn’t quite cover up well enough, and that is when you find out the truth.
Anthony Fauci appeared today at the White House briefing room to promote the Omicron fear narrative. When building narratives, the timing of things is important. Fauci was announcing the first case of the Omicron variant in California, that’s the boulder. However, one of the usually silent and compliant journalists from the African news bureau had this pesky question (video at 16:50 prompted):
20:25 total run time
QUESTION: “Dr. Fauci, with all due respect, there’s zero case of COVID variant, of Omicron case, in Zimbabwe, in Namibia, in Lesotho, in Mozambique, what justifies imposing a travel ban on countries that have zero cases of the Omicron variant?”
FAUCI: “um,… er,… um,… You know, that’s a very good question, an important question, and, and we did struggle with that”….
… AND he never answered the question, because it wasn’t supposed to be asked. No one was supposed to notice that little irreconcilable factoid highlighting how the Omicron fear boulder is a purposeful fraud. They built this fear narrative called “Omicron” out of nothing, for a specific purpose.
The reporter wanted to push the issue, but the White House quickly interceded. Funny that.
29 seconds
View: https://twitter.com/VinceCoglianese/status/1466127550011396104?s=20
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Texas resident gets over $4,000 in bills after getting tested for COVID: "I felt deceived"
Although COVID-19 testing costs are supposed to be covered under most circumstances, some people have been getting large and confusing bills, including some for hundreds or thousands of dollars.
www.cbsnews.com
Texas resident gets over $4,000 in bills after getting tested for COVID: "I felt deceived"
DECEMBER 1, 2021 / 10:57 AM / CBS NEWS
When Jaden Janak learned he had been exposed to COVID-19 shortly after his 75-year-old grandmother died from the virus last year, he knew what he had to do. He went to the hospital for a rapid test that he thought would be free.
He was wrong. Several months later, the Texas resident received two bills totaling over $4,000.
"I felt very angry. I felt deceived," Janak told CBS News' consumer investigative correspondent Anna Werner.
Janak is not alone. Although COVID-19 testing costs are supposed to be covered under most circumstances, some people have been getting large and confusing bills, including some for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The first bill Janak received was for about $2,700, covering the emergency room and lab fees.
He later received a doctor's bill for some $1,300.
His insurance provider, BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, told him not to worry because it would send him a check for those bills, he said. It eventually did send him a check that he used to pay the Tulsa ER & Hospital, Janak said. But unbeknownst to him, a second check the insurer sent him never arrived, he said, leaving him fighting the hospital's bill and getting collection calls for nearly a year.
The hospital told CBS News it will accept whatever money Janak's insurance company sends him and that once they get it, he won't owe anything more.
"What if this happens to someone else and they do truly believe that they are personally liable for these charges? How are they going to be able to make ends meet given where the economy is?" Janak said.
Barry and Jaime Constanzo of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had a similar experience in September. They were planning to visit their grandchildren when they developed what they thought might be coronavirus symptoms and went to the only location they say had rapid tests available that day: Conway Medical Center. Their results were negative, but they did get the bills — totaling some $570 after their insurance paid.
"They tell you you're negative, then they ask you why you're here, and then they look in your ears, nose and mouth, and the next thing you know, you get a bill, non-COVID related," Barry Constanzo said.
Conway Medical Center told CBS News the Costanzos went to the wrong place — to the hospital's "emergency department triage tent" — and that if they wanted a free COVID-19 test, they should have gone to "the free drive-through testing."
Since they were technically at the emergency room, Conway Medical Center said it was "legally bound to medically evaluate, treat, and discharge" them. In this case, it was for allergies — treatment the couple said they didn't ask for.
"Why would I go to a hospital or to any testing site for COVID if I was there for allergies?" Jaime Constanzo said.
Examples like those are cropping up even though a law passed last year requires insurance companies to cover tests and any associated treatments, said professor Sabrina Corlette, founder and co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University.
"Part of it is because our health care system is very complicated and confusing," she said.
Corlette said coronavirus testing costs are supposed to be covered 100% by insurance companies, but she has been hearing of some providers tacking on certain fees, sometimes called "facility fees" or "emergency room fees."
"If you get a physical exam or they say, 'Well, let's test you for flu or other things as well,' all of that visit is supposed to be covered by the insurer," she said.
It turns out that's exactly what happened to the Costanzos. They were each charged $771 for an emergency room fee, which their insurer would not pay in full, leaving them jointly with bills of about $570.
The Costanzos are appealing their bill.
They now have some advice to anyone seeking to get tested for coronavirus.
"If at all possible, don't go to the hospital. Go to the pharmacy," Jaime Constanzo said.
The couple's insurance company, BlueChoice HealthPlan of South Carolina, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Janak's insurance, BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, said it's reissuing the second check he needs.
Officials at Tulsa ER & Hospital told CBS News they've since changed their processes with BlueCross BlueShield to take patients out of the middle, and payments now go directly to the hospital. They say they follow "all pertaining laws and regulations."
The Contanzos gave their permission for Conway Medical Center to discuss their care with CBS News. The center shared the following statement about the case:
"Conway Medical Center has free COVID-19 drive-through testing offered 7 days a week from 8am - 4pm. If a patient comes to our Emergency Department requesting just COVID-19 testing, they are referred to the free drive-through testing. If the patient presents with symptoms requesting and/or requiring other care, as was the case for the Costanzos, we are legally bound to medically evaluate, treat, and discharge that patient in our Emergency Department. They are seen by a provider in the Emergency Department and are billed accordingly."
"The day the Costanzos were seen in the Emergency Department, CMC provided 358 free COVID-19 tests in our drive-through testing. Since we started this testing option on August 23, 2021, CMC has provided more than 15,000 free COVID-19 tests."
Tulsa ER & Hospital also issued a statement:
"Tulsa ER & Hospital […], along with all emergency rooms in America, are required by the U.S. Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) to provide a medical screening exam (MSE) on patients to determine if an emergency medical condition exists. If a condition is determined to exist, we are also required to treat and stabilize the patient. The MSE, treatment, and stabilization are provided regardless of a patient's financial ability to pay. When a patient has insurance, Tulsa ER & Hospital […] (is) legally required to bill the visit as an emergency room visit, and insurance companies are required to pay, at a minimum, the in-network rate."
"Up until April 1st 2021, the largest payer in the region (BlueCross BlueShield), provided payment directly to patients for care in our independent, physician-owned ERs and micro-hospitals. We prefer a dynamic where we negotiate directly with insurance providers, to take the burden off the patient. This has been corrected."
"…Tulsa ER & Hospital… do not balance bill — meaning they will not bill the patient for charges above the adjusted rates set by insurance policies."
marsh
On TB every waking moment
(Bloomberg) -- In the battle against the coronavirus, the unvaccinated are being increasingly targeted.
Germany and Israel are moving closer to making Covid-19 vaccine shots compulsory, Greece is introducing fines and Spain is banning some unvaccinated travelers. Despite protests, making life harder for those who don’t want a shot is a tactic increasingly favored by governments, spooked by the spread of the omicron variant.
Here are some of the measures against the unvaccinated deployed by governments around the world.
Greek Fines
The government is making vaccines mandatory for all Greeks above 60 years of age. From next month, refuseniks will pay a 100-euro ($113) fine every month they don’t get a shot, with the funds going to hospital services. In Greece, only 60,000 among the 580,000 unvaccinated people over 60 years old received the vaccine in November.
Austria’s Lockdown
The country with one of the lowest inoculation rates in western Europe will remain in lockdown until mid-December. Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg has vowed to then lift restrictions for the vaccinated or people recently recovered from the virus. A lockdown for the unvaccinated will probably persist, though they can still go to work with a negative test. Officials are also working on plans to impose mandatory vaccinations from February, with fines reaching as high as 7,200 euros ($8,151).
Finland’s Bars
Bars and restaurants in Finland refusing to use Covid certificates will no longer serve booze after 5 p.m. in the latest attempt by the government. Health authorities in the northern town of Kajaani offered a thousand plastic buckets to entice people to get a shot, playing off a joke that Finns will line up for anything for a free bucket.
Spain’s Travel Ban
Spain has effectively banned travelers from the U.K. who aren’t fully vaccinated. From Dec. 1, it will only accept proof of vaccination for adult entry. U.K. government advice also says that a certificate of recovery from Covid isn’t accepted either by Spanish authorities.
Hungary’s Crackdown
The government in Budapest allows employers make vaccinations compulsory for staff in an effort to push people to get the shot. Anyone who doesn’t can be placed on unpaid leave.
Slovakia’s Cash
Slovakia’s Finance Minister Igor Matovic wants to give out vouchers worth 500 euros to everyone over the age of 60 who gets vaccinated, including those who have already received the shot. The vouchers, which could be used in restaurants and hotels, are opposed by some forces in government, but Matovic is hoping to push it through with the backing of some opposition lawmakers in parliament.
Singapore’s Medical Bills
In Singapore, those who choose not to get their jabs will now have to pay for their own medical bills if they get Covid. Patients who receive therapeutics and stay in intensive care units may have to pay about S$25,000 ($18,460), according to a median estimate released by the health ministry.
© BloombergDeserted Streets in Singapore As Island Still Set on Reopening
Lithuania’s Certs
Many countries in Europe require vaccination certs to enter bars and restaurants, but Lithuania has gone a step further. Citizens over 16 must provide Covid immunity certificates to enter any restaurant or cafe, shopping malls, cinemas, beauty salons or any other public indoor premises or events. The rule will be tightened further from end of December and will apply to everyone over 12-years.
The government is also paying paying 100 euros to people over age 75 who get their booster shot before March 31.
U.S. Mandate
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration issued an emergency rule forcing large private employers to require vaccination or regular testing. The Labor Department said the mandate will apply to companies with 100 or more employees and set a Jan. 4 deadline. Failure to comply could trigger fines of as much as $136,000.
About 5% of unvaccinated workers left their jobs when their employer imposed a vaccine mandate, according to an October survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
© BloombergPresident Biden Delivers Remarks On Authorization Of Covid-19 Vaccine For Ages 5 To 11
Ukraine’s Teachers
In Ukraine, teachers and government officials who aren’t fully vaccinated have been sent on unpaid leave. Restaurants, shopping malls and fitness centers are allowed to operate only if 100% of their staff got shots. Public transport across the country is available only for vaccinated people.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Historic Number of Workers Quit Jobs to Become Their Own Bosses Amid …
archived 1 Dec 2021 15:22:41 UTC
Historic Number of Workers Quit Jobs to Become Their Own Bosses Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
By Katabella Roberts
December 1, 2021 Updated: December 1, 2021
A historic number of workers have become their own bosses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (pdf).
As of October, there were about 9.44 million unincorporated self-employed individuals in the United States, as per the Bureau’s data. In that same month last year, there were about 8.78 million unincorporated self-employed individuals in the United States.
The latest figures amount to a rise of 500,000 since the start of the pandemic and an increase of 6 percent in the self-employed, while the overall U.S. employment total remains nearly 3 percent lower than before the pandemic.
Furthermore, in October of this year, there were 432,101 business formation applications filed in the United States, according to data from the Census Bureau. In that same month last year, there were 414,195 applications filed to register a new business.
A number of reasons could be behind the wave in self-employment rates, including growing fears among employees returning to the office amid the ongoing pandemic, the stress of the pandemic, a desire for more job flexibility, government mandates, or a lack of access to childcare could all be behind the move.
The figures come as more hiring difficulties appear to be on the horizon for U.S. firms amid a weak labor supply, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ November jobs report.
The bureau’s October jobs report, released Nov. 5, showed that employers added more than a half-million jobs in October, beating market expectations and painting a more positive picture of labor market recovery compared to the previous month.
However, the labor force participation rate—a measure of how many people work or are actively looking for jobs—was unchanged at 61.6 percent in October and has remained within a narrow range of 61.4 percent to 61.7 percent since June 2020.
The participation rate is 1.7 percent lower than in February 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nationwide labor shortage has prompted employers across the United States to raise wages and implement attractive bonuses and competitive compensation in an effort to pull in new workers.
Starbucks, Costco, Walmart, Target, CVS Health, and Walgreens Boots Alliance are just a handful of companies that have all said they are boosting starting wages to $15 an hour, in line with President Joe Biden’s push to raise the minimum wage to the same amount and in an effort to recruit more workers.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell this week said the emergence of a new CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus variant poses a risk to employment and inflation in the country.
Known as Omicron, the new variant was first detected by South Africa last Thursday.
“The recent rise in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant pose downside risks to employment and economic activity, and increased uncertainty for inflation,” Powell said before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Senate lawmakers on Tuesday.
“Greater concerns about the virus could reduce people’s willingness to work in person, which would slow progress in the labor market and intensify supply-chain disruptions,” the chairman said.
Powell did not discuss any proposed monetary policy actions by the central bank or whether officials are considering changing the pace of the tapering of its asset purchases, but said, “We understand that our actions affect communities, families, and businesses across the country.”
“Everything we do is in service to our public mission. We at the Fed will do everything we can to support a full recovery in employment and achieve our price-stability goal,” he concluded.
As federal officials are pulling back bond purchases in line with falling unemployment levels, it is unclear how the emergence of Omicron will affect those plans.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Omicron Variant Situation In South Africa Hilariously Explained By British Man Living There [VIDEO]
Big Media and aspiring tyrants have gone bonkers over yet another new variant, just as everyone was waking up to the fact that the Delta Variant wasn't as
Omicron Variant Situation In South Africa Hilariously Explained By British Man Living There [VIDEO]
Instant legend...
BY ZACH HEILMAN
DECEMBER 1, 2021
Big Media and aspiring tyrants have gone bonkers over yet another new variant, just as everyone was waking up to the fact that the Delta Variant wasn’t as big of a deal as they made it out to be.
The timing is suspicious, to say the least.
One British man living in South Africa just isn’t buying into all their fear porn over the Omicron Variant.
He goes on an epic rant to explain what he sees on the ground in South Africa.
WATCH:
https://tv.gab.com/media/61a7ffc209...=9e776762-1b47-4a15-a510-8520d7cf9bdc&r=1080p 1:31 min
“So a dear friend of mine called me today to say she’s heard that it was going very badly in South Africa. And how are you? How are you handling it? So I’ll tell you exactly what’s happening in South Africa. Nothing. Today’s figures, total infections, total new infections in South Africa, zero. Total new infections in England? 46,000 46,000 new infections, we have zero new infections, our populations are approximately the same. Oh, but let’s blame Africa. The British have discovered a new variant in South Africa. Of course, it’s the worst of all variants. It’s dressed in a loincloth, carries a spear, and waits for you at the airport to chop your head off and crawl up your ass. So yes, let’s put South Africa back on the red list because they have zero new infections. And we have 46,000 new infections today. So South Africa will have no tourist season. THAT’S IT companies and livelihoods will be decimated yet again. I’ve already had guests canceling their Christmas and their journeys. I had guests leave today, early from Spain, because they’re now afraid they won’t be able to get back on a plane because the British have discovered a new variant in Africa. And, of course, it’s the worst variant ever. Meanwhile, we’re all sat here having no new infections and getting on quite nicely. Thank you very much. So what’s happening in South Africa? I’ll tell you. I’m going to the pub where I’m going to drink a beer which will cost me the equivalent of one pound” _British Man living in South Africa
If, by chance, you thought he was alone in thinking all of this is entirely out of control and hysterical in nature, just take a look at what some people are saying online about it…
“I’m with you. I wish I were there; Uk is pathetic, like when a few snowflakes land on the ground flight trains, etc., delayed FFS.”
“I’m with you all the way. I ****ing despise the pricks that run this country.”
“This man should be hired by every company in every country.”
“5 of the 7 African countries put on the no-fly list had days earlier rejected further delivery of the vaccines. ….You don’t even have to join the dots. They join themselves.”
https://www.redvoicemedia.com/author/zachheilman/
marsh
On TB every waking moment
[UK]
Great Britain: Excess Mortality Among Children After Vaccine Rollout
Amy Mek
December 1, 2021
Is it just a coincidence that deaths among children have increased by 62% since the rollout of the mRNA shots (up to 400% in vulnerable children) against the five-year average?
Deaths of children have been on the rise since the UK started vaccinating teenagers from the age of 12 and older. The risk-benefit analysis raises serious doubts about injecting this age group with the experimental drug.
On September 20, the British national health service NHS announced that the corona vaccine would be rolled out for children aged 12 to 15. In part of the biggest vaccination drive in the country’s health service history, nearly three million children can receive a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. According to the NHS, jabs started in hundreds of schools (week 38), with the injection program rolling out to others in the coming weeks.
Increase In Deaths
Following the government’s vaccine rollout, the UK’s Office of National Statics shows that the number of deaths between week 38 and week 41 of 2021 among children aged 10-14 were 62% higher than the five-year average for the number of deaths in this age group during the same period. Furthermore, the increase in deaths began when children started receiving the experimental “vaccine.”
The trend of increasing deaths among children is continuing. More children in the age group 5-14 years died in week 43 of 2021 than usual. Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) recently revealed that so many children died at the end of October that there was excess mortality.
Is There A Connection
The decision to jab children over twelve came after the four Chief Medical Officers (CMO’s) of the United Kingdom advised the UK Government to offer the Pfizer injection to them. The government decided to go ahead with the injection program despite the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) previously stating that they could not support universal vaccination of children.
Is it just a coincidence that deaths among children have since increased by 62% (up to 400% in vulnerable children) against the five-year average?
The CMO admits they do not know the adverse effects the injection will have on children stating, we “acknowledge that there is considerable uncertainty regarding the magnitude of the potential harms.”
When considering whether or not to vaccinate children of that age, the CMO states that the jab will “help prevent classroom outbreaks and further disruptions to education.” However, their reasoning has no factual basis; as the jab has shown, it continuously fails to prevent infection or transmission. Moreover, even Pfizer does not make the CMO’s claim. Therefore, the government’s argument that the benefits outweigh the risks is invalid.
Furthermore, the jab is risky for children’s well-being. In May 2021, Pfizer published a 37-page “factsheet” on the safety and use of their vaccine, from which it emerges that 79% of vaccinated children over the age of 12 could expect side effects. Unfortunately, the government ignored Pfizer’s, and the media refuse to report on their admission because it does not seem to fit their current “political narrative.”
Will the government investigate why there has been a massive increase in deaths from the five-year average since teens received the jab? Will they immediately stop the rollout of this experimental injection to children if there is a direct connection?
Healthy Children And Teenagers Have Virtually No Risk
The Exposé reports, in the past 18 months, 1 in 312,000 children and teenagers (under the age of 19) with a pre-existing condition have died from coronavirus. While in 20 months, only 1 in 1.1 million children died of the coroanvirus, who had no pre-existing conditions.
Public Health England data shows that of all of the UK’s Delta coroanvirus deaths (from February 1, 2021, to September 12, 2021), 71% were vaccinated. One hundred sixty-six deaths were recorded among the partially vaccinated population, 722 deaths among the unvaccinated population, and 1,613 deaths among the fully vaccinated population.
There is no justification for giving an experimental mRNA gene-therapy injection to children.
You are being redirected...
rairfoundation.com
Great Britain: Excess Mortality Among Children After Vaccine Rollout
Amy Mek
December 1, 2021
Is it just a coincidence that deaths among children have increased by 62% since the rollout of the mRNA shots (up to 400% in vulnerable children) against the five-year average?
Deaths of children have been on the rise since the UK started vaccinating teenagers from the age of 12 and older. The risk-benefit analysis raises serious doubts about injecting this age group with the experimental drug.
On September 20, the British national health service NHS announced that the corona vaccine would be rolled out for children aged 12 to 15. In part of the biggest vaccination drive in the country’s health service history, nearly three million children can receive a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. According to the NHS, jabs started in hundreds of schools (week 38), with the injection program rolling out to others in the coming weeks.
Increase In Deaths
Following the government’s vaccine rollout, the UK’s Office of National Statics shows that the number of deaths between week 38 and week 41 of 2021 among children aged 10-14 were 62% higher than the five-year average for the number of deaths in this age group during the same period. Furthermore, the increase in deaths began when children started receiving the experimental “vaccine.”
The trend of increasing deaths among children is continuing. More children in the age group 5-14 years died in week 43 of 2021 than usual. Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) recently revealed that so many children died at the end of October that there was excess mortality.
Is There A Connection
The decision to jab children over twelve came after the four Chief Medical Officers (CMO’s) of the United Kingdom advised the UK Government to offer the Pfizer injection to them. The government decided to go ahead with the injection program despite the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) previously stating that they could not support universal vaccination of children.
Is it just a coincidence that deaths among children have since increased by 62% (up to 400% in vulnerable children) against the five-year average?
The CMO admits they do not know the adverse effects the injection will have on children stating, we “acknowledge that there is considerable uncertainty regarding the magnitude of the potential harms.”
When considering whether or not to vaccinate children of that age, the CMO states that the jab will “help prevent classroom outbreaks and further disruptions to education.” However, their reasoning has no factual basis; as the jab has shown, it continuously fails to prevent infection or transmission. Moreover, even Pfizer does not make the CMO’s claim. Therefore, the government’s argument that the benefits outweigh the risks is invalid.
Furthermore, the jab is risky for children’s well-being. In May 2021, Pfizer published a 37-page “factsheet” on the safety and use of their vaccine, from which it emerges that 79% of vaccinated children over the age of 12 could expect side effects. Unfortunately, the government ignored Pfizer’s, and the media refuse to report on their admission because it does not seem to fit their current “political narrative.”
Will the government investigate why there has been a massive increase in deaths from the five-year average since teens received the jab? Will they immediately stop the rollout of this experimental injection to children if there is a direct connection?
Healthy Children And Teenagers Have Virtually No Risk
The Exposé reports, in the past 18 months, 1 in 312,000 children and teenagers (under the age of 19) with a pre-existing condition have died from coronavirus. While in 20 months, only 1 in 1.1 million children died of the coroanvirus, who had no pre-existing conditions.
Public Health England data shows that of all of the UK’s Delta coroanvirus deaths (from February 1, 2021, to September 12, 2021), 71% were vaccinated. One hundred sixty-six deaths were recorded among the partially vaccinated population, 722 deaths among the unvaccinated population, and 1,613 deaths among the fully vaccinated population.
There is no justification for giving an experimental mRNA gene-therapy injection to children.
Last edited:
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Omicron: A Perfectly Timed Variant to Scare the Unruly Back into Submission
All around the world, people are getting fed up with draconian measures undertaken in the name of public safety. Although we’re not hearing much about it in the news here in the United States, hundreds of thousands of people – perhaps even millions – are protesting across the globe, even though...
americanconservativemovement.com
Omicron: A Perfectly Timed Variant to Scare the Unruly Back into Submission
by Daisy Luther
December 1, 2021
All around the world, people are getting fed up with draconian measures undertaken in the name of public safety. Although we’re not hearing much about it in the news here in the United States, hundreds of thousands of people – perhaps even millions – are protesting across the globe, even though those protests are putting their very lives at risk. Austria, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Croatia, and Australia all have hundreds of thousands of people rising up for freedom.
Enter Omicron.
No, that’s not the new head of the Decepticons. It’s the new strain of Covid out of South Africa that is causing a hullabaloo. (Oh, and hat tip to my bestie for the Transformers reference.)
Some background on the pandemic
Throughout this entire pandemic, I’ve written from the heart, watched the patterns, and shared concerns when I thought warnings were in order. We published our first article about what would soon be known as Covid on Jan. 22, 2020. Every day after that for months I researched and wrote about the virus and the terrifying power grabs and brainwashing that came with it.
As a prepper, I take pandemics seriously. This is something I’ve prepped for over the course of many years. I wrote about my experience having Covid when I lived in Mexico. Unlike quite a few others in this industry, I have never denied that the virus exists or that it can be serious. Our family has lost two loved ones to the illness and I’ve lost two dear friends as well. I’m not a “Covid denier.” I recommended, during early phases, that people get prepared for the potential of what I assumed might be self-imposed lockdowns as we all watched and waited to see how things played out.
This enraged some readers, caused some to quit reading the website, and left others feeling more in control of their own situations. Everything I wrote was written using the information that I personally deemed credible that I had available at the time.
Then things got crazy.
As with anything, once the government steps in to “take control” of a situation, things go downhill like a silk sled on a greasy slide. We were forced to shut down for ‘just two weeks’ that ended up turning into months. It was a half-ass lockdown however, which made it utterly pointless. If you are trying to stop a communicable disease, your lockdown is a lockdown – completely. Nobody in or out.
If you’re trying to impoverish a nation and gain total control, a half-ass lockdown is just what the doctor (especially one who is going to profit from it) ordered. It allows the illness to spread widely unchecked and still overwhelms the medical facilities and other services it promises to protect, while utterly destroying the economy and the personal finances of the American people.
Then bring in the lies and division. Masks don’t work. Masks work. Everyone must wear a mask. Maybe you should wear two masks. If you don’t wear masks you hate old people. Repeat with the word “vaccine” instead of “mask.” Now, America is firmly split and instead of being a public health issue, it’s a political issue. Anyway. That’s not the point of this article. We all know what happened and most of us have less faith in government than ever before.
Viruses mutate.
In fact, there’s a new variant to the Covid virus in the news right now called Omicron.
But before we get too deeply into this variant, let’s remember another “terrifying” variant, Super Covid. Do you remember that? It was going to be the death of us all. The word “mutation” was bandied around the news like the virus had suddenly grown into the size of a German Shepherd and rose to walk around on two legs to get us.
But viruses mutate.
Keep in mind I am not a virologist or a medical professional. And neither are the politicians taking advantage of this crisis, the folks pimping Big Pharma drugs, or the journalists writing breathless headlines. I’m just another writer out there reading stuff and trying to figure this out, the same as everyone else…
“Mutation” is a scary word. It brings to mind every sci-fi nightmare brought to life on the big screen of some lab-born creature that gets totally out of control. It makes you think of rats so big you could saddle them and ride them. Crazy, terrifying stuff.
But viruses mutate. It’s the nature of a virus.
To survive: unlike plants, animals and other organisms, the only way a virus can reproduce is through a host cell, which it does by attaching its surface proteins to the cell’s membrane and injecting its genetic material into the cell. This genetic material, either DNA or RNA, then carries with it the instructions to the cell’s machinery to make more viruses. These new viruses then leave the cell and spread to other parts of the host organism.
But host organisms are not passive observers to this process, and over time a human’s or pig’s immune system can learn from these encounters and develop strategies to prevent reinfection.
The next time the same virus comes to a host cell, it may find that it is no longer able to attach to the cell’s surface membrane. So to survive, viruses must adapt or evolve, changing its surface proteins enough to trick the host cell into allowing it to attach. (source)
So while the headlines are scary – and meant to be – it’s perfectly natural that this virus has changed. (source)
A mutation isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A virus doesn’t want to rapidly kill its host because then the virus dies too. The evolution of a virus can have many different results – it can change the symptoms, it can make it more contagious, it can make it more deadly, or it can make it milder in order to affect more hosts. Just the fact that the virus mutated is not a death knell.
It’s normal.
And along came Omicron.
Just as people were beginning to stand up and fight back, to file suits, to take back control of their lives, finances, and businesses, along came a mutation from South Africa called Omicron, the one destined to scare us all back into submission.
The news right now is all about the Omicron variant of Covid. I hate to say it, but *yawn*. It’s “the worst” and “most deadly” and “most contagious” variant ever. Oh, and it’s “probably vaccine-resistant,” too.
Unfortunately for the media, Fauci, and those benefitting from lockdowns and vaccines, the scientist who identified the Omicron variant said, in fact, that it’s “extremely mild.”
Contrary to the panicmongering unleashed by western mainstream median, Barry Schoub, chairman of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccines, told Sky News on Sunday that while South Africa, which first identified the new variant, currently has 3,220 people with the coronavirus infection overall and while the variant does appear to be spreading rapidly, there’s been no real uptick in hospitalizations
“The cases that have occurred so far have all been mild cases, mild-to-moderate cases, and that’s a good sign,” said Schoub, adding that it was still early days and nothing was certain yet.
Most importantly, and running counter to the fearmongering narrative being pumped out 24/7 by the mainstream media, Schoub said that the large number of mutations found in the omicron variant appears to destabilize the virus, which might make it less “fit” than the dominant delta strain. (source)
Well, that’s certainly inconvenient.
Governments are losing all that delicious control they’ve grown so fond of, and they don’t like it. So watch what you actually see and pay less attention to the breathless news reports on this one. I’m very skeptical about it. And, remember, I am not a “Covid doesn’t exist person.” I’ve had it and it sucked. But this? I am thoroughly unconvinced that this is going to be the one that gets us all unless we roll up our sleeves yet again for the latest and greatest from Pfizer and friends.
Now, I could be wrong. This could end up being the most serious thing since smallpox or the Black Plague. I’m not suggesting you completely ignore it. Be watchful and if you think things look bad, take the appropriate steps – you’re a prepper, after all. But the information I have currently doesn’t indicate that this is the threat it’s being portrayed as in the media.
We’ll just have to see what happens.
Oh, and about the name “Omicron”
Incidentally, the World Health Organization skipped around some letters of the Greek alphabet to come up with Omicron.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has explained why it skipped the Greek letters “nu” and “xi” in naming the new COVID-19 variant Omicron.
“Two letters were skipped—Nu and Xi—because Nu is too easily confounded with ‘new’ and Xi was not used because it is a common surname and [the] WHO best practices for naming new diseases … suggest avoiding ‘causing offence to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional, or ethnic groups,’” the United Nations agency told The Epoch Times in a statement on Nov. 27.
Professor Jonathan Turley, a criminal attorney and professor at George Washington University, speculated that the WHO “is again avoiding any discomfort for the Chinese government” in skipping the “Xi” letter and naming it Omicron.
“The new variant was expected to be Nu but any additional variant would then be Xi, which happens to be the name of the Chinese leader,” he wrote on Twitter. (source)
Can we all just give it a rest and admit that China owns the WHO and get on with our pandemic, please?
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Natural Immunity is Robust, Complete, and Durable 5:23 min
Natural Immunity is Robust, Complete, and Durable
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Published December 1, 2021
Rumble — No severe second infections have been confirmed, Dr. McCullough tells Laura Ingraham on November 30, 2021
Natural Immunity is Robust, Complete, and Durable
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Published December 1, 2021
Rumble — No severe second infections have been confirmed, Dr. McCullough tells Laura Ingraham on November 30, 2021
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On TB every waking moment
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Covid-19 'Vaccine' Mandates Fail the Jacobson Test
Editor’s Note: This article takes a light approach to the efficacy of the Covid vaccines. We generally take a very harsh approach as it seems clear the “vaccines” do not work. With that said, the legal analysis below is definitely worth reading even if the authors do not explicitly pan the...
basedunderground.com
Covid-19 ‘Vaccine’ Mandates Fail the Jacobson Test
by Harvey Risch and Gerard Bradley
November 30, 2021
Editor’s Note: This article takes a light approach to the efficacy of the Covid vaccines. We generally take a very harsh approach as it seems clear the “vaccines” do not work. With that said, the legal analysis below is definitely worth reading even if the authors do not explicitly pan the vaccines themselves. Their case against the mandates is rock solid. Please share widely.
Americans are a freedom-loving lot. It is our founding ethos and we have defended it across the world on numerous occasions. At the same time, we have a strong tradition of social altruism and dedication to the common good, especially in times of crisis.
Now that the Covid-19 pandemic has been with us for close to two years and vaccines for almost one, we have learned that the vaccines work to a degree and that they have both known serious risks and theorized potential risks.
Over the last few months, Americans have been increasingly facing demands that they be vaccinated or revaccinated—from governments, schools, employers, shopkeepers, even relatives.
These demands include legally enforceable “mandates” that coerce Americans to choose between compliance with vaccination demands and their livelihoods, attending school, travel, and partaking in manifold occasions of civic and religious celebration. Some Americans feel that these demands are appropriate, whereas others see them as classic examples of government overreach—as infringements of their constitutional and natural rights.
We are facing, in other words, questions about how best to integrate our perennial commitment to freedom with our equally long-standing concern for public health, in this time of crisis.
Anti-mandate contentions based on rights-claims pure and simple do not engage the most important issues presented by government vaccine mandates. Nor do they deal with the tension between freedom and civic responsibility. Based on the scientific knowledge and medical experience acquired over the last two years, it is time for a significant reconsideration of how best to integrate freedom with the genuine requirements of public health in service of the common good.
During the pandemic, the courts have rightly relied upon a century-old precedent of the Supreme Court in mandate cases, but they have gravely misunderstood and misapplied that precedent to uphold draconian and unjustified Covid-19 vaccine mandates.
Much that we have to say about these courts was presaged by three U.S. Supreme Court Justices on October 29, 2021. Arguing (unsuccessfully; they were in the minority) that the high Court should take up the case of a mandate challenge from Maine, Justices Gorsuch, Thomas, and Alito maintained that, although eleven months earlier the Court said that “stemming the spread of Covid-19” qualified as a “compelling interest,” “this interest cannot qualify as such forever.”
Why not? Precisely because (these Justices wrote) there are now three “widely distributed vaccines.” Eleven months earlier there were none. “At that time, the country had comparably few treatments for those suffering with the disease. Today we have additional treatments and more appear near.”
We would add especially that it has now become obvious that “eliminationist” strategies, in which the overriding public health goal is zero infections, are neither possible nor constructive.
We must learn to live with Covid-19 as we have learned to live with other ineradicable, perennial airborne respiratory germs, such as those which cause the common cold and the flu.
Justices Gorsuch, Thomas and Alito wrote: “If human nature and history teach us anything, it is that civil liberties face grave risks when governments proclaim indefinite states of emergency.”
They said: “At some great height, after all, almost any state action might be said to touch on ‘… public health and safety’…and measuring a highly particularized and individual interest“ in the exercise of a civil right “’directly against these rarified values inevitably makes the individual interest appear less significant’.”
It is time to bring our legal thinking about Covid-19 vaccine mandates down to earth.
At times of national emergency, government’s overriding goal must be to protect the population while removing the cause of the state of emergency. This means that certain laws, regulations, and policies may be temporarily suspended to accomplish these tasks. For example, if the army needs your car to transport soldiers to the front line, so be it. In particular, during the 1902 smallpox epidemic, the U.S. Supreme Court in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905) ruled that the State of Massachusetts could compel residents to obtain free vaccination or revaccination against the infection, or suffer a penalty of $5 (about $150 today) for noncompliance.
In authoring the majority opinion in Jacobson, Justice John Marshall Harlan argued (1) that individual liberty does not allow people to act regardless of harm that could be caused to others; (2) that the vaccination mandate was not shown to be arbitrary or oppressive; (3) that vaccination was reasonably required for public safety; and (4) that the defendant’s view that the smallpox vaccine was not safe or effective constituted a tiny minority medical opinion.
By 1905, smallpox vaccination had been in common use for almost a century, and populations, legislatures and courts had been essentially unanimous in accepting it as appropriate and effective to prevent smallpox both in individuals and in outbreaks. In the Cleveland smallpox epidemic of 1902-4, there were 1,394 recorded cases and 252 deaths, a case fatality risk of 18%; thus a clear public safety rationale for preventing the infection.
The Court in Jacobson used a host of expressions to describe its four-part scrutiny of the Cambridge, Massachusetts vaccine mandate in that case. Among these expressions are: whether the requirement was “arbitrary and not justified by the necessity of the case”; whether the mandate went “far beyond what was reasonable required for the safety of public”; whether it was a ”reasonable regulation, as the safety of the general public may demand;” and whether it has a “real and substantial relation” to the public health.
The Jacobson Court never said that it used a “rational basis” test; indeed, that lowest-level of judicial scrutiny was not then a term of art that courts used. And that test surely does not describe in substance what the Court in 1905 did.
Courts during the Covid-19 pandemic have nonetheless regularly applied “rational basis” review to vaccine mandates, citing Jacobson as authority for doing so! To cite just one of several possible examples, Judge Frank Easterbrook, writing for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in throwing out a lawsuit by Indiana University students against that institution’s vaccine mandate, said: “[g]iven Jacobson v. Massachusetts,… there can’t be a constitutional problem with vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.”
The main reason for that conclusion was his claim that the Jacobson court used the weakest standard of judicial analysis of government action. Easterbrook invoked the “rational-basis standard used in Jacobson.” But the Jacobson Court carefully scrutinized the medico-scientific understanding of the smallpox epidemic and the vaccines then in use, much more so than has occurred in Covid-19 vaccine mandate litigation today.
The Supreme Court in Jacobson repeatedly invoked the “common good” of the polity as the principle of sound constitutional thinking about the public health emergency of the day. Just so—then and now. The Court did not, however, equate the “common good” with a reflexive preference for some collective interest over each person’s rights, or with automatic deference to the latest asserted findings of “the science.”
Likewise, it is imperative that courts today follow Jacobson and critically examine and weigh the asserted scientific bases for vaccine mandates. Over the last year, much of the public discourse about vaccines, their efficacy and their hazards of adverse reactions has revolved around statements made by the CDC, FDA and other governmental agencies and personnel. These agencies are tasked with studying, reporting on and approving drugs, medical devices, and vaccines in the context of various diseases and conditions, including population outbreaks in the US and elsewhere in the world.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become evident that these agencies have not uniformly reflected objective verifiable science but have had repeated instances of numerous conflicts of interest in review panel members having explicit or hidden ties to pharma and vaccine companies. These problems and other apparently illogical or contradictory public statements made by these government agencies have eroded public trust in the agencies substantially.
In this context, for the government to assert that its constitutional obligations (as described in Jacobson, for example) are satisfied only “because a government agency says so” would be self-serving and wholly inadequate. Such reasoning would not satisfy the burden of proof; rather, the government would need to demonstrate the relevant, full, non-cherry-picked scientific evidence to make the case.
Now let’s consider the four criteria upon which Jacobson relied in deciding that the smallpox vaccine mandate in 1905 passed constitutional muster, and use them to evaluate today’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates.
(1) Individual liberty does not allow people to act regardless of harm that could be caused to others. Of course. But this criterion as stated is vague in the range of its possible implications.
For example, people are naturally professionally and economically competitive. One person succeeds at another’s failure. Such harms can be serious, but this cannot possibly be a type of harm envisioned by Justice Harlan.
What seems apparent is that this criterion is addressing the compelling interest in limiting people from acting to spread the infection. In Constitutional law a “compelling interest” is a necessary or crucial action rather than a preferential one; for example, saving the lives of large numbers of people at risk.
In fact, the federal government has already set a de facto threshold for this level. Annually, approximately 500,000 Americans die from tobacco-related diseases. Yet, the federal government has never acted to curtail tobacco use in any meaningful way. This implies that 500,000 deaths per year is not large enough to trigger a compelling government interest.
At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, which classes of people would be at high mortality risk from the infection was uncertain. After six months, it was well-established that there is a huge Covid-19 mortality difference between people over age 70 and people under age 30.
Thus, it seems that any truly “compelling” interest can only apply to high-risk individuals, who are definable and comprise a small minority of the general population. Furthermore, the lives of such individuals can often be protected by known existing and available pharmacologic and monoclonal antibody interventions (see criterion (3) below), which means that there may be a less-than-compelling interest for universal vaccination even among them.
Finally, the required government interest is required to be shown to support a vaccine mandate, not the free availability of vaccines. Since most individuals at high risk of bad Covid-19 outcomes presumably would rationally choose to obtain vaccinations, the additional numbers of saved lives attributable to the mandate, over and above the lives saved under general vaccine availability in the same population, is very likely not large enough to satisfy the large numbers needed to show that an indiscriminate mandate serves a “compelling” interest in public health.
Additionally, we know now, and both Drs. Anthony Fauci and Rochelle Walensky have stated publicly, that fully vaccinated individuals can become infected and transmit the virus to others.
A number of such outbreaks have occurred in diverse locales. Thus, there is no apparent compelling interest in mandating vaccination for low-risk individuals specifically in an attempt to reduce infection transmission to high-risk people—just as there is no compelling interest in mandating vaccination to reduce infection transmission to low-risk people.
Just to be clear, government compelling interest inheres in prevention of serious outcomes such as hospitalization and mortality. But we assert that that there is no such compelling interest in Covid-19 case occurrence. The overwhelming majority of cases recover. Prevention of Covid-19 cases is at most a desirable policy goal and not a compelling interest.
As has become increasingly apparent, natural immunity following Covid-19 infection is stronger in repelling subsequent viral outbreaks than vaccine-based immunity. (Thus, prevention of Covid-19 case occurrence per se is actually counterproductive in ending the pandemic.) While the Supreme Court has opined that “temming the spread of Covid-19 is unquestionably a compelling interest” in Roman Catholic Diocese v. Cuomo, that decision was rendered early in the pandemic, before the long-term weakness of vaccine-based immunity was understood.
With what is known now, reasoning about compelling Interest for vaccine mandates no longer applies.
Part 1 of 2
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Part 2 of 2
(2) The vaccination mandate is not shown to be arbitrary or oppressive. Covid-19 vaccine mandates imposed by the federal government and some state governments require vaccination by all adults except those requesting medical exemptions or religious exemptions. Criteria promulgated by the CDC for medical exemptions however are extremely limited, essentially involving only severe life-threatening allergic reactions as demonstrated from taking the first vaccination of the two-dose mRNA series. Religious exemption requests appear to have met variously capricious responses by vaccine mandate reviewers, and some states have prohibited religious exemptions altogether, in violation of (as Justices Gorsuch, Thomas, and Alito argued and as we would maintain) constitutional guarantees of religious liberty.
The one quite irrational consideration of all vaccination mandates to date is that the mandates ignore people who have had Covid-19 and thus have natural immunity. There are now more than 130 studies demonstrating the strength, durability and wide spectrum of natural immunity particularly versus vaccine immunity.
Whether people with natural immunity would have even stronger immunity if they also undergo vaccination is irrelevant, because their natural immunity is more than sufficient and long-lasting to satisfy the goal of vaccine mandates.
Some arguments have been put forward asserting that antibody levels may be higher in vaccinated people than people recovered from Covid-19, but antibody levels per se do not translate into degree of immunity. Antibody levels in vaccinated people decline appreciably starting at four months post-vaccination, whereas antibody levels in Covid-19 recovered stay roughly constant during those months. Other assertions have been that asymptomatic or mild Covid-19 infections may not produce strong natural immunity; however, these claims have been shown to be scientifically unfounded. Empirical population studies on reinfection/breakthrough infection demonstrate that natural immunity is as strong or stronger than vaccine immunity.
Finally, natural immunity can be documented by having ever had a positive Covid-19 PCR, antibody or T cell test, regardless of current status of those tests.
Similarly, Covid-19 vaccine mandates for children are unwarranted because children almost entirely get infected from their parents or other adults in the household, and infrequently transmit the infection to their classmates, teachers or uninfected household adults.
Normal healthy children do not die from Covid-19, and the 33 children aged 5-11 years estimated by the CDC to have died from Covid-19 between October 3, 2020 and October 2, 2021 all had chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, being immunocompromised (e.g., after cancer treatment) that put them at high risk, and even these numbers are much lower than childhood deaths from traffic and pedestrian accidents, or even being hit by lightning. Covid-19 in children is almost entirely an asymptomatic or mild disease typified by fever and tiredness and resolves on its own in 2-3 days of rest. Thus, vaccine mandates for children are unwarranted.
In sum, a policy requiring vaccination of people who are either already immune or of no consequence either for their own health or for spreading the infection is arbitrary. It is oppressive in inflicting a medical procedure on people who do not need it for themselves or for others. Such a policy would even fail the “rational basis” test which so many courts have applied perfunctorily.
(3) Vaccination is reasonably required for public safety. Vaccination in theory prevents personal infection and disease, as well as transmission of infection to others. The government’s interest is almost entirely in the latter. We now know that the Covid-19 vaccines in the real world don’t prevent transmission all that well.
Further, public safety is enhanced by use of medications for early outpatient treatment that safely allow increase in population natural immunity. An extensive body of studies has accumulated over the last 18 months showing that various approved but off-label medications dramatically reduce risks of Covid-19 hospitalization and mortality when started in ambulatory patients within the first five days or so of symptom onset.
Meta-analyses of hospitalization and mortality risks calculated by the first author are shown in the figures on the next page for two drugs, hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. Additional thorough discussion of standards of evidence of randomized and nonrandomized drug trials, as well as on a number of small trials that failed in the adequacy of their study designs and executions, is posted here. These analyses show that numerous drugs and monoclonal antibodies are available to treat ambulatory patients with Covid-19 successfully, making vaccination a choice for dealing with the pandemic, but not a necessity.
As stated earlier, sole reliance on FDA or CDC opinions on these medications, without demonstration of full, objective, and unbiased data underlying those opinions, would be inadequate for standards of proof. The evidence however is overwhelming that treatment recipes used by doctors actually treating Covid-19 outpatients work very well and thus provide alternatives to vaccination for preventing hospitalization and mortality.
(4) The vaccine has a long popular, medical, and legal history of being regarded as safe and effective. This criterion decisively distinguishes Jacobson and the smallpox vaccine mandate from what is happening today. Jacobson did not accept dissenting testimony about vaccine safety or efficacy because the vaccine at that time had been a staple in society for almost 100 years.
The genetic Covid-19 vaccines have no such information, have every indication that they are orders of magnitude more harmful, and even the FDA still classifies all three in use in the US as experimental, which means that their EUA designations have only required showing that they may convey some benefit and need not be harm-free, i.e., have not been established as safe and effective, let alone known as such for decades or longer.
Jacobson established criteria of Safety and Efficacy that must be shown beyond all doubt, that embody the provably safe and effective use of the vaccine for decades. The Covid-19 vaccines come nowhere near close to that standard.
The mandatory smallpox vaccine of 1902-4 had been in use for nearly a century and a gigantic amount of information was available and known about its short- and long-term safety and efficacy, and it was widely accepted across all segments of society based on that body of information.
In contrast, the Covid-19 genetic vaccines included in the proposed federal mandate have essentially zero long-term history and the slimmest of information about safety and efficacy.
According to the VAERS database, to date some 19,000 deaths have been associated with the Covid-19 vaccines, of which more than one-third occurred within three days of vaccination. In this one year of Covid-19 vaccination, this number is more than double the number of deaths from all other vaccines over more than 30 years combined in the VAERS data. It is also more than 150 times the mortality risk of smallpox vaccination, 0.8 per million vaccines (Aragón et al., 2003).
The VAERS database also identifies more than 200,000 serious or life-threatening non-death events to date, and this number is almost certainly at least 10-fold undercounted because of the work, difficulty, impediments and lack of general knowledge involved in filing adverse event reports in the VAERS system. Many of these adverse events portend lifelong serious disabilities.
But two million serious or life-threatening events is well more than the damage that would have been caused by even untreated Covid-19 occurrence in the same 200 million vaccinated Americans, especially given that two-thirds of them have strong natural immunity from having had asymptomatic or symptomatic Covid-19.
These numbers indicate that these severe events caused by the vaccines very likely outnumber serious Covid-19 outcomes that would have occurred in the same individuals had they not been vaccinated. As well, those numbers would be dramatically lower with general availability of the suppressed but effective treatment medications for early ambulatory patient use.
With regard to efficacy, the three US Covid-19 vaccines showed great promise in their original randomized trials results. However, as these vaccines have been rolled out in hundreds of millions of doses to the general public in the “real world,” their performance has differed from what was originally described.
Over time, vaccine efficacies in reducing risks of Covid-19 infection and mortality have declined appreciably, over 4-6 months for infection and 6-8 months for mortality. Many jurisdictions have begun to consider requirements for periodic booster doses, which is a frank admission that the touted original vaccination programs have not been sufficiently effective.
At a population level, large-scale vaccination rollout has reduced waves of infection. Over time though, as the vaccines have lost effectiveness, the waves have begun to recur. This has been seen dramatically in the U.K. and Netherlands over the last five months. In an analysis of Covid-19 case data from 68 countries and 2,947 U.S. counties, it was observed that the magnitude of case occurrence is unrelated to the level of population vaccination (Subramanian and Kumar, 2021).
Thus, if vaccination were to be the only method of combating the pandemic, it appears that vaccinations repeated indefinitely at 6-month intervals would be required, and even that may not be all that successful in reducing spread substantially. There are no vaccination programs for other general diseases in the US that require such a high frequency of compliance. Even influenza, which has a substantial annual mortality, has an annual revaccination frequency, is only perhaps 50% effective over the flu season, is not mandated.
The Jacobson case set a model of how the U.S. government and its subdivisions would be empowered to protect the public while at the same time minimizing limitations of activities and infringements of rights. Further, it relied solely on a moderate economic penalty for noncompliance. The smallpox pandemic in 1902-4 had an estimated case fatality risk of 18%, whereas the case fatality risk of Covid-19 is less than 1%. This massive difference should have given hesitancy to the draconian purported control measures that have been instituted across the country.
A careful reading of Jacobson shows that it is not just an automatic consideration allowing the government to do what it wants when a pandemic emergency has been officially declared. In a pandemic, courts look to Jacobson for precedent as an apparent direct fit, but even so must evaluate the evidence for satisfying all of the Jacobson criteria. As we have shown, Covid-19 vaccine mandates do not satisfy any of the required criteria in Jacobson, let alone all of them.
The question to be addressed then is why a pandemic infection with approximately 1/20th the natural mortality risk of the previous smallpox pandemic would be subject to the grievous penalties of loss of employment, loss of medical care, loss of necessary activities of daily life, and mandate of vaccines that unlike in the previous pandemic have no long-term safety data.
Given that none of the Jacobson criteria have been met, the infringements and demands of the government and its public health agencies have not been justified according to law. This is the argument that must be made as to why the proposed vaccine mandate is an unwarranted overreach inconsistent with established public health policy and law.
About Harvey Risch
Harvey Risch is Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Risch received his MD degree from the University of California San Diego and PhD from the University of Chicago. After serving as a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology at the University of Washington, Dr. Risch was a faculty member in epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Toronto before coming to Yale.
About Gerard Bradley
Gerard V. Bradley is professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, where he teaches Legal Ethics and Constitutional Law. At Notre Dame he directs (with John Finnis) the Natural Law Institute and co-edits The American Journal of Jurisprudence, an international forum for legal philosophy. Bradley has been a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, and a senior fellow of the Witherspoon Institute, in Princeton, N.J. He served for many years as president of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.
(2) The vaccination mandate is not shown to be arbitrary or oppressive. Covid-19 vaccine mandates imposed by the federal government and some state governments require vaccination by all adults except those requesting medical exemptions or religious exemptions. Criteria promulgated by the CDC for medical exemptions however are extremely limited, essentially involving only severe life-threatening allergic reactions as demonstrated from taking the first vaccination of the two-dose mRNA series. Religious exemption requests appear to have met variously capricious responses by vaccine mandate reviewers, and some states have prohibited religious exemptions altogether, in violation of (as Justices Gorsuch, Thomas, and Alito argued and as we would maintain) constitutional guarantees of religious liberty.
The one quite irrational consideration of all vaccination mandates to date is that the mandates ignore people who have had Covid-19 and thus have natural immunity. There are now more than 130 studies demonstrating the strength, durability and wide spectrum of natural immunity particularly versus vaccine immunity.
Whether people with natural immunity would have even stronger immunity if they also undergo vaccination is irrelevant, because their natural immunity is more than sufficient and long-lasting to satisfy the goal of vaccine mandates.
Some arguments have been put forward asserting that antibody levels may be higher in vaccinated people than people recovered from Covid-19, but antibody levels per se do not translate into degree of immunity. Antibody levels in vaccinated people decline appreciably starting at four months post-vaccination, whereas antibody levels in Covid-19 recovered stay roughly constant during those months. Other assertions have been that asymptomatic or mild Covid-19 infections may not produce strong natural immunity; however, these claims have been shown to be scientifically unfounded. Empirical population studies on reinfection/breakthrough infection demonstrate that natural immunity is as strong or stronger than vaccine immunity.
Finally, natural immunity can be documented by having ever had a positive Covid-19 PCR, antibody or T cell test, regardless of current status of those tests.
Similarly, Covid-19 vaccine mandates for children are unwarranted because children almost entirely get infected from their parents or other adults in the household, and infrequently transmit the infection to their classmates, teachers or uninfected household adults.
Normal healthy children do not die from Covid-19, and the 33 children aged 5-11 years estimated by the CDC to have died from Covid-19 between October 3, 2020 and October 2, 2021 all had chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, being immunocompromised (e.g., after cancer treatment) that put them at high risk, and even these numbers are much lower than childhood deaths from traffic and pedestrian accidents, or even being hit by lightning. Covid-19 in children is almost entirely an asymptomatic or mild disease typified by fever and tiredness and resolves on its own in 2-3 days of rest. Thus, vaccine mandates for children are unwarranted.
In sum, a policy requiring vaccination of people who are either already immune or of no consequence either for their own health or for spreading the infection is arbitrary. It is oppressive in inflicting a medical procedure on people who do not need it for themselves or for others. Such a policy would even fail the “rational basis” test which so many courts have applied perfunctorily.
(3) Vaccination is reasonably required for public safety. Vaccination in theory prevents personal infection and disease, as well as transmission of infection to others. The government’s interest is almost entirely in the latter. We now know that the Covid-19 vaccines in the real world don’t prevent transmission all that well.
Further, public safety is enhanced by use of medications for early outpatient treatment that safely allow increase in population natural immunity. An extensive body of studies has accumulated over the last 18 months showing that various approved but off-label medications dramatically reduce risks of Covid-19 hospitalization and mortality when started in ambulatory patients within the first five days or so of symptom onset.
Meta-analyses of hospitalization and mortality risks calculated by the first author are shown in the figures on the next page for two drugs, hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. Additional thorough discussion of standards of evidence of randomized and nonrandomized drug trials, as well as on a number of small trials that failed in the adequacy of their study designs and executions, is posted here. These analyses show that numerous drugs and monoclonal antibodies are available to treat ambulatory patients with Covid-19 successfully, making vaccination a choice for dealing with the pandemic, but not a necessity.
As stated earlier, sole reliance on FDA or CDC opinions on these medications, without demonstration of full, objective, and unbiased data underlying those opinions, would be inadequate for standards of proof. The evidence however is overwhelming that treatment recipes used by doctors actually treating Covid-19 outpatients work very well and thus provide alternatives to vaccination for preventing hospitalization and mortality.
(4) The vaccine has a long popular, medical, and legal history of being regarded as safe and effective. This criterion decisively distinguishes Jacobson and the smallpox vaccine mandate from what is happening today. Jacobson did not accept dissenting testimony about vaccine safety or efficacy because the vaccine at that time had been a staple in society for almost 100 years.
The genetic Covid-19 vaccines have no such information, have every indication that they are orders of magnitude more harmful, and even the FDA still classifies all three in use in the US as experimental, which means that their EUA designations have only required showing that they may convey some benefit and need not be harm-free, i.e., have not been established as safe and effective, let alone known as such for decades or longer.
Jacobson established criteria of Safety and Efficacy that must be shown beyond all doubt, that embody the provably safe and effective use of the vaccine for decades. The Covid-19 vaccines come nowhere near close to that standard.
The mandatory smallpox vaccine of 1902-4 had been in use for nearly a century and a gigantic amount of information was available and known about its short- and long-term safety and efficacy, and it was widely accepted across all segments of society based on that body of information.
In contrast, the Covid-19 genetic vaccines included in the proposed federal mandate have essentially zero long-term history and the slimmest of information about safety and efficacy.
According to the VAERS database, to date some 19,000 deaths have been associated with the Covid-19 vaccines, of which more than one-third occurred within three days of vaccination. In this one year of Covid-19 vaccination, this number is more than double the number of deaths from all other vaccines over more than 30 years combined in the VAERS data. It is also more than 150 times the mortality risk of smallpox vaccination, 0.8 per million vaccines (Aragón et al., 2003).
The VAERS database also identifies more than 200,000 serious or life-threatening non-death events to date, and this number is almost certainly at least 10-fold undercounted because of the work, difficulty, impediments and lack of general knowledge involved in filing adverse event reports in the VAERS system. Many of these adverse events portend lifelong serious disabilities.
But two million serious or life-threatening events is well more than the damage that would have been caused by even untreated Covid-19 occurrence in the same 200 million vaccinated Americans, especially given that two-thirds of them have strong natural immunity from having had asymptomatic or symptomatic Covid-19.
These numbers indicate that these severe events caused by the vaccines very likely outnumber serious Covid-19 outcomes that would have occurred in the same individuals had they not been vaccinated. As well, those numbers would be dramatically lower with general availability of the suppressed but effective treatment medications for early ambulatory patient use.
With regard to efficacy, the three US Covid-19 vaccines showed great promise in their original randomized trials results. However, as these vaccines have been rolled out in hundreds of millions of doses to the general public in the “real world,” their performance has differed from what was originally described.
Over time, vaccine efficacies in reducing risks of Covid-19 infection and mortality have declined appreciably, over 4-6 months for infection and 6-8 months for mortality. Many jurisdictions have begun to consider requirements for periodic booster doses, which is a frank admission that the touted original vaccination programs have not been sufficiently effective.
At a population level, large-scale vaccination rollout has reduced waves of infection. Over time though, as the vaccines have lost effectiveness, the waves have begun to recur. This has been seen dramatically in the U.K. and Netherlands over the last five months. In an analysis of Covid-19 case data from 68 countries and 2,947 U.S. counties, it was observed that the magnitude of case occurrence is unrelated to the level of population vaccination (Subramanian and Kumar, 2021).
Thus, if vaccination were to be the only method of combating the pandemic, it appears that vaccinations repeated indefinitely at 6-month intervals would be required, and even that may not be all that successful in reducing spread substantially. There are no vaccination programs for other general diseases in the US that require such a high frequency of compliance. Even influenza, which has a substantial annual mortality, has an annual revaccination frequency, is only perhaps 50% effective over the flu season, is not mandated.
The Jacobson case set a model of how the U.S. government and its subdivisions would be empowered to protect the public while at the same time minimizing limitations of activities and infringements of rights. Further, it relied solely on a moderate economic penalty for noncompliance. The smallpox pandemic in 1902-4 had an estimated case fatality risk of 18%, whereas the case fatality risk of Covid-19 is less than 1%. This massive difference should have given hesitancy to the draconian purported control measures that have been instituted across the country.
A careful reading of Jacobson shows that it is not just an automatic consideration allowing the government to do what it wants when a pandemic emergency has been officially declared. In a pandemic, courts look to Jacobson for precedent as an apparent direct fit, but even so must evaluate the evidence for satisfying all of the Jacobson criteria. As we have shown, Covid-19 vaccine mandates do not satisfy any of the required criteria in Jacobson, let alone all of them.
The question to be addressed then is why a pandemic infection with approximately 1/20th the natural mortality risk of the previous smallpox pandemic would be subject to the grievous penalties of loss of employment, loss of medical care, loss of necessary activities of daily life, and mandate of vaccines that unlike in the previous pandemic have no long-term safety data.
Given that none of the Jacobson criteria have been met, the infringements and demands of the government and its public health agencies have not been justified according to law. This is the argument that must be made as to why the proposed vaccine mandate is an unwarranted overreach inconsistent with established public health policy and law.
About Harvey Risch
Harvey Risch is Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Risch received his MD degree from the University of California San Diego and PhD from the University of Chicago. After serving as a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology at the University of Washington, Dr. Risch was a faculty member in epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Toronto before coming to Yale.
About Gerard Bradley
Gerard V. Bradley is professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, where he teaches Legal Ethics and Constitutional Law. At Notre Dame he directs (with John Finnis) the Natural Law Institute and co-edits The American Journal of Jurisprudence, an international forum for legal philosophy. Bradley has been a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, and a senior fellow of the Witherspoon Institute, in Princeton, N.J. He served for many years as president of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.
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On TB every waking moment
Pancreatic Injury after COVID-19 Vaccine—A Case Report
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 3 million deaths worldwide. Recently developed genetically engineered vaccines are the most critical solution for controlling the pandemic. Clinical trials on a large number of participants confirmed their safety ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Vaccines (Basel). 2021 Jun; 9(6): 576.
Published online 2021 Jun 1. doi: 10.3390/vaccines9060576
PMCID: PMC8228266
PMID: 34205898
Pancreatic Injury after COVID-19 Vaccine—A Case Report
Artur Cieślewicz,1,* Magdalena Dudek,2 Iwona Krela-Kaźmierczak,3 Anna Jabłecka,1 Maciej Lesiak,2 and Katarzyna Korzeniowska1
Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Academic Editor
Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer
Associated Data
Data Availability Statement
Go to:
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 3 million deaths worldwide. Recently developed genetically engineered vaccines are the most critical solution for controlling the pandemic.
Clinical trials on a large number of participants confirmed their safety and efficacy. However, with the growing number of vaccinated people, new infrequent adverse effects have been reported, not described in the medicinal product characteristics. We would like to report a case of acute pancreatic injury that occurred shortly after administering Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (Comirnaty). The report points out the potential need for close monitoring of patients reporting abdominal pain after vaccination (unresponsive to standard oral painkillers) because such symptom can be associated with acute pancreatitis.
Keywords: pancreatitis, pancreatic injury, COVID-19, coronavirus vaccine, Comirnaty, COVID-19 mRNA vaccine
Go to:
1. Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has already caused more than 3 million deaths worldwide [1]. An essential method for controlling the pandemic has recently been provided by vaccines—modern genetically engineered preparations designed to trigger the immune response to coronavirus antigen. A few such vaccines have been registered by the FDA and EMA [2,3,4,5]. Their safety and efficacy were assessed on large groups of participants (the combined number of recruits was >130,000). The most common adverse effects were similar in all preparations and included pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, myalgia, arthralgia, pyrexia and nausea [2,3,4,5]. With the growing number of vaccinated people, more and more adverse effects are being reported, including adverse events not described in medicinal product characteristics. The report we would like to present describes a very rare case of pancreatic injury and suspected acute pancreatitis that occurred shortly after administering the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (Comirnaty) to a young and healthy patient.
Go to:
2. Case
The patient, an MD and a healthcare worker, is a 29-year-old female Caucasian with no history of pancreatitis, concomitant diseases and allergic reactions to drugs or vaccines. She is a healthy woman, breastfeeding mother who did not consume alcohol or drugs. On 8 January 2021, she was administered the first dose of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. A few minutes after receiving the vaccine, she reported severe pain at the injection site, radiating to her left hand and neck.
Twelve hours after vaccination, the patient experienced muscle pain, headache, chills and general weakness, which lasted for about 3 h. Twenty hours after vaccination, she woke up in the night because of severe abdominal pain. Despite taking paracetamol (2 × 500 mg, orally), the pain level increased over the next hours and became radiating to the spine. Twenty-eight hours after vaccination, the patient still suffered from severe pain in the upper abdomen, unresponsive to standard oral painkillers. Moreover, fever up to 40 °C occurred. The timeline of adverse effects is presented in Figure 1.
Open in a separate window
Figure 1
Adverse effects observed after administration of COVID-19 vaccine.
The patient went to the hospital, suspecting pancreatitis. Laboratory analyses were carried out the next day after vaccination. Blood morphology was normal (Table 1), except for minor disturbances in neutrophil and lymphocyte percentage, slightly increased mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and increased platelet anisocytosis (PDW). Biochemical analysis revealed significantly increased CRP and urine amylase (Table 2). Nasopharyngeal swab for RT-PCR COVID-19 testing taken in Emergency Room was negative. Abdominal ultrasonography was performed, resulting in hyperechoic lesion in the right lobe of the liver, gallbladder not enlarged with normal wall, intrahepatic bile ducts not dilated, pancreas clearly visible in the head and body area not enlarged, homogeneous, without calcification, pancreatic tail obscured by intestinal gases difficult to assess, kidneys of normal and comparable size, without signs of stagnation and calcified deposits, unexpanded spleen. Magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen was performed and revealed no significant changes, suggesting mild pancreatic injury.
Table 1
(continued on website)
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On TB every waking moment
(French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe)
www.zerohedge.com
France Deploys Military Police To Caribbean Islands Amid Unrest Over Vaccine Mandate
WEDNESDAY, DEC 01, 2021 - 07:10 PM
Authored by Isabel van Brugen via The Epoch Times,
The French government has deployed military police to the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe amid intensifying protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic related restrictions.
Following several weeks of unrest and violent protests over COVID-19 measures—including a vaccine mandate for health care workers—police reinforcements were sent to the French Caribbean territories on Tuesday.
Compulsory vaccinations for health workers, a measure already introduced on the French mainland, had fuelled resentment among the islands’ population.
Sebastien Lecornu, the minister for France’s overseas territories, said 70 gendarmes had arrived in Martinique earlier in the day, in addition to two squadrons that were deployed from metropolitan France unannounced, to help clear road blocks.
French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu speaks as he attends a press conference during his official visit in Fort-de-France on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, on Nov. 30, 2021. (Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images)
“Social dialogue is not possible without a sound basis and that sound basis is the re-establishment of freedoms … and our capacity to re-establish order,” Lecornu told a press conference in Martinique after meeting its leaders and trade unions.
In Guadeloupe, home to some 400,000 residents, 70 police reinforcements were sent on Tuesday along with 10 extra SWAT team members to help shore up security, Lecornu said.
Protestors hold flags of the ‘Confederation Generale du Travail de la Guadeloupe’ CGTG Trade union as they demonstrate against compulsory vaccination in front of the sub-prefecture of Pointe-a-Pitre, in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, on Nov. 29, 2021. (Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images)
There is a historic mistrust of the government’s handling of health crises in Guadeloupe after many people were systematically exposed to toxic pesticides used in banana plantations in the 1970s. Protesters have insisted they should be allowed to make their own choices about health treatment.
Protests have continued although Paris last week said it would postpone a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public sector workers amid the widespread protests.
The vaccine mandate and other COVID-19 restrictions fanned long-standing grievances over living standards and the relationship between France’s Caribbean islands and Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron has described the ongoing unrest as an “explosive” situation.
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on Aug. 27, 2021. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters)
More than three dozen protesters have been detained over the past week in Guadeloupe, while numerous reports have emerged of looting and individuals erecting street barricades to slow traffic.
The situation remains “very difficult” in Guadeloupe, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France Inter radio on Tuesday. “There are still scenes of extreme violence with police forces being shot at with real ammunition,” he added.
Last week, journalists from French television, news and photo agencies were attacked, media group Altice said in a statement.
In Martinique, an island of 375,000 some protesters reportedly shot at police officers and firefighters, according to Agence France-Presse. Local authorities said one police officer was seriously injured and needed surgery.
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France Deploys Military Police To Caribbean Islands Amid Unrest Over Vaccine Mandate
WEDNESDAY, DEC 01, 2021 - 07:10 PM
Authored by Isabel van Brugen via The Epoch Times,
The French government has deployed military police to the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe amid intensifying protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic related restrictions.
Following several weeks of unrest and violent protests over COVID-19 measures—including a vaccine mandate for health care workers—police reinforcements were sent to the French Caribbean territories on Tuesday.
Compulsory vaccinations for health workers, a measure already introduced on the French mainland, had fuelled resentment among the islands’ population.
Sebastien Lecornu, the minister for France’s overseas territories, said 70 gendarmes had arrived in Martinique earlier in the day, in addition to two squadrons that were deployed from metropolitan France unannounced, to help clear road blocks.
French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu speaks as he attends a press conference during his official visit in Fort-de-France on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, on Nov. 30, 2021. (Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images)
“Social dialogue is not possible without a sound basis and that sound basis is the re-establishment of freedoms … and our capacity to re-establish order,” Lecornu told a press conference in Martinique after meeting its leaders and trade unions.
In Guadeloupe, home to some 400,000 residents, 70 police reinforcements were sent on Tuesday along with 10 extra SWAT team members to help shore up security, Lecornu said.
Protestors hold flags of the ‘Confederation Generale du Travail de la Guadeloupe’ CGTG Trade union as they demonstrate against compulsory vaccination in front of the sub-prefecture of Pointe-a-Pitre, in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, on Nov. 29, 2021. (Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images)
There is a historic mistrust of the government’s handling of health crises in Guadeloupe after many people were systematically exposed to toxic pesticides used in banana plantations in the 1970s. Protesters have insisted they should be allowed to make their own choices about health treatment.
Protests have continued although Paris last week said it would postpone a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public sector workers amid the widespread protests.
The vaccine mandate and other COVID-19 restrictions fanned long-standing grievances over living standards and the relationship between France’s Caribbean islands and Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron has described the ongoing unrest as an “explosive” situation.
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on Aug. 27, 2021. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters)
More than three dozen protesters have been detained over the past week in Guadeloupe, while numerous reports have emerged of looting and individuals erecting street barricades to slow traffic.
The situation remains “very difficult” in Guadeloupe, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France Inter radio on Tuesday. “There are still scenes of extreme violence with police forces being shot at with real ammunition,” he added.
Last week, journalists from French television, news and photo agencies were attacked, media group Altice said in a statement.
In Martinique, an island of 375,000 some protesters reportedly shot at police officers and firefighters, according to Agence France-Presse. Local authorities said one police officer was seriously injured and needed surgery.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
COVID-19 Mortality Risk Correlates Inversely with Vitamin D3 Status, and a Mortality Rate Close to Zero Could Theoretically Be Achieved at 50 ng/mL 25(OH)D3: Results of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Background: Much research shows that blood calcidiol (25(OH)D3) levels correlate strongly with SARS-CoV-2 infection severity. There is open discussion regarding whether low D3 is caused by the infection or if deficiency negatively affects immune defense. The aim of this study was to collect...
www.mdpi.com
COVID-19 Mortality Risk Correlates Inversely with Vitamin D3 Status, and a Mortality Rate Close to Zero Could Theoretically Be Achieved at 50 ng/mL 25(OH)D3: Results of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
by
Independent Researcher, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
2
Independent Researcher, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany
3
Artificial Intelligence, IU International University of Applied Sciences, D-99084 Erfurt, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: John H. White
Nutrients 2021, 13(10), 3596; COVID-19 Mortality Risk Correlates Inversely with Vitamin D3 Status, and a Mortality Rate Close to Zero Could Theoretically Be Achieved at 50 ng/mL 25(OH)D3: Results of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Received: 28 September 2021 / Revised: 9 October 2021 / Accepted: 11 October 2021 / Published: 14 October 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Nutrition and Public Health)
Abstract
Background: Much research shows that blood calcidiol (25(OH)D3) levels correlate strongly with SARS-CoV-2 infection severity. There is open discussion regarding whether low D3 is caused by the infection or if deficiency negatively affects immune defense. The aim of this study was to collect further evidence on this topic. Methods: Systematic literature search was performed to identify retrospective cohort as well as clinical studies on COVID-19 mortality rates versus D3 blood levels. Mortality rates from clinical studies were corrected for age, sex, and diabetes. Data were analyzed using correlation and linear regression. Results: One population study and seven clinical studies were identified, which reported D3 blood levels preinfection or on the day of hospital admission. The two independent datasets showed a negative Pearson correlation of D3 levels and mortality risk (r(17) = −0.4154, p = 0.0770/r(13) = −0.4886, p = 0.0646). For the combined data, median (IQR) D3 levels were 23.2 ng/mL (17.4–26.8), and a significant Pearson correlation was observed (r(32) = −0.3989, p = 0.0194). Regression suggested a theoretical point of zero mortality at approximately 50 ng/mL D3. Conclusions: The datasets provide strong evidence that low D3 is a predictor rather than just a side effect of the infection. Despite ongoing vaccinations, we recommend raising serum 25(OH)D levels to above 50 ng/mL to prevent or mitigate new outbreaks due to escape mutations or decreasing antibody activity.
full text: COVID-19 Mortality Risk Correlates Inversely with Vitamin D3 Status, and a Mortality Rate Close to Zero Could Theoretically Be Achieved at 50 ng/mL 25(OH)D3: Results of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
download pdf: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/10/3596/pdf
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(Australia)
www.zerohedge.com
Aussie Police Arrest Teen 'Fugitives' Who Escaped From COVID Internment Camp
WEDNESDAY, DEC 01, 2021 - 08:50 PM
Three teenagers who escaped a Northern Australian Covid internment camp were arrested by police, who say they don't believe they came into contact with members of the nearby community and "the health risk to the community was very low," adding "But there is absolutely no excuse for the actions of these three this morning."
Police check cars near the Howard Springs quarantine facility in Darwin's rural area. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the three teens from the Binjari community near Katherine, aged 15, 16 and 17, tested negative for the virus yesterday. They had been confined to quarantine for being 'close contacts of positive cases,' only to scale a fence and escape at 4:30 am Wednesday morning.
"I also want to point to the overwhelming compliance that we've had, given several hundred people have been placed into the Centre of National Resilience linked to the clusters from Robinson River, Katherine, Binjari and Rockhole," he said.
Police officers in masks searched vehicles around the facility. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
Their escape set off a police manhunt, which included highway checkpoints.
View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1465869413383503873
.09 min
This is what happens when you let tyrants run Bartertown...
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Aussie Police Arrest Teen 'Fugitives' Who Escaped From COVID Internment Camp
WEDNESDAY, DEC 01, 2021 - 08:50 PM
Three teenagers who escaped a Northern Australian Covid internment camp were arrested by police, who say they don't believe they came into contact with members of the nearby community and "the health risk to the community was very low," adding "But there is absolutely no excuse for the actions of these three this morning."
Police check cars near the Howard Springs quarantine facility in Darwin's rural area. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the three teens from the Binjari community near Katherine, aged 15, 16 and 17, tested negative for the virus yesterday. They had been confined to quarantine for being 'close contacts of positive cases,' only to scale a fence and escape at 4:30 am Wednesday morning.
Each of the teens faces a fine of up to $5,024. According to Chalker, they will beef up CCTV coverage at the facility, and that they would discuss making more contact with lonely residents whose isolation 'may have been a trigger' for the escape.
"I also want to point to the overwhelming compliance that we've had, given several hundred people have been placed into the Centre of National Resilience linked to the clusters from Robinson River, Katherine, Binjari and Rockhole," he said.
Police officers in masks searched vehicles around the facility. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
Their escape set off a police manhunt, which included highway checkpoints.
View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1465869413383503873
.09 min
This is what happens when you let tyrants run Bartertown...
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On TB every waking moment
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Dying COVID-19 Patient Recovers After Court Orders Hospital To Administer Ivermectin
WEDNESDAY, DEC 01, 2021 - 07:50 PM
Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,
An elderly COVID-19 patient has recovered after a court order allowed him to be treated with ivermectin, despite objections from the hospital in which he was staying, according to the family’s attorney
After an Illinois hospital insisted on administering expensive remdesivir to the patient and the treatment failed, his life was saved after a court ordered that an outside medical doctor be allowed to use the inexpensive ivermectin to treat him, over the hospital’s strenuous objections.
Ivermectin tablets have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat humans with intestinal strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis, two conditions caused by parasitic worms. Some topical forms of ivermectin have been approved to treat external parasites such as head lice and for skin conditions such as rosacea. The drug is also approved for use on animals.
Remdesivir has been given emergency use authorization by the FDA for treating certain categories of human patients that have been hospitalized with COVID-19. But the use of ivermectin to treat humans suffering from COVID-19 has become controversial because the FDA hasn’t approved its so-called off-label use to treat the disease, which is caused by the CCP virus also known as SARS-CoV-2.
Critics have long accused the FDA of dragging its heels and being dangerously over-cautious and indifferent to human suffering in its approach to regulating pharmaceuticals, a criticism that led to then-President Donald Trump signing the Right to Try Act in May 2018. The law, according to the FDA, “is another way for patients who have been diagnosed with life-threatening diseases or conditions who have tried all approved treatment options and who are unable to participate in a clinical trial to access certain unapproved treatments.”
Medical doctors are free to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID-19, even though the FDA claims that its off-label use could be harmful in some circumstances.
Clinical human trials of the drug for use against COVID-19 are currently in progress, according to the agency.
The drug “most definitely” saved the elderly patient’s life “because his condition changed right immediately after he took ivermectin,” attorney for the family, Kirstin M. Erickson of Chicago-based Mauck and Baker, told The Epoch Times.
Sun Ng, 71, who was visiting the United States from Hong Kong to celebrate his granddaughter’s first birthday, became ill with COVID-19 and within days was close to death. He was hospitalized on Oct. 14 at Edward Hospital, in Naperville, Illinois, a part of the Edward-Elmhurst Health system. His condition worsened dramatically and he was intubated and placed on a ventilator a few days later.
Ng’s only child, Man Kwan Ng, who holds a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering, did her own research and decided that her father should take ivermectin, which some medical doctors believe is effective against COVID-19, despite the FDA’s guidance to the contrary.
But against the daughter’s wishes, the hospital refused to administer ivermectin and denied access to a physician willing to administer it.
The daughter went to court on her father’s behalf and on Nov. 1, Judge Paul M. Fullerton of the Circuit Court of DuPage County granted a temporary restraining order requiring the hospital to allow ivermectin to be given to the patient. The hospital refused to comply with the court order.
At a subsequent court hearing on Nov. 5, Fullerton said one physician who testified described Sun Ng as “basically on his death bed,” with a mere 10 to 15 percent chance of survival. Ivermectin can have minor side effects such as dizziness, itchy skin, and diarrhea at the dosage suggested for Ng, but the “risks of these side effects are so minimal that Mr. Ng’s current situation outweighs that risk by one-hundredfold,” Fullerton said.
The judge issued a preliminary injunction that day directing the hospital to “immediately allow … temporary emergency privileges” to Ng’s physician, Dr. Alan Bain, “solely to administer Ivermectin to this patient.”
The hospital resisted the order on Nov. 6 and 7, denying Bain access to his patient. The hospital claimed that it couldn’t let Bain in because he wasn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 and that its chief medical officer wasn’t available to “proctor” Bain administering ivermectin.
The daughter’s attorneys filed an emergency report with the court on Nov. 8 and Fullerton heard from both sides. The judge admonished the hospital and restated that it must allow Bain inside over a period of 15 days to do his job. When the hospital filed a motion to stay the order, Fullerton denied it, again directing the facility to comply.
The ivermectin appears to have worked, and Sun Ng has recovered from COVID-19. He was discharged by the hospital on Nov. 27.
Attorney Erickson said the “happy” end result here provides “hope for the nation.”
People just want to do what’s best for their family members and “find ivermectin themselves” and have it on hand “and use it when someone starts to develop symptoms,” Erickson said.
She said her legal team and client were “really thankful” that Ng recovered and “we salute” Judge Fullerton, Dr. Bain, and others, as well as the hospital for abiding by the court order in the end.
For more information on ivermectin and how to obtain it, Erickson said people should visit the website of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance at Covid19CriticalCare.com.
Keith Hartenberger, system director for public relations for Edward-Elmhurst Health, declined to comment.
“We’re not able to comment due to patient privacy guidelines,” he told The Epoch Times by email.
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South Africa Sees Cases Double As White House Extends Federal Mask Mandate
WEDNESDAY, DEC 01, 2021 - 06:25 PM
Update (1800ET): Now that the first case of the omicron variant has been confirmed in the US (even though Dr. Anthony Fauci insists that all of the case's close contacts have been identified and tested, and that there's no sign of additional cases - at least not right now), the Biden Administration has decided to extend a federal mask mandate through mid-March.
The mandate requires travelers to wear masks on airplanes, trains and buses, and at airports and train stations.
President Biden is expected to share his plans for imposing tighter travel restrictions on foreigners on Thursday. The CDC is reportedly already collecting names to give to local authorities so that their viral status can presumably be tracked.
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NYC Prisons Face Crippling Staff Shortages As Thousands Defy Mayor's Vaccination Mandate
WEDNESDAY, DEC 01, 2021 - 06:10 PM
Outgoing NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has been widely criticized for seeming and acting out of touch with New Yorkers. And during his final weeks in Gracie Mansion, the intensely unpopular Democratic candidate may unwittingly handicap the already struggling NYC jail Riker's Island.
To wit, the AP reports that hundreds of city department of corrections' workers might soon be fired after missing a Tuesday deadline to either get vaccinated or see their waiver approved.
The city's DoC reported 77% of its staff had gotten at least one vaccine dose as of 1700ET on Monday. That's the lowest rate of any city agency, meaning about 1,900 employees have yet to comply with the mandate or apply for the waiver.
The deadline for compliance was delayed a month for jail workers because of existing staffing shortages.
Jail workers who have applied for religious or medical exemptions can continue to work while their cases are reviewed, officials said. They plan to release data on Wednesday detailing how many workers sought for an exemption. But they already know that the number who have obstinately refused to do either is unsustainably high.
Those who don't comply are supposed to be placed on unpaid leave and asked to surrender any badges or city-issued firearms (or other equipment).
What is the mayor doing about this? Well, in anticipation of the looming mandate, Mayor de Blasio on Monday issued an emergency executive order designed to beef up jail staffing by authorizing a transition to 12 hour from 8 hour shifts. Faced with a revolt over vaccine mandates, the mayor is asking remaining workers to take on more hours in a poorly paid, highly dangerous job.
The workers and their union representatives are unsurprisingly pushing back: The president of the union for jail guards balked at de Blasio's decision to move to 12-hour shifts, calling it "reckless and misguided."
The union said it would sue to block the mandate, the same tactic an NYC police union tried in late October as the vaccine requirement for officers neared. The police union lost and the mandate went into effect as planned.
To be sure, Benny Boscio Jr., the president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, told the AP that staffing in the city’s jails is as bad or worse than it was in October, when the mayor announced jail workers would have extra time to meet the vaccine mandate.
Resignations and retirements are already piling up, Boscio warned. Asking more able-bodied workers to go on unpaid leave would be like "pouring gasoline on a fire", Boscio said.
NYC's jails, which includes the notorious Rikers Island complex, have been plagued by surging violence, self-harm and deaths since the start of the pandemic. At least 14 deaths have been recorded in NYC's jails so far this year, the highest number since 2013.
But de Blasio doesn't seem to care; he's preoccupied with adopting a new plan that would ban horse-drawn carriages and replace them with electric cars. And on Monday he imposed a new vaccination mandate on child-care workers in the city. You almost couldn't make this up.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
WHO Recommends People Aged 60 & Above Postpone Travel Due To Omicron Variant Concerns
WEDNESDAY, DEC 01, 2021 - 05:50 PM
Authored by Isaac Teo via The Epoch Times,
The World Health Organization is recommending people 60 and older to postpone their travel plans over Omicron variant concerns.
The WHO, which named Omicron as a variant of concern (VOC) on Nov. 26, says it is monitoring the spread of the variant, and advised certain travelers to delay their trips to “areas with community transmission.”
In its latest update, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that those aged 65 to 74 account for nearly 22 percent of all deaths by COVID-19 in the United States. The percentage continues to grow as their age increases, with 26 percent for those from 75 to 84, and 28 percent for 85 and older.
The WHO said as of Nov. 28, over fifty countries have implemented their version of travel measures prohibiting the entry of travelers arriving from Southern African countries, including South Africa, which first reported the Omicron variant to it on Nov. 24.
The organization added that the new variant is expected to be detected around the world as countries step up in their tracking efforts. It recommended countries to test passengers prior to travel and upon arrival for COVID-19 and quarantine international travelers, among several measures.
However, it advised against blanket travel bans, saying that the measures “will not prevent the international spread” of Omicron, and will “place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods.”
At the same time, the bans will adversely impact global health efforts by “disincentivizing countries to report and share epidemiological and sequencing data.”
While countries doubled their efforts to delay the importation of the new variant, the WHO stressed that essential international travel should still be prioritized at all times during the pandemic. Essential travel includes traveling for emergency and humanitarian missions, and cargo transport for essential supplies.
Meanwhile, all other travelers are reminded to “remain vigilant for signs and symptoms of COVID-19, to get vaccinated when it is their turn and to adhere to public health and social measures at all times and regardless of vaccination status,” the WHO said.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
NEW: Biden to Extend Travel Mask Mandate Through Mid-March | The Gateway Pundit | by Cristina Laila
Joe Biden will extend mask requirements on public transit through mid-March.
www.thegatewaypundit.com
NEW: Biden to Extend Travel Mask Mandate Through Mid-March
By Cristina Laila
Published December 1, 2021 at 5:15pm
Joe Biden will extend mask requirements on public transit through mid-March.
Travelers will be required to wear masks on airplanes, trains and buses, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, the Biden Regime will make the announcement on Thursday.
The previous travel mask mandate was set to expire January 18, 2022.
“15 days to slow the spread” began in March 2020 so this mask mandate extension to March 18, 2022 will mean two years of Covid tyranny for Americans (until Biden extends the mandate again).
Of course the mask mandate only applies to the peasants.
Democrats are above mandates:
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Poll Shows Democrats Are Terrified of the Omicron Variant - Republicans Can Not Care Less | The Gateway Pundit | by Joe Hoft
A poll at YouGov.com shows that Democrats act like sheep who believe nearly everything the corrupt media tells them about the China coronavirus while Republicans have the ability to think for themselves. A poll at YouGov.com released today shows the following not so unexpected results.
www.thegatewaypundit.com
Poll Shows Democrats Are Terrified of the Omicron Variant – Republicans Can Not Care Less
By Joe Hoft
Published December 1, 2021 at 7:00pm
A poll at YouGov.com shows that Democrats act like sheep who believe nearly everything the corrupt media tells them about the China coronavirus while Republicans have the ability to think for themselves.
A poll at YouGov.com released today shows the following not so unexpected results.
These results are shameful for Democrats. Take note because this is what Democrats and RINOs want for America – a country of sheep.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
80 House Republicans Vote to Fund Federal Vaccine Database to Spy on Americans | The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hoft
Austrian police check vaccine cards in Vienna this month.
www.thegatewaypundit.com
80 House Republicans Vote to Fund Federal Vaccine Database to Spy on Americans
By Jim Hoft
Published December 1, 2021 at 8:54pm
80 House Republicans vote with Democrats on a new national immunization tracking system Wednesday.
The Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021 will give the federal government information on your vaccination status for the next mandate they have planned.
This will make it easier for the government to target you and strip you of your rights and income.
80 Republicans see this as a good thing.
They don’t give a damn about their voters.
Breitbart.com reported:
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
80 House Republicans Vote to Fund Federal Vaccine Database to Spy on Americans | The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hoft
Austrian police check vaccine cards in Vienna this month.
80 House Republicans Vote to Fund Federal Vaccine Database to Spy on Americans
By Jim Hoft
Published December 1, 2021 at 8:54pm
Austrian police check vaccine cards in Vienna this month.
80 House Republicans vote with Democrats on a new national immunization tracking system Wednesday.
The Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021 will give the federal government information on your vaccination status for the next mandate they have planned.
This will make it easier for the government to target you and strip you of your rights and income.
80 Republicans see this as a good thing.
They don’t give a damn about their voters.
Breitbart.com reported:
80 House Republicans Help Pass Bill to Fund Federal Vax Database
Eighty House Republicans voted with Democrats on Tuesday to pass the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act.
www.breitbart.com
Exclusive — ‘Tool to Enforce Orwellian Rules’: 80 House Republicans Help Pass Bill to Fund Federal Vaccination Database
Katherine Hamilton
1 Dec 20210
Eighty House Republicans voted with Democrats on Tuesday to pass the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act, which if passed by the Senate and signed into law would fund a federal vaccination database.
According to the bill, also called H. R. 550, the government would provide $400 million in taxpayer dollars to fund “immunization system data modernization and expansion,” a system otherwise defined as “a confidential, population-based, computerized database that records immunization doses administered by any health care provider to persons within the geographic area covered by that database.”
The text specifically outlines an expansion of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Public Health Department capabilities and the ability for state and local health departments, as well as public and private health care providers, to share health data with the federal government.
In a statement, the bill’s main sponsor, Democrat Rep. Ann Kuster (NH), said the system would be used to “remind patients when they are due for a recommended vaccine” and identify areas with low vaccination rates to “ensure equitable distribution of vaccines.” Notably, the bill has four Republican co-sponsors: Reps. Larry Bucshon (R-IN), James Baird (R-IN), David McKinley (R-WV), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). Not one Democrat voted in opposition to the bill.
Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), who was one of the 130 Republicans to vote “no,” told Breitbart News exclusively on Wednesday that the legislation would enable the federal government to “track” unvaccinated Americans who “will be targeted and forced to comply with Biden’s crazy ‘global vaccination’ vision.”
“These systems are designed to allow for the sharing of crucial information and maintenance of records. Do we really trust the government to protect our medical records?” Miller said. “The bill’s author even bragged in her press release that these systems will help the government remind patients when they are due for a recommended vaccine and identify areas with low vaccination rates to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines. This was clearly a legislative tool to enforce vaccine mandates and force their Orwellian rules onto those who do not comply.”
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) also voted “no” on the bill, citing “Democrats’ habitual pattern of reckless and wasteful spending” in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News. The congressman said the legislation only serves to expand the power of the federal government and trample individual rights.
“This legislation would unnecessarily appropriate millions of taxpayer funds intended to expand bureaucracy in Washington. A database solely created to record and collect confidential vaccination information of Americans explicitly encroaches upon individuals’ fundamental right to medical privacy,” Donalds said. “As a fiscal conservative, I cannot in good faith support legislation that contributes to the Democrats’ habitual pattern of reckless and wasteful spending and the intrusive heavy hand of government.”
Miller noted that the legislation paves the way for the government to give blue states millions in taxpayers funds to enforce vaccine mandates. According to the bill’s text, the government could award grants and cooperative agreements to health departments or other local governmental entities for agreeing to adopt the new data collection guidelines set by the CDC. Any agencies hoping to receive a grant must agree to comply with security standards to protect personal health information.
The government may also develop “public-private partnerships” to help with “technical assistance, training, and related implementation support.” When Breitbart News asked Miller if public-private partnerships could potentially obscure data collection activities from the public, she said the government cannot be trusted to be transparent.
“…The government has become so large, you cannot expect them to keep anything private anymore. There is hardly any congressional oversight into studies these agencies conduct,” she added.
Kuster is urging the Senate to quickly pass the legislation, saying the pandemic showed just how underprepared the country’s “vaccine infrastructure” is. She emphasized that the legislation would help better prepare healthcare systems for “future public health crises.” She said in part:
COVID-19 pulled back the curtain on our vaccination systems and highlighted the urgent need for upgrades. I’m proud the House passed my bipartisan Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act to expand the enrollment and training of vaccine providers, update public health information technology to efficiently manage vaccine supply, and allow patients and providers to communicate securely in real-time.
Miller contended that the government has “no reason” to collect more vaccination data on Americans.
“As I’ve said many times before, the government is not your doctor. The federal government has no business inserting itself into private healthcare matters of Americans. There is no reason for them to collect this data, it is an affront to our liberties and health freedoms,” she said. “This kind of legislation is always passed because the government has its hands in everything nowadays, often at the expense of the freedoms and privacy of Americans. This bill would allow the government to collect, study, and share your private health data. There are endless ways the government could potentially use that information against you – purposefully and accidentally.”
.
Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
Covid Omicron: Time to consider mandatory jabs, EU chief says
EU countries should discuss forced vaccinations to combat the Omicron variant, says Ursula von der Leyen.
www.bbc.com
Covid Omicron: Time to consider mandatory jabs, EU chief says
Published 7 hours ago
European Union countries should consider mandatory vaccination to combat Covid and the Omicron variant, the head of its Commission has said.
Ursula von der Leyen said vaccines would be crucial in the fight against the "highly contagious" new variant.
Some two dozen countries have reported cases of Omicron, and the EU has tightened travel restrictions since it was first reported earlier this month.
European countries have also been facing a wider spike in cases.
The World Health Organization (WHO), meanwhile, said early signs were that most cases of the Omicron variant were "mild".
On Wednesday, Ms von der Leyen said it was "understandable and appropriate" for EU members to discuss mandatory Covid vaccinations given that a third of the bloc's population was unvaccinated.
"How we can encourage and potentially think about mandatory vaccination within the European Union? This needs discussion. This needs a common approach, but it is a discussion that I think has to be led," she told a news conference in Brussels.
Only individual EU states can enforce vaccine mandates and some are already taking steps in that direction.
Austria has announced compulsory Covid vaccinations from February next year, while Greece is fining all unvaccinated over-60s €100 (£85) a month.
Germany's incoming Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said he supports compulsory jabs. In an interview with Bild television, Mr Scholz said he wanted compulsory vaccinations from March and also said a faster rollout of booster jabs was needed.
'No sign vaccines won't work'
The WHO, which declared Omicron "of concern" on Friday following its rapid spread in South Africa, says it will know more about the new variant within days.
Omicron is becoming the dominant Covid strain in South Africa, where the daily number of recorded cases doubled on Wednesday. Officials there say the variant could be fuelling the surge.
However, the WHO has already said it believes existing vaccines "will still prevent severe disease" among people who contract the new variant.
Asked about the severity of cases, WHO epidemiologist Dr Maria van Kerkhove said: "There is some indication that some of the patients are presenting with mild disease.
"There is still suggestion of increased hospitalisations across South Africa but this could be the sheer fact that we have more cases, and if you have more cases you have more hospitalisations."
The US on Wednesday became the latest country to report a case of Omicron. Other nations include Nigeria, Norway and South Korea. Several countries have tightened their borders to halt the spread of Omicron.
But the WHO warned against "punitive" travel measures imposed on southern African countries.
WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was concerned about "blunt, blanket measures", which "will only worsen inequities".
Dr Van Kerkhove said travel bans imposed on South Africa had created problems for shipping virus samples.
The US, which has already banned foreign travellers from eight African countries, has ordered airlines to tell it the names of passengers who have been there.
.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
1:56:57 min
TWiV 836: OMG, Omicron!
Dec 1, 2021
Vincent Racaniello
TWiV reveals all that we know so far about the variant of concern B.1.1.529, also called Omicron, and describes a study on the ability of the alpha, beta, and delta variants to reproduce in cells in culture and induce membrane fusion. Show notes at https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-836/
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Was The New Covid Variant Manufactured? 6:57 min; and
Was The New Covid Variant Manufactured?
December 2, 2021
Dr. Robert Malone talks to host Steve Bannon about the latest news regarding the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus and the fake panic that is leading Biden and others to promote booster shots.
“The boosters are a perfect way to basically bias our immune systems so we’re even less able to respond to this ew variant. This is [the equivalent of] jabbing everybody with a flu vaccine from three seasons ago, and expecting it to have effects against the current virus.”
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Fauci… Definition of Fully Vaccinated likely to change…
Visit the post for more.
citizenfreepress.com
Fauci… Definition of Fully Vaccinated likely to change…
Posted by Kane on December 2, 2021 11:52 am
.24 min
marsh
On TB every waking moment
FAUCI ALERT — American Heart Association issues warning on mRNA vaccines…
New study and warning from the American Heart Association: mRNA vaccines dramatically increase risk of developing heart disease — “The PLUS Cardiac Test score has been me…
citizenfreepress.com
FAUCI ALERT — American Heart Association issues warning on mRNA vaccines…
Posted by Kane on December 2, 2021 1:25 pm
New study and warning from the American Heart Association: mRNA vaccines dramatically increase risk of developing heart disease — “The PLUS Cardiac Test score has been measured every 3-6 months in our patient population for 8 years. Recently, with the advent of the mRNA COVID 19 vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer, dramatic changes in the PULS score became apparent in most patients.”
marsh
On TB every waking moment
(Germany)
citizenfreepress.com
Sprechen Sie Vaccination — Germany locks down all Purebloods…
Posted by Kane on December 2, 2021 3:08 pm
View: https://youtu.be/TSE-U0pYs0U
6:07 min
(Bloomberg) — Germany is poised to clamp down on people who aren’t vaccinated against Covid-19 and drastically curtail social contacts to ease pressure on increasingly stretched hospitals.
In one of her final acts as chancellor, Angela Merkel will hold talks with Germany’s 16 regional premiers later on Thursday at which they’re expected to agree on new curbs including allowing only people who are vaccinated or recovered into restaurants, theaters and non-essential stores.
According to a draft agreement prepared by Merkel’s office, there will also be tighter contact restrictions for non-vaccinated people, nightclubs will be closed in places with high infection rates and there will be strict limits on the number of spectators at large public events.
“The important thing is that this is virtually a lockdown for the unvaccinated,” outgoing Health Minister Jens Spahn said Thursday in an interview with ZDF television. “The more than 12 million adults who aren’t inoculated is what is creating a challenge for the health system.”
Continue reading…
Every German Must Be Vaccinated by February…
Incoming chancellor Scholz wants mandate for all Germans
View: https://youtu.be/jiC42vF1L_I
1:46 min
View: https://youtu.be/q65_E74TNQs
2:05 min
Sprechen Sie Vaccination — Germany locks down all Purebloods…
(Bloomberg) — Germany is poised to clamp down on people who aren’t vaccinated against Covid-19 and drastically curtail social contacts to ease pressure on increasingly stretched hospit…
citizenfreepress.com
Sprechen Sie Vaccination — Germany locks down all Purebloods…
Posted by Kane on December 2, 2021 3:08 pm
6:07 min
(Bloomberg) — Germany is poised to clamp down on people who aren’t vaccinated against Covid-19 and drastically curtail social contacts to ease pressure on increasingly stretched hospitals.
In one of her final acts as chancellor, Angela Merkel will hold talks with Germany’s 16 regional premiers later on Thursday at which they’re expected to agree on new curbs including allowing only people who are vaccinated or recovered into restaurants, theaters and non-essential stores.
According to a draft agreement prepared by Merkel’s office, there will also be tighter contact restrictions for non-vaccinated people, nightclubs will be closed in places with high infection rates and there will be strict limits on the number of spectators at large public events.
“The important thing is that this is virtually a lockdown for the unvaccinated,” outgoing Health Minister Jens Spahn said Thursday in an interview with ZDF television. “The more than 12 million adults who aren’t inoculated is what is creating a challenge for the health system.”
Continue reading…
Every German Must Be Vaccinated by February…
Incoming chancellor Scholz wants mandate for all Germans
1:46 min
2:05 min
marsh
On TB every waking moment
30:57 min
LIVE: Walter Biden Gives Remarks on the C19 Winter Plan | The White House | Washington DC | USA |
Streamed live 4 hours ago
JeffMAC
marsh
On TB every waking moment
5:15 min
Omicron, first case report from SA
Dec 2, 2021
Dr. John Campbell
Daryl is one of the first people in the world to be infected with the omicron variant, I am delighted he is currently doing well.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8:49 min
Omicron in the US, increased transmissibility confirmed
Dec 2, 2021
Dr. John Campbell
Omicron now in 24 countries and California. Now clear it is highly transmissible. Cases seem mild so far Omicron rapidly dominating in South Africa https://www.reuters.com/world/us-tigh...
Omicron is rapidly becoming the dominant in South Africa Less than four weeks in South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) https://www.nicd.ac.za 74% of all genomes last month, omicron
The first Omicron detected in the U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/01/he... California Wednesday, 1st December California from South Africa on 22nd November Mild symptoms started 25th November Mild symptoms that are improving Not hospitalized In isolation Aggressive contact tracing is underway Person fully vaccinated Had received two doses Moderna within the six-month window Close contacts have tested negative
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci We have 60 million people in this country who are not vaccinated who are eligible to be vaccinated Let’s get them vaccinated. Let’s get the people vaccinated, boosted. Let’s get the children vaccinated. Get boosted now We may not need a variant-specific boost.
(EU, vaccine rollout for five-to-11-year-olds 13th December) Dissent from Mike Ryan There is no evidence that I'm aware of that will suggest that boosting the entire population is going to necessarily provide any greater protection for otherwise healthy individuals against hospitalization or death WHO, coronavirus will keep producing new variants for as long as it is allowed to circulate freely in unvaccinated US https://www.reuters.com/world/us-tigh...
Must have a negative test 24 hours prior to departure
marsh
On TB every waking moment
9:16 min
Omicron: Tracking South African COVID 19 Spread
Dec 1, 2021
MedCram - Medical Lectures Explained CLEARLY
Roger Seheult, MD of MedCram examines the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa and an innovative technique for monitoring SARS-CoV-2. View all Dr. Seheult's videos at: https://www.medcram.com (This video is MedCram COVID 19 update 139 and was recorded on December 1, 2021) Roger Seheult, MD is the co-founder and lead professor at https://www.medcram.com He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine and an Associate Professor at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine.
LINKS / REFERENCES: Coronavirus Cases (Worldometer) | https://www.worldometers.info/coronav... Update on Omicron (WHO) | https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2... Evaluating Omicron and Other COVID Variants to Ensure Test Effectiveness (Abbott) | https://www.abbott.com/corpnewsroom/d... Michael Mina (Twitter) | https://twitter.com/michaelmina_lab/s... The Covid-19 fourth wave is looming in December: Wastewater surveillance gives us all the signposts (Daily Maverick) | https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/artic...
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
Over 42,000 Adverse Reaction Reports Revealed In First Batch Of Pfizer Vax Docs
THURSDAY, DEC 02, 2021 - 04:20 PM
The FDA's excruciatingly slow release of data related to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine has already borne fruit, and it's damning despite a trickle of just 500 pages per month out of 329,000 pages - which will take until 2076 to complete.
As first reported by Kyle Becker, there were a total of 42,086 case reports for adverse reactions (25,379 medically confirmed, 16,707 non-medically confirmed), spanning 158,893 total events.
More than 25,000 of the events were classified as "Nervous system disorders."
Since the vaccine has been publicly administered, there have been over 913,000 reports of adverse events in the OpenVAERS global database.
And that's just what's been reported.
Meanwhile, Twitter has suspended the account of @iGNORANTCHiMP - who brought much of this to light, and corrected minor inaccuracies within his thread.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
Twitter Slaps 'Unsafe' Label On American Heart Association mRNA Vaccine Warning
THURSDAY, DEC 02, 2021 - 02:09 PM
Twitter has slapped an "unsafe link" warning on a study from the American Heart Association which found that mRNA vaccines dramatically increase risk of developing heart diseases from 11% to 25%.
As of this writing, when one clicks on the link in the below tweet...
This warning, which ZeroHedge followers are no stranger to, pops up, requiring one to click "Ignore this warning and continue" before they can proceed to the American Heart Association's website:
One Twitter user, however, noted that an "expression of concern" was filed over the AHA study, noting that there are "several typographical errors" and "no data in the abstract regarding myocardial T-cell infiltration" or "statistical analyses for significance provided."
That said, Twitter's warning says that the link was identified as being "potentially spammy or unsafe," and could contain:
- malicious links that could steal personal information or harm electronic devices
- spammy links that mislead people or disrupt their experience
- violent or misleading content that could lead to real-world harm
- certain categories of content that, if posted directly on Twitter, are a violation of the Twitter Rules
marsh
On TB every waking moment
[UK]
www.zerohedge.com
Why Is Omicron Being Treated Like Ebola?
THURSDAY, DEC 02, 2021 - 04:40 PM
Authored by Professor Angus Dalgleish, op-ed via The Daily Mail,
As I listened to ministers react nervously in recent days to the new Omicron Covid variant, I began to experience an all-too-familiar sinking feeling.
Shall I put it into words? Here we go again, I thought.
Mask mandates have been reimposed in shops, schools and hairdressers, and new swingeing £200 fines will be levied on those who dare to break the rules.
Meanwhile, the inevitable chorus of gloomy voices has begun to sing again: that unholy alliance of scientific ‘experts’ who have been given blanket coverage by the BBC and Left-wing media so often during this pandemic.
The Government has used these voices as justification to impose fresh restrictions on our lives — as well as to threaten more in future.
The Government has used an unholy alliance of scientific ‘experts’ who have been given blanket coverage by the BBC and Left-wing media as justification to impose fresh restrictions on our lives — as well as to threaten more in future.
Mask mandates have been reimposed in shops, schools and hairdressers, and new swingeing £200 fines will be levied on those who dare to break the rules
Panicking
Right now, the key question is: are any of the new measures actually necessary?
Yes, there remains much we don’t know about Omicron, but the early signs are distinctly encouraging. Many patients have reportedly recovered quickly from what have been very mild symptoms.
Southern Africa, where the variant emerged, has largely avoided panicking. One German epidemiologist, Professor Karl Lauterbach, who is running to be Germany’s next health minister, has even said that a mild strain would be an ‘early Christmas gift’.
Given all that, how much can the Government’s hawkish approach truly be justified?
Very little, I would submit.
Yes, there remains much we don’t know about Omicron, but the early signs are distinctly encouraging
Many patients have reportedly recovered quickly from what have been very mild symptoms
Jenny Harries: Brits shouldn't socialise with people unless necessary
The real danger for most of us now comes not from Omicron or any other coronavirus variant.
Instead, it comes from ministers and officials apparently flirting with taking us into yet another era of ruinous restrictions, cancelling Christmas or other cherished holidays, dashing all hope of foreign travel, wrecking the economy and otherwise immiserating our lives at the whim of the state.
Yes, a new, heavily mutated coronavirus variant has been identified. But Professor Lauterbach, a highly respected clinical epidemiologist, suggested yesterday that the variant might even be good news. Why? Because its numerous mutations — twice as many as the Delta variant that swept the world this year — mean that though it may well be more infectious, it could also be less deadly.
In layman’s terms, this means that more people might catch it, but not suffer serious illness. And that is a good thing — certainly compared to a very infectious, very virulent virus with the capacity to sicken or kill large numbers of people.
Anyone infected with a ‘mild’ Covid virus — one unlikely to cause serious disease — will still develop antibodies to guard against future infection. And the more people with such antibodies, the closer we are to the fabled ‘herd immunity’.
This, coupled with the help of our highly successful vaccination programme, could even spell the eventual end of the pandemic — though not, it must be said, the end of Covid.
This is the sort of grown-up discussion ministers should be having with us. Instead, by announcing new restrictions over the weekend, flanked by his two familiar harbingers of doom, Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, the Prime Minister risked terrifying large swathes of the nation all over again — just as they were beginning to catch their breath as the worst of the pandemic was lifting.
Anyone infected with a ‘mild’ Covid virus — one unlikely to cause serious disease — will still develop antibodies to guard against future infection
Coronavirus restrictions, it should not need pointing out, do not work in isolation.
A year ago, I wrote in the Mail how I believed that lockdown was a killer in the making far worse than Covid-19. Today, I stand by that view.
From spiralling hospital waiting lists and delayed cancer treatment to the horrendous impact on the mental health of the nation, I think we are seeing the tip of an iceberg of premature deaths from causes other than Covid — and that, in time, history will reveal the second and third lockdowns, at least, for the folly I believe them to be. That is before you contemplate the ramifications of our sabotaged economy: livelihoods destroyed by the enforced shutdown of businesses and High Street firms shuttered thanks to working-from-home mandates.
'Vaccines very likely to be less effective against Omicron': JCVI
https://video.dailymail.co.uk/previ...4157490492/636x382_MP4_748861994157490492.mp4 3:00 min
It is imperative that ministers do not go down that dangerous road again — unless some terrible new variant or new virus with a vastly higher death rate does emerge.
Even the most fervent lover of lockdown would be hard-pressed to describe today’s scenario as an Armageddon-in-the-making, especially as the virus is behaving exactly as scientists always suspected that it would.
Just as with flu, it is likely that in years to come the world will experience new waves of this coronavirus. Crucially, there is no evidence that these waves will somehow be ever-more lethal.
Instead, it is likelier that this virus, like most pathogens, will become less deadly over time.
Cautious
This flies in the face of those who favour the ‘just-in-case’ argument: that we must be extra cautious and ready to lock down early again, lest the new variant prove more dangerous than anticipated.
That argument was valid at the start of the pandemic, when we lacked treatments and vaccinations. But it does not hold any longer.
Today, we are well-versed in the ways of our foe. With a few exceptions (usually the unvaccinated), most people are dying with Covid, not necessarily because of it, while others have had an imminent death merely hastened.
Even the most compassionate individual must realise that public policy cannot be founded on trying to mitigate against a death that, however sad, was due sooner rather than later.
A long time ago, when I was a junior doctor working in A&E, I was initially amazed by the fact that among those admitted to hospital with flu and pneumonia symptoms were the young and fit. That is often the nature with the flu virus.
Just as with flu, it is likely that in years to come the world will experience new waves of this coronavirus
A percentage of them would end up in intensive care, and a proportion would die — just as they do today.
Each individual death was terribly sad, of course, but no one would argue they meant that we should change our health policy.
What a contrast with today, when we live in a country increasingly bedevilled by what the former Supreme Court judge Jonathan Sumption has rightly labelled ‘Covid authoritarianism’.
Paralysis
Flailing Labour politicians, desperate for any stick with which to beat the Government, demand ever-tougher measures: work-from-home advice and yet more masks, with new lockdowns and furlough schemes waiting in the politicians’ arsenal.
In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon exhorts her citizens to work from home while demanding tougher restrictions down south.
We are not dealing with Ebola, which kills up to 90 per cent of those it infects, but a virus which was found in one Cambridge University study last summer — thanks to vaccinations and better treatments — to have an infection fatality rate of just 0.085 per cent
Many of us are only too happy to let such Cassandra-like prophecies drift over our heads, but there are many others who have been frightened into what feels like near-permanent paralysis in the face of the news headlines and political shroud-waving.
I see this phenomenon among my own friends. There is a clear divide between those who, like me, think we need to get on with our lives, and others who still appear obsessed with Covid, long after the worst of the virus appears to have retreated.
Yet get on we must. We are not dealing with Ebola, which kills up to 90 per cent of those it infects, but a virus which was found in one Cambridge University study last summer — thanks to vaccinations and better treatments — to have an infection fatality rate of just 0.085 per cent.
By all means let us watch this virus closely. But let us also retain the clear perspective and the common sense that should hold in a free society.
* * *
Angus Dalgleish is an oncologist at a London teaching hospital
Zerohedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
Why Is Omicron Being Treated Like Ebola?
THURSDAY, DEC 02, 2021 - 04:40 PM
Authored by Professor Angus Dalgleish, op-ed via The Daily Mail,
As I listened to ministers react nervously in recent days to the new Omicron Covid variant, I began to experience an all-too-familiar sinking feeling.
Shall I put it into words? Here we go again, I thought.
Mask mandates have been reimposed in shops, schools and hairdressers, and new swingeing £200 fines will be levied on those who dare to break the rules.
Meanwhile, the inevitable chorus of gloomy voices has begun to sing again: that unholy alliance of scientific ‘experts’ who have been given blanket coverage by the BBC and Left-wing media so often during this pandemic.
The Government has used these voices as justification to impose fresh restrictions on our lives — as well as to threaten more in future.
The Government has used an unholy alliance of scientific ‘experts’ who have been given blanket coverage by the BBC and Left-wing media as justification to impose fresh restrictions on our lives — as well as to threaten more in future.
Mask mandates have been reimposed in shops, schools and hairdressers, and new swingeing £200 fines will be levied on those who dare to break the rules
Panicking
Right now, the key question is: are any of the new measures actually necessary?
Yes, there remains much we don’t know about Omicron, but the early signs are distinctly encouraging. Many patients have reportedly recovered quickly from what have been very mild symptoms.
Southern Africa, where the variant emerged, has largely avoided panicking. One German epidemiologist, Professor Karl Lauterbach, who is running to be Germany’s next health minister, has even said that a mild strain would be an ‘early Christmas gift’.
Given all that, how much can the Government’s hawkish approach truly be justified?
Very little, I would submit.
Yes, there remains much we don’t know about Omicron, but the early signs are distinctly encouraging
Many patients have reportedly recovered quickly from what have been very mild symptoms
Jenny Harries: Brits shouldn't socialise with people unless necessary
The real danger for most of us now comes not from Omicron or any other coronavirus variant.
Instead, it comes from ministers and officials apparently flirting with taking us into yet another era of ruinous restrictions, cancelling Christmas or other cherished holidays, dashing all hope of foreign travel, wrecking the economy and otherwise immiserating our lives at the whim of the state.
Yes, a new, heavily mutated coronavirus variant has been identified. But Professor Lauterbach, a highly respected clinical epidemiologist, suggested yesterday that the variant might even be good news. Why? Because its numerous mutations — twice as many as the Delta variant that swept the world this year — mean that though it may well be more infectious, it could also be less deadly.
In layman’s terms, this means that more people might catch it, but not suffer serious illness. And that is a good thing — certainly compared to a very infectious, very virulent virus with the capacity to sicken or kill large numbers of people.
Anyone infected with a ‘mild’ Covid virus — one unlikely to cause serious disease — will still develop antibodies to guard against future infection. And the more people with such antibodies, the closer we are to the fabled ‘herd immunity’.
This, coupled with the help of our highly successful vaccination programme, could even spell the eventual end of the pandemic — though not, it must be said, the end of Covid.
This is the sort of grown-up discussion ministers should be having with us. Instead, by announcing new restrictions over the weekend, flanked by his two familiar harbingers of doom, Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, the Prime Minister risked terrifying large swathes of the nation all over again — just as they were beginning to catch their breath as the worst of the pandemic was lifting.
Anyone infected with a ‘mild’ Covid virus — one unlikely to cause serious disease — will still develop antibodies to guard against future infection
Coronavirus restrictions, it should not need pointing out, do not work in isolation.
A year ago, I wrote in the Mail how I believed that lockdown was a killer in the making far worse than Covid-19. Today, I stand by that view.
From spiralling hospital waiting lists and delayed cancer treatment to the horrendous impact on the mental health of the nation, I think we are seeing the tip of an iceberg of premature deaths from causes other than Covid — and that, in time, history will reveal the second and third lockdowns, at least, for the folly I believe them to be. That is before you contemplate the ramifications of our sabotaged economy: livelihoods destroyed by the enforced shutdown of businesses and High Street firms shuttered thanks to working-from-home mandates.
'Vaccines very likely to be less effective against Omicron': JCVI
https://video.dailymail.co.uk/previ...4157490492/636x382_MP4_748861994157490492.mp4 3:00 min
It is imperative that ministers do not go down that dangerous road again — unless some terrible new variant or new virus with a vastly higher death rate does emerge.
Even the most fervent lover of lockdown would be hard-pressed to describe today’s scenario as an Armageddon-in-the-making, especially as the virus is behaving exactly as scientists always suspected that it would.
Just as with flu, it is likely that in years to come the world will experience new waves of this coronavirus. Crucially, there is no evidence that these waves will somehow be ever-more lethal.
Instead, it is likelier that this virus, like most pathogens, will become less deadly over time.
Cautious
This flies in the face of those who favour the ‘just-in-case’ argument: that we must be extra cautious and ready to lock down early again, lest the new variant prove more dangerous than anticipated.
That argument was valid at the start of the pandemic, when we lacked treatments and vaccinations. But it does not hold any longer.
Today, we are well-versed in the ways of our foe. With a few exceptions (usually the unvaccinated), most people are dying with Covid, not necessarily because of it, while others have had an imminent death merely hastened.
Even the most compassionate individual must realise that public policy cannot be founded on trying to mitigate against a death that, however sad, was due sooner rather than later.
A long time ago, when I was a junior doctor working in A&E, I was initially amazed by the fact that among those admitted to hospital with flu and pneumonia symptoms were the young and fit. That is often the nature with the flu virus.
Just as with flu, it is likely that in years to come the world will experience new waves of this coronavirus
A percentage of them would end up in intensive care, and a proportion would die — just as they do today.
Each individual death was terribly sad, of course, but no one would argue they meant that we should change our health policy.
What a contrast with today, when we live in a country increasingly bedevilled by what the former Supreme Court judge Jonathan Sumption has rightly labelled ‘Covid authoritarianism’.
Paralysis
Flailing Labour politicians, desperate for any stick with which to beat the Government, demand ever-tougher measures: work-from-home advice and yet more masks, with new lockdowns and furlough schemes waiting in the politicians’ arsenal.
In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon exhorts her citizens to work from home while demanding tougher restrictions down south.
We are not dealing with Ebola, which kills up to 90 per cent of those it infects, but a virus which was found in one Cambridge University study last summer — thanks to vaccinations and better treatments — to have an infection fatality rate of just 0.085 per cent
Many of us are only too happy to let such Cassandra-like prophecies drift over our heads, but there are many others who have been frightened into what feels like near-permanent paralysis in the face of the news headlines and political shroud-waving.
I see this phenomenon among my own friends. There is a clear divide between those who, like me, think we need to get on with our lives, and others who still appear obsessed with Covid, long after the worst of the virus appears to have retreated.
Yet get on we must. We are not dealing with Ebola, which kills up to 90 per cent of those it infects, but a virus which was found in one Cambridge University study last summer — thanks to vaccinations and better treatments — to have an infection fatality rate of just 0.085 per cent.
By all means let us watch this virus closely. But let us also retain the clear perspective and the common sense that should hold in a free society.
* * *
Angus Dalgleish is an oncologist at a London teaching hospital