It’s 15 Months Since the ‘15 Days to Stop the Spread', So What’s the Goal Now?
It’s 15 Months Since the ‘15 Days to Stop the Spread', So What’s the Goal Now?
Biden's pushes vaccines for herd immunity
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Remember way back in March 2020 when we all had to learn what the phrase “flatten the curve” meant for this novel coronavirus? The government doctors explained to us that we had to lock down so everyone did not get sick at the same time because the hospitals would run out of beds, ventilators and respirators.
They told us it was “15 days to stop the spread.” Now, 15 months later, there are people who still haven’t left their houses because Dr. Fauci hasn’t given the order. Pres. Biden owes Americans a specific medical and health goal that is the purpose for the public policy on vaccines.
Herd Immunity
Biden rarely uses the term herd immunity but we have to assume that’s his goal since he wants exactly 70% of Americans vaccinated by July 4th. The last time he used the phrase was in response to a reporter earlier this month.
Q Mr. President, when do you think the U.S. will reach herd immunity? When do you believe the U.S. will reach herd immunity?
BIDEN: I think — I think you’ll see — and there’s a debate, you know — and I’ll end with this — there’s a debate on what constitutes herd immunity. “Is it 70 percent of the population? Is it 68 percent? Is it 81 percent?”
The point is that, by the end of the summer — right now, every single person, 16 years or older, doesn’t have to wait in line — can show up and get a vaccination now. My plea to everyone: Get vaccinated now please.
Biden may be avoiding the term because Trump cited “herd immunity” as a goal early in the pandemic as a way to end it. Liberals lost their marbles when conservatives offered to just get coronavirus and let it runs it course with natural immunity.
According to Fauci back then, Trump was gonna kill us because we all know someone who is has an underlying symptom (the high obesity rate), so we couldn’t get COVID without passing it to someone who will have to go the hospital or will die.
The herd immunity concept that Biden is not explaining is that health experts believe that if an estimated 70 percent of the population is vaccinated, it will prevent large COVID outbreaks.
Herd immunity does not mean the other 30 percent of people can’t get the virus, it’s just harder to spread. The unvaccinated - except those who have natural antibodies from getting the virus- may still get the virus, be symptomatic and spread it.
The bigger issue in this debate over herd immunity through vaccination is why does it matter if young and healthy people continue to get the virus and pass it to each other? I had an interesting exchange on Twitter Monday with a doctor I've seen constantly on CNN since the pandemic began.
If you’ve ever flipped through that channel, you’ll recognize him immediately from his glasses and bowtie in front of an overflowing bookshelf. According to his Twitter bio, Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD is a “Vaccine Scientist-Pediatrician-Author-Combating Antiscience.” It’s easiest to follow if I just put the tweets in order below:
You get the drift. Unless you see something I’m missing, Dr. Hotez seems to say that the goal of herd immunity by vaccinating 70% of everyone is to prevent unvaccinated people from getting covid. Why are we now being told it’s unsafe for young and healthy people to get COVID?
Good Citizens
In addition to outbreaks, the other reason doctors and the government want 70% vaccinated is that there are some people with cancer who can’t get the vaccine or it doesn’t work for them. That’s according to medical journals, but they don’t share with the general public any more information.
We know people on chemo treatment can get the COVID vaccines, so who are the others that cannot but are in a vulnerable population? Biden and the other doctors should give the public specifics on how many Americans are in this category; what is the medical diagnosis; why can’t they get vaccinated and how many are there who aren’t in hospitals or home. It’s a medical fact. It shouldn’t be this vague.
Since Biden won’t explain herd immunity since it doesn’t seem logical to average Americans, he goes for the heart strings by saying getting a vaccine makes you a good patriotic American.
To push this feel good message, Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci did a virtual “town hall” with young YouTube stars. It’s an hilariously awkward video with the old guys sitting at socially-distanced tables with tablecloths and the young people asking questions that are clearly pre-screened and edited.
Jackie Aina, who is described as “an activist and YouTube creator” asks, “What do you say to folks who are fearful of the COVID-19 vaccine?”
Fauci give his spiel on decades of mRNA development and calls the science that went into it “pristine.” Biden then adds that, “It’s all about protecting other people too. It's not just about you. It's about your obligation.”
Aina replies, “Absolutely. That's something that I think about constantly. Like at 33, I'm like, I don't have any pre-existing conditions, so I want to be forthcoming and think about other people. So I totally agree with that.”
If Aina is getting vaccinated because it’s her obligation to protect other people, then who are those other people? They are unvaccinated. And who is unvaccinated now? The people who don’t want to get the vaccine because they are young and healthy. These people have weighed the benefits and risks and decided they are less likely to die from COVID than other things.
So we’re back to the only innocent victims who could exist in this scenario- an immunocompromised person who is medically incapable of being inoculated from COVID. Biden doesn’t explain this because he doesn’t think we need to know his real goals.
For Biden to achieve herd immunity, he needs to get about 100 million more people to roll up their sleeves. Since the over 65-year-old group is already at 74 percent and will be 85 percent after second rounds soon, they aren’t his target audience. He needs young people and kids to get vaccinated — even though they don’t get very sick and often don't even get symptoms of the virus. It’s not medically necessary, so that’s why he keeps playing on heart strings.
The federal government has moved the goalposts on the COVID pandemic so many times that the public has started making up their own. Some of the public insists that vaccines prevent more deadly virus mutations. The vaccine manufacturers haven’t found enough variations to even make a booster shot.
The only way to calm down people on hypotheticals and irrational fear is for the President of the United States to tell us what is the goal now that the vulnerable population is safe from dying of coronavirus. Biden needs to use facts, not emotional appeal. We are smarter than he thinks.
NEW LINKS!
I have always had a personal policy for my journalism that I only use original sources, meaning I don’t take material from other reporters. That’s why you never see links to other news sites on my articles. This is for two reasons. First, I’m extremely competitive, and I don’t want to have to cite another reporter for something I know that I can find myself.
Second, I don’t trust anyone else to be accurate enough that I pass their information on to my readers with the same authority. This way, when I make a mistake or miss something, I take full responsibility. I will tell you and issue a correction.
So I’ve decided to provide my subscribers with the links to my reporting so you can read more about anything you want yourself. I’ve started doing it with this story by simply closing tabs on my browser and putting them at the end as footnotes.
From now on, you can scroll to the bottom of my articles to get the links back to what I read to write. There will not be a link to these things: interviews, meetings with sources, my experiences, conversations or my own memories or opinions because those things link back to my brain. I can’t upload it to Substack.
LINKS
John’s Hopkins School of Health: What is Herd Immunity and How Can We Achieve It With COVID-19?
Yale School of Medicine: Herd Immunity: Will We Ever Get There?
World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Herd immunity, lockdowns and COVID-19
Dr. Hotex’s twitter feed
Cleveland Clinic Can I Get the COVID-19 Vaccine If I Have Cancer?
Remarks by President Biden on the 100 Million Shot Goal - March 18
Remarks by President Biden on the American Families Plan - MAY 03
President Biden's YouTube Town Hall on COVID-19 Vaccination (link can be watched below)
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Thanks Em, it’s so difficult these days to find someone worth trusting, thank you for using original sources it always seems every news story I read is “CNN is reporting that AP is reporting…” so you go to AP: “AP is reporting that Vox is saying their “sources” (who Are anonymous) are neither confirming nor denying…” so I’m stuck here like well what the hell this is just the news media reporting on what the news media is reporting 🤷♂️ It’s not news
1. I am eager to become an annual subscriber on 1 June rather than a monthly. 2. I chose to be vaccinated because of the comorbidities I have that could complicate my life; my life is already challenging. 3. This particular disease has been a very convenient control mechanism for many governments across the globe; this piece of biowarfare and psychological warfare is rather intolerable, as while I live in this life I'm quite happy to transition to Heaven when God declares the time has come.