A Sussex County resident submitted a letter to the Editor of a local newspaper, as to why she won't have the shot, and unfortunately her letter was published. This is what she wanted the readers to know. I started to research her claims because I couldn’t help myself, and this went sideways very quickly.
She numbered her five points.
1. She’s very clear that you best not tell her that mistakes weren’t made when
the vaccine was developed. I would however challenge her to tell me an appropriate comparison. When
was there ever a time in the history of the world (part one or part two) that
all researchers from around the actual globe-- and literally during the same
time period-- were simultaneously and collaboratively focusing on the development
of a vaccine for the same thing.
Since the start of the pandemic when
scientists and manufactures and distributors immediately began working together,
in an effort that is unparalleled in history, the result was inevitably expedited.
I’m not saying this to point out the obvious, but then again sometimes you just
gotta.
2. She, the Letter-to-the-Editor author and self-proclaimed
expert of all things related to the Covid-19 vaccine, says “the lack of
properly extensive testing” is “a major risk factor”. While mRNA vaccines are a
new type of vaccine, the technology of an mRNA vaccine has actually been studied
for well more than a decade (they’ve been studied for the flu, Zika virus,
rabies, and more). Now she may not want to hear this, but I’ll say it anyway.
Many vaccines are designed to trigger an immune response by introducing a weak
or inactive germ into our bodies. But unfortunately contrary to Internet memes,
mRNA is not the same and does not work that way. Instead it instructs our cells
to make protein to trigger an immune response, and this immune response is
thankfully much smarter than self-proclaimed experts and it will produce
antibodies. Antibodies are what protects people—even angry, pessimistic,
accusatory people—from getting severely infected if the virus got into their system. The Covid-19 mRNA vaccines essentially instruct our cells. We’ll learn
more about cells when we get to the fourth point in her worrisome display of
unique knowledge. But first, we have number three.
3. She is beside herself that vaccine developers will not be
held financially accountable if things go south with an injection. It’s not
clear what south means, but she does specify that “hundreds of people have
already permanently gone south from the injection and their families are left
with no legal recourse”. No details or even a single example of who these
hundreds of families are.
So, there is technically a protection currently in
place (which will I believe will last until 2024), and no it is not common for a blanket
immunity law to be passed. But it was essentially a knee-jerk reaction from the
pharma companies who said to the government, okay, if you want us to fast-track
the development then we want you to protect us from lawsuits. It’s important to
remember that the FDA approves products for mass distribution—not the vaccine
manufacturers. So no, you can not sue the government if you have “permanently
gone south from the injection”. This is because no one can sue the FDA for
approving or not approving anything—and this was also the case before the
pandemic, too.
4. She Who Will Not Be Named took that accountability theory a step further and focused on life insurance. And then threw gene therapy into the mix! After all,
she says she read—she doesn’t say where, she just says she read—that insurance
companies are refusing to pay out policies to the families of those that die
since the vaccine is not technically FDA approved. The only thing she did get
correct is that “experimental” is not the same as “emergency use” (insert me
clapping my hands). However, it’s worth noting the emergency use authorizations
are issued by… (drum roll)….the FDA… the same FDA who did in fact issue such
use for the vaccines. While there may be other vaccines out there in the
universe which are still in the experimental or investigational phase, the ones
which are legally available to the public are approved for use because they were tested beyond that stage. As far as insurance companies-- and social media can pat itself on the back to take credit for this one, too-- but the spoiler alert is that her beliefs are simply not truths. And as author
of this Letter to the Editor, she conveniently forgot to call her (or any)
insurance company or insurance expert for that matter-- to ask if
the vaccine would jeopardize coverage. (Credible online sources report that coverage is not compromised.)
As far as gene therapy—also something discussed in the dark corners of social media--
people are deciding that mRNA vaccines are exactly that. The only problem with
this theory is that mRNA vaccines, including the ones for Covid-19, do not
alter people’s genes in any way. If you
look up gene therapy, and also the anatomy of human cells, and the difference
between DNA and ribosomes, then you will learn I am not lying.
5. She quotes a veterinarian who recently self-published a
manifesto. Her argument for including his thoughts is that he’s generally a
pro-vaxxer.
He may or may not be able to speak appropriately on behalf of animals, but has completely
lost me as far as his knowledge of humans. A quick search revealed the
masterpiece he authored has been debunked all over the web due to its
chock-full-of incorrect information, and complete lack of real evidence.
In conclusion, she wants local newspaper readers to know that she has no idea
what she’s going to do. She not only mentioned that it’s also the fault of the Democrats,
but in addition she finds it bizarre that it is legal to “kill a pre-born baby”
but she doesn’t have the legal right to decide what goes into her body.
My first thought was how do you compare pregnancy to a highly contagious,
potentially deadly disease?
But I was immediately distracted from that thought when she brought up Nazi
Germany forcing citizens to subject themselves to medical experiments… and how
the world condemned them for that, yet here we are doing the same thing?!
This just went from sad-but-almost-funny
to what-in-the-name-of-all-that’s-holy
faster than a high performance sports car going 0 to 60. She literally compared
a solution to a global pandemic with the Holocaust. I found her on Facebook and was able to see
that she recently shared an article about Stacey Abrams and Nancy Pelosi being
on the Board of a mysterious unnamed group that is collaborating with the Chinese
Communist Party. Some extra clicking around taught me that the sources of this “news”
are under the umbrella of an independent creative media developer.
So to the reader who wrote that letter to the Editor, I will say this: if you
won’t protect yourself, and therefore you’re also not protecting others, then
the least you can do is avoid bringing anyone down with you. Your words are
nonsense because everything you wrote is either exaggerated or simply not true.
The real problem of the pandemic is not just Covid, it is also the public.
I’ve said this before in conversation but this past year is like one long
journey in terrible road conditions. And I can drive with as much care and
caution as I possibly can… obeying speed limits and even white-knuckling the
steering wheel when navigating through particularly rough stretches. But
unfortunately a major factor in my own safety depends upon the other drivers
around me. Their decisions can put me, my friends, and my entirely family in
danger. Their decisions can put their own friends and family in danger.
Spreading falsehoods is just another example of someone who does not take the
road conditions seriously.
The only shot we have at beating this is each other, and you can either hinder or help the outcome.
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