Here is the 2nd of a 3-part series on the COVID-19 vaccine and related issues. Last week, I opined that COVID-19 is now greeted with a collective yawn by Americans. We have moved on but the virus is still here. COVID-19 vaccine interest has also certainly waned. Another yawn.
Commenters who read last week’s Whistleblower post on my Substack platform vehemently disagreed with me. Indeed, I have received more reaction to that post than to any other in recent memory, and the comments are still coming in. I will offer them, as well as all readers, some directed comments at the conclusion of this post
How do I regard the COVID-19 vaccine? Over my long medical career, I have witnessed true miraculous
medical milestones. Operation Warp Speed
in Trump’s first administration was one of them, which he himself readily acknowledges. Trump announced proudly during the pandemic that Warp Speed was “one of the greatest miracles of the ages” and that the vaccines prevented "another 1917 Spanish flu". Warp speed delivered highly safe and highly
effective COVID-19 vaccines into our arms in less than a year – a truly monumental
scientific achievement. Millions of lives were saved. Perhaps, you or a loved one were one of them?
Americans were scrambling to receive the initial vaccine
series. This vaccines were launched using mRNA technology, which has been disparaged by many, as I
pointed out in last week’s post and was reinforced by several commenters. Had our
scientists not utilized it, how many more lives would have been lost? Perhaps, you or a loved one may have been one
of them?
However, over time, the public has clearly lost interest in the
virus and the vaccines that are available to combat it. Yes there are some who reject the vaccines’ safety and efficacy claims, but I maintain that there has been a general acceptance of 'we're moving on’ from the pandemic.
Why has this happened?
To begin, the disease is no longer viewed as the threat that it once
was. We are not walking around in masks and maintaining a zone of separation
from others. Many believe that the efficacy of later boosters and
vaccines is less than that of the original vaccine series. There is also a reasonable belief that many
of us have acquired a good measure of immunity from prior immunizations as well
as from COVID infections.
But these are not the only reasons explaining vaccine reluctance or even hostility. Politics infected our national public health
landscape. I admit that I was unprepared
for this development and was truly shocked when it occurred. I naively expected that the pandemic would be
a unifying experience since disease should be immune from politics. People were dying. Do you recall ICU patients on ventilators expressing regret for rejecting the vaccine? Fears of running out of ventilators? Morgue trucks in parking lots? Nightly cheers for our first responders? We were not debating
a tax or tariff issue or immigration
policy or climate change regulations. We expect political
involvement in political issues like these. But a pandemic? A virus was ripping across the country and the
planet with no political agenda or target.
I wrongly thought that this global health catastrophe would have united us in a shared purpose to fight
back with every available weapon in a mission to save lives.
Instead, the virus further fueled division and polarization as reaction from my last week's post illustrates. We fought over vaccine mandates, Ivermectin, masks,
lockdowns, government overreach and the origin of the pandemic. Many even vilified public health experts, many of whom had
served the nation for decades. Did they deserve criticism for their pandemic decisions and policies? Of course. But personal attacks and vilification were indecent.
Was there government overreach? Next week, I’ll address this.
End of current post. Now, as promised, a message below to readers and commenters. Please know that I welcome your views and love the dialogue. That's why I've been a blogger for over 15 years.
I disagreed with nearly all of those who commented on my post last week. I stand by my post and I trust that they stand by their views. By and large, the comments were respectful and I allowed every one of them to stand. I will not, however, permit personal attacks on this site, and while some came close last week, I let them be so that readers could judge for themselves. Readers should know that if I ever delete a comment from any future post, it will not be because of content offered respectfully, but because ad hominem, wildly inappropriate or gratuitously inflammatory views were expressed. Be respectful.
Readers and the rest of us need to make up our own minds on the vexing issues of the day. Clearly there are some views that are so firmly held that they are inalterable. I may harbor such views myself on certain issues. Truth seeking to me means searching out authoritative and objective sources for information. Does the source have a bias or an agenda to be considered? For instance, would we trust doctors more than insurance companies with regard to our health? Some sources may be imperfect but are still valuable. Demand a verifiable scientific basis for claims made on all sides of an issue. Remember also that science is not perfect. Even settled medical and scientific dogma will have dissenting views with a study or two that offers a different conclusion which may be ripe targets for cherry picking dissenters. For instance, if you do a quick search on health benefits of smoking, as I just did, you will find reports that tobacco use is associated with improvement or even prevention of certain diseases. Would this warrant the medical profession questioning or revising its stance on the hazards of smoking? Consider the totality of the evidence available when making a judgement. Thanks for reading.
Editor’s Note: For 16 years, I've published weekly essays here on Blogspot, which will continue. I’ve now begun publishing my work on a new blogging platform, Substack, and I hope you’ll join me there. Please enter your email address at this link to receive my posts directly to your inbox.
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