Non-COVID Death Epidemic of the Future…

 Non-COVID Death Epidemic of the Future…

 Published previously at AIER in March 2021 

https://www.aier.org/article/non-covid-death-epidemic-of-the-future/

Update from August 2022 in progress...

 

Consider the possibility that science is a process of questions and answers. Not all answers are correct and not all questions are valid. Yet all need to be considered and evaluated separately and carefully. Within that context we broach the subject of this COVID debacle that stands in our way to a free and productive life. The draconian measures undertaken have had profound and lasting impressions on the American psyche that will not be washed away any time soon. But we wish to explore the unscientific labors of a few minds that compelled the nation and indeed the world to point to a far worse intermediate term future of the health of our citizens. Although, Non-COVID related deaths include the psychological trauma to the society as a whole, including suicides, drug abuse and harm related to physical abuse, and their future impact, we will focus on the non-psychological medical harm to the people as a whole. 

 

Was this Flawed Science?

 

What has COVID wrought on our nation and the entire planet? What has become a daily treadmill of fear and peril at every fork in the road? While we do not minimize the enormous loss of life from the pandemic, we certainly argue against the mechanics used to mitigate the pandemic. We have climbed through the hoops of shutdowns and lockdowns and found that wanting. The fact that lockdowns have done harm, is not in question. Entire companies have gone bankrupt and households have lost loved ones via the egregious efforts of confinement and proximity. Restaurants have closed, movie theaters are threatened, and brick and mortar stores have shuttered. Millions have lost their jobs and most others are skating on thin ice that keeps getting thinner by the day. We were told that masks were not helpful once, not too long ago but then they suddenly defied all previous principles of apolitical science and became helpful in mitigating the viral onslaught. But that was not enough because what one mask couldn’t seem to do in regards protecting the individual, two were recommended as “common sense.” Suddenly we were told ‘science’ had proven the fidelity of such a declaration. More policy mandates were promulgated and schools were shutdown to “protect the young.”  John Ionnadis, MD from Stanford University, linked such arbitrary, yet draconian shutdowns to a greater harm on society. Skepticism of such motives would be considered blasphemy, after all the policy was made to protect the young from acquiring the infection. Somewhere in the new science world, the whole idea of facts was lost. The data showed that children less than 10 years of age had a 0.002% chance of severe illness and those under twenty years of age had less than 0.1% chance. Even UNESCO reiterated that school closures cause harm to the young.  And the 1.9 billion children were directly impacted by such measures, harming the lower income far worse. Within this dichotomy of action and reaction was buried the 1840 Farr’s Law about pandemics that everyone seemed to have missed: “Epidemics (also holds true for pandemics) events rise and fall in a roughly symmetrical pattern. The time-evolution behavior could be captured by a single mathematical formula that could be approximated by a bell-shaped curve.”

 

Further irregularities in reporting occurred in February and March of 2020, when the Infection Fatality Rate was conflated with Case Fatality Rate. The difference between IFR and CFR is in the denominator: infections or cases. All cases are infections, but not all infections are confirmed cases related to the virus, so the number of infections (of x + y infections) always exceeds the number of cases (x infection), making IFR less than CFR. The IFR for the Seasonal Flu is 0.13% (0.1-0.18%) yet in March of 2020 that number was reported by the media and confirmed by Dr. Fauci in his testimony to be 3%. The difference between the numbers is an order of magnitude that not only was alarming but overnight created enormous fear.

 

 

The Failing Diagnostics

 

In all this hubbub of the “new science” where the priors were considered to not add to the current vogue concepts, something was lost: facts! The data mining of the COVID infections was cluttered with miscues. The data mined, created a bucket of “cases both asymptomatic and symptomatic”, “hospitalizations,” and “deaths.” The “cases” we have come to know are not as were assumed in the early phase of the pandemic. Not everyone with a fever, a cough or those feeling listless was infected with the virus. Even those tested positive with the Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction or RT-PCR method were not truly infected, were based on diagnostic methodology and did not represent the actual incidence of infection. We discovered that the thermal cycle threshold used in the PCR method was the hidden arbiter determining an infection “case.” The higher the number of thermal cycles used for amplification of the RNA, the higher the degree of probability that the test would be rendered positive. In other words, a person with a non-infectious fragment of an RNA from a previous coronavirus infection could be counted positive due to the high sensitivity and low specificity based on high amplification cycles, this inherent weakness, brought into question the very accuracy of the case-count.

 

But what of the Deaths? Since deaths are considered the “lagging indicator” in the disease and determine the deadly virulence of the virus itself. What did that number actually represent? And this is where we lay our tale.

 

Excess Mortality Data

 

The CDC data suggested and continues to show the “Excess mortality numbers” on a weekly basis. Any spike above the mean is considered excess and suggests that the increased mortality is from the virus itself. Science again asks us to remain skeptical. So, we are going to question with rational arguments and factual data these question that hound us.

 

Excess mortality depends on the structure of the population demographics. The older the population, the higher the excess mortality numbers. These age structures, however, can be standardized to make valid comparisons. Based on this standardization the United States has an excess mortality of 12.9% with Expected Age-standardized Mortality 2020 (per 100,000)

 of 1020,  Age-standardized total excess mortality (per 100,000) of 1152 and  Excess age-standardized mortality (per 100,000) of 132

 

 

What Constitutes COVID Death?

 

How does a physician categorize death on a death certificate? If a person has a diagnosis of terminal cancer but on the last day of their life, the organ failure from the ravages of the cancer ends their life. How would one account for that death? Is it the organ failure, such as heart failure, kidney failure or liver failure etc.? Or is it the cancer itself? Any logical mind would say the latter. But then if the physician would write Heart Failure as the cause and Cancer as the extenuating secondary causal event, would he be wrong? The answer is simple, yes! And that problem has been circulating in the medical world for a long time. Death Certificates are full of errors, as much as 51%  based on the data, both by interpretation and sometime by intent.

 

We have over the past year seen COVID being labeled as the cause of death in car accidents, in gunshot related traumatic deaths and other organ failure maladies. Were these all COVID deaths? The answer is no. Was it contributing in nature, perhaps?  But definitely not as a proximate cause. It is a fairly remarkable statement to make, yet the facts seem to agree with that assertion.  Several cases in the newspaper articles account for such blatant incongruities.

 

We have also ascertained over the similar one-year period of time that normal causal reasons of death have decreased dramatically. The numbers of deaths related to cancer have plummeted as have heart attacks, diabetes and other chronic diseases related events. In similar vein, the number of Influenza cases have also dramatically been reduced. And in the latter case, one wonders if we are testing the RNA fragments common to other coronaviruses and calling every Influenza like illness a COVID infection? Since data exists that the SARs-CoV2 shares 96.2% homology to other coronaviruses including the bat virus and other coronavirusessuch as MERS and Influenzas. A question that should keep experts researching?

 

The Declining Screening Measures

 

Non COVID deaths are taking a back seat in counting these days. There is a large price yet to pay and has been paid if we place this concept in the crucible of reality. We have unfortunately turned back the time on preventative medicine. Several studies have identified a substantial drop in health care utility in March and April as most medical offices closed or dramatically scaled back operations, and people have generally avoided interactions with the health system in the hopes of not contracting the virus. This included reductions in outpatient visits, emergency department visits, and elective surgeries like lower joint replacement. Lesser number of colonoscopies are being performed. It is a proven fact that colonoscopy examinations save lives by removing a polyp that will over time turn into cancer. Colonoscopies, declined by almost 90% at one point in mid-April 2020 compared to 2019, and as of November 2020 are still down about 10-15% compared to last year. Similarly, mammogram and breast examinations have been reduced to a trickle. Mammograms and Pap smears were down nearly 80 % in April 2020 compared to 2019. However, both services recovered throughout the summer and fall, with Pap smears and mammograms rebounding above 2019 levels in August and November, respectively. And for males, PSA tests, which are used for prostate cancer screening, while down approximately 70% in early April, have seen a strong rebound, with delivery of PSA tests returning to 2019 levels starting in June, and reaching 25% above 2019 levels in September 2020.

 

What follows is that a treatable and potentially curable malignancy, with delay, will usually reveal itself as late stage incurable cancer. In fact, the legal profession prides itself in suing physicians for negligence due to delay in diagnoses. Our fear of catching a virus is leading us inexorably to the fate we dread the most. Who or what one faults is not the premise that we intend to uncover? We are merely bringing the conscience of all to bear on this potentially formidable looming tragedy.

 

The Actual Harm and the Science

 

A Lancet study from the UK reveals: “We collected data for 32 583 patients with breast cancer, 24 975 with colorectal cancer, 6744 with oesophageal cancer, and 29 305 with lung cancer. Across the three different scenarios, compared with pre-pandemic figures, we estimate a 7·9–9·6% increase in the number of deaths due to breast cancer up to year 5 after diagnosis, corresponding to between 281 (95% CI 266–295) and 344 (329–358) additional deaths. For colorectal cancer, we estimate 1445 (1392–1591) to 1563 (1534–1592) additional deaths, a 15·3–16·6% increase; for lung cancer, 1235 (1220–1254) to 1372 (1343–1401) additional deaths, a 4·8–5·3% increase; and for oesophageal cancer, 330 (324–335) to 342 (336–348) additional deaths, 5·8–6·0% increase up to 5 years after diagnosis. For these four tumour types, these data correspond with 3291–3621 additional deaths across the scenarios within 5 years. The total additional YLLs across these cancers is estimated to be 59 204–63 229 years.”

 

What  is even more appalling is that these non–COVID-19 excess deaths are most apparent in the 25- to 44-year age group for women and 15- to 54-year age group for men as revealed in this article and here. “There are several potential reasons for this undercount," Woolf said in a university news release. "Some of it may reflect under-reporting; it takes a while for some of these data to come in. Some cases might involve patients with COVID-19 who died from related complications, such as heart disease, and those complications may have been listed as the cause of death rather than COVID-19," Woolf explained. "But a third possibility, the one we're quite concerned about, is indirect mortality -- deaths caused by the response to the pandemic," he said. "People who never had the virus may have died from other causes because of the spillover effects of the pandemic, such as delayed medical care, economic hardship or emotional distress."

 

Woolf further stated, “The demographic and time patterns of the non-COVID-19 excess deaths (NCEDs) point to deaths of despair rather than an undercount of COVID-19 deaths. The flow of NCEDs increased steadily from March to June and then plateaued. They were disproportionately experienced by working-age men, including men as young as 15 to 24.  If deaths of despair were the only causes of death with significant net contributions to NCEDs after February, 30,000 NCEDs would represent at least a 45% increase in deaths of despair from 2018, which itself was high by historical standards.”

 

The fears projected onto the public by the public health policy experts and the Media may have created the greatest tragedy of our times. “Due to fears of contracting COVID-19 or taking up space in hospitals, patients experiencing a heart attack or stroke are delaying their essential care, causing a new public health crisis,” said Martha Gulati, MD, FACC, editor-in-chief of CardioSmart.org. 

 

S.H. Jacobson and J.A. Jokela discussed Non–COVID-19 report on excess deaths by age and gender in the United States during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Public Health, 2020; 189:  “At COVID-19's peak for March and April, diabetes deaths in those five states rose 96% above the expected number of deaths when compared to the weekly averages in January and February of 2020. The five states also had spikes in deaths from heart disease (89%), Alzheimer's disease (64%) and stroke (35%). In New York City, there was a 398% increase in heart disease deaths and a 356% increase in diabetes deaths. “

 

To complicate the picture, the British Medical Journal suggested, “during March, while age standardised death rates for COVID-19 show it was the third most common cause of death, ischaemic heart disease was 26% lower than the five-year average for March, and cerebrovascular and chronic lower respiratory diseases were 18% and 10% lower, respectively.”

 

That conclusion is emerging from new research showing deaths are increasing from causes such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes – while emergency room visits for those conditions are down. A JAMA study found huge increases in excess deaths from underlying causes such as diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease in Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania – the five states with the most COVID-19 deaths in March and April. New York City experienced the biggest jumps, including a 398% rise in heart disease deaths and a 356% increase in diabetes deaths.

 

In May of 2020, Bob Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, stated, “The data, based on death certificates from states, shows a spike in so-called “excess deaths” in the United States, split between confirmed COVID-19 fatalities and undiagnosed or unrelated deaths. Amid the pandemic, at least 66,081 more people in the United States have died than expected since January 1. More than 32,300 of the excess deaths have not been attributed to COVID-19. When you put it in context with the weekly deaths over the last couple of years, you see quite a remarkable jump.”

 

The CDC reported in late June of 2020 that in the 10 weeks after the pandemic was declared a national emergency on March 13, hospital emergency department visits declined by 23% for heart attacks, 20% for strokes and 10% for uncontrolled high blood sugar in people with diabetes.

 

Another JAMA study in July 2020, found approximately 781 000 total deaths in the United States from March 1 to May 30, 2020, representing 122,300 (95% prediction interval, 116,800-127,000) more deaths than would typically be expected at that time of year. There were 95 235 reported deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 from March 1 to May 30, 2020. The number of excess all-cause deaths was 28% higher than the official tally of COVID-19–reported deaths during that period.

 

More data from the JAMANetwork Join Point analysis revealed,in October 2020, “Of the 225,530 excess deaths, 150,541 (67%) were attributed to COVID-19. The analyses revealed an increase in deaths attributed to causes other than COVID-19, reaching statistical significance. US mortality rates for heart disease increased between weeks ending March 21 and April 11 (APC, 5.1 [95% CI, 0.2-10.2]), driven by the spring surge in COVID-19 cases. Mortality rates for Alzheimer disease/dementia increased twice, between weeks ending March 21 and April 11 (APC, 7.3 [95% CI, 2.9-11.8]) and between weeks ending June 6 and July 25 (APC, 1.5 [95% CI, 0.8-2.3]), the latter coinciding with the summer surge in sunbelt states.”

 

New data from a research letter showed that US deaths per month—a commonly consistent rate—increased by 20% from March-July of 2020. COVID-19 was a documented cause of death in two-thirds of these excess cases. Steven H. Woolf, MD, MPH, et.al. sought to update previous analysis which showed COVID-19 was cited in just 65% of excess deaths in March-April from this year, while non-coronavirus causes of deaths increased sharply in the 5 states reporting the most COVID-19 deaths. From March 1 – August 1, investigators observed 1,333,561 excess deaths in the US—a 20% increase over the estimated expected 1.1 million deaths (1,111,031; 95% CI, 1,110,364 – 1,111,697). Of the 225,530 estimated excess deaths, 150,541 (67%) were attributed to COVID-19. The 3 states to account for 30% of all excess deaths in this period—New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts. 

 

In October, 2020 a StatNews article showed, “There were also differences among different age groups, with the largest increase occurring among people age 25 to 44, who saw excess deaths that were 26.5% higher than average. People 45 to 64 had 14.4% more deaths, while those 65 to 74 had 24.1% more deaths. Deaths among people 75 to 84 were 21.5% higher and 14.7% higher for people 85 and above. Deaths this year for people under 25, however, were 2% below average.”

 

A more recent article in January 2021 confirmed that 78% of cancers were missed due to lack of screening. Scott Atlas, MD extrapolates this to 1 million people in the U.S. to be impacted from such lack of detection. 

 

Estimates from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and reported in the New York Times, reveal that,“40,000 extra deaths from diabetes, Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure and pneumonia. Nationwide, deaths from Alzheimer’s disease, which usually affects older adults, are 12 percent above normal this year, with several Southern states seeing larger increases. 40,000 extra deaths from diabetes, Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure and pneumonia.”

 

The total deaths make the virus look deadlier. But so far this year, three times as many people have died of heart ailments. “I’ve got about 1 million deaths from January to April,” said Bob Anderson, chief of the mortality-statistics branch of the National Center for Health Statistics. “About 230,000 are from heart disease. Nearly 200,000 are cancer deaths, 61,000 are chronic lower-respiratory diseases, 55,000 are accidents and 52,000 are strokes.” Recent research confirms that excess all-cause mortality was 2.4 per 10,000 individuals in the United States in April 2020  –  the first full month of the pandemic – which represents about 30% more deaths than the number of COVID deaths reported in that month 

 

Meanwhile in the United Kingdom, according to the Imperial College data, “Around 9,000 non-COVID-19 deaths in England during three months of the pandemic would not have occurred had the pandemic not happened.”

 

It brings us back to the question of reason and reality. Masking reality without reason lays bare the profundity of the harm that is before us. All this will be accounted for as the doctors are allowed to go back to their business of saving lives. There will be a rash of deaths that could have been prevented in the recent past and more so in the coming future, from not-screening, not diagnosing and not being able to care for. We might all rue the day when the public health policy experts did not consider the ramifications of their singular tunnel-vision focus. 

 

 

HUMAN MURMURATION

  

A Starling

Starlings are beautiful birds, yellow beaks, colorful feathers, short tails with a sense of community. They hail from Europe transported by man into America where they are known to bully other birds for their own survival. It doesn’t make them bad or for that matter good. It shows the implanted survival code in their DNA.

There is another startling yet awesome phenomena that Starlings participate in, it’s called “murmuration.” Just before sunset many starlings fly around above their roosting abode as a warning to predators about “strength in numbers” to prevent being a prey to another forager. This phenomenon is both mesmerizing and beautiful as the collective swoops about forming and deforming cataracts in the sky.

The fundamentals behind these flowing architectural waves of silky ethereal shapes remain to protect against the outside predator and via the collective force of the many impose on the lesser a sense of dread. And that is where we lay our tale.

Homo Sapiens have through history shown themselves to be capable for doing the same. Not being flying creatures, humans have resorted to a similar behavior but on land. Their movements are as mesmerizing as the Starlings. Historically we have dealt with perceived threats in a unified manner. Preventing predation is in our nature. To protect and prevent harm to ourselves and our progeny is a calling within our DNA. The World Wars are a classic example of such threats that were neutralized to find peace and harmony. Yet there is, as is exemplified in the Starling behavior a certain undercurrent of bullying that emerges with this power of a collective acting in unison. We as humans more often than not, fall prey to the “Us verses Them,” mentality, allowing the unfolding of a stage of rage.

Again, history is a guide to such a behavior. From a recent past, one can look at Mao Tse Tung’s China to Stalin’s Russia and thence to Hitler’s Germany. What this human murmuration was all about was the singular focus against a common enemy. In Germany, Hitler exploited the “Arian Race” to eliminate the rest in gas chambers and then with the growth of his power he started bullying the neighbors and finally invading neighboring countries, just like the Romans did centuries ago conquering borderlands until their empire finally collapsed upon reaching the distant Hadrian Wall. Stalin and Mao using the Communist manifesto eliminated all questioning minds and murdered hundreds of millions in their quest to find ultimate power. Even the United States was not free from such murmuration with the McCarthyism that focused on a singular enemy the Communists in the government and in thence in every house, leading to the classic family against family and friend against friend to turn over the “bad people.” Such tactics were employed as late as 2021 when New Jersey Governor suggested from his bully-pulpit that friends and families need to “out” those that were not social distancing during COVID. From similar pulpits in other countries the Leaders have used bullying tactics against their citizens, some with total lockdowns, others with policing and imprisoning and still others withdenying a livelihood if individuals are not compliant with their diktats. Some of these “leaders” have become unhinged, calling names and others are using a vengeful mechanism against the non-compliant. Even some teachers have gotten into the act of taking other’s health decisions into their hands. This all may sound unsettling, and it is. But collective human behavior is not a recent event. From collective bargaining for better working conditions and pay raises we have arrived at the Teachers Union not wishing to open schools while simultaneously enjoying the $190 Billion given by the US Federal Government during the pandemic and being aware that closing schools have resulted in a rash of teenage and youth suicides from depression and loneliness. Such a travesty should not go unnoticed.

We look to this human murmuration and wonder what makes humans do such awful things. And Professor Mattias Desmet a clinical psychologist weaves his comments such; “large-scale mass formation emerges in society when specific conditions are met—social isolation, the lack of meaning in life, free-floating anxiety, and frustration and aggression—all interacting to create a situation whereby society is extremely vulnerable to the rise of a totalitarian state.”

Indeed, when we look through the historical perspective, we find a plethora of examples that highlight and confirm his views. To find a common enemy and solely and intensely focus on it, to the detriment of all other thoughts creates a hypnotic state which commences the beginning of a murmuration. As all riots do, the initial sharp focus is deeply held by 5% of the rioting group and another 10% venerates those with such deeply held beliefs, attracting the 30%+ into the chaos of this hypnosis. This moderately coalesced large group adds to its fledgling corpus with those fearful of being left behind, with those fearful of losing their livelihoods, with those fearful of losing a promotion or bonus, with those with a mindset of go along to get along. Thus, a murmuration takes flight. Most of the latter versions of the followers are also highly educated and the collective is a means to a personal end and to not be left behind. While most in the group consider this belonging, a virtuous deed. Some are on standby to move to the next great societal wave. All in all, the cult of the many seeps into the minds of most as time ticks on, some are transformed while others stand their ground. A rational person would look for smoke or fire, when someone yells, “fire” before charging out of the crowded movie theater with the herd of humanity as it tramples on itself in pursuit of safety. But in this minor example and in such large-scale disruptions where a common enemy even if it is an invisible, is identified, reason is supplanted with fear and the marionettes in the background can play the tune to the hypnotized crowd. As Hannah Arendt so eloquently put it, “In their fear of death, those living fear life itself, a life that is doomed to die… The mode in which life knows and perceives itself is worry. Thus, the object of fear comes to be fear itself. Even if we should assume that there is nothing to fear, that death is no evil, the fact of fear (that all living things shun death) remains.” Perhaps more of us should reconcile with life and learn to experience delight in nature, in love and life with one another and escape from the shackles of this ill-found fear that so pervades the essence of our being? Forget the indignant intolerance of the few that sit in judgment enforcing their uniform obedience and demand fealty. Separating children from parents or other “un-fully-vaccinated” family members as proposed recently will be a stain on our psyche as a society, as James Baldwin wrote, “The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us, and the light goes out.” Do not let the light go out! As Seneca wrote, “we suffer more often in imagination than in reality,” is true. For all the misaligned threadbare raw emotions of fear that climb on our backs to misguide us on the wrong path, there is always the truth and reason that brings us back to reality! He further admonishes us, “Accordingly, some things torment us more than they ought; some torment us before they ought; and some torment us when they ought not to torment us at all. We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow.” So don’t!

What of those rational ones, that stand their ground?

These are the free thinkers, who question the motives, the rationale, the reason, the beginning and who look at the projected very end and find tiny imperfections that have caused the gash in the societal fabric to release the murmuration. They are a heterogenous group, some educated, some not, some at highest level of societal echelon in universities and colleges and leadership positions while others are the quiet thinkers, thinking. They are firm in their belief and stoic in their suffering. Such are the individuals who change the countenance of the society back to reality again. It is this group that fosters advancement of the society as a whole and wrenches away the reigns from the idle and weak crowd-pleasers and takes back the power from the charlatans and deliver it to the rightful owners, the people, themselves.

COVID, the common enemy has found such murmuration. It is the common enemy of all. We as humans have shed all loyalties to each other for the sake of personal safety. We have forsaken the traditional model of do good to your neighbor by becoming “snitches” against them. We have forsaken our productivity as humans to the lull of four walls and fear. We have given up our liberties and freedoms so that the Great Wizard behind the curtain also a human, with his own embedded frailty, will provide the safety and security for our being. We have abrogated our responsibilities to be good citizens. We have become subservient to a whim, subservient to a collective, to a mesmerizing murmuration. We need not anymore!

Murmuration have meaning both away from predation (the common enemy) and towards intolerance and bullying as we learn from the beautifully feathered bird called lovingly, the Starling.

500 million Kits n’ all.

COVID Testing kit

 

 500 million Testing Kits, and still weeks away, but on the way!

 

In this acrimonious world where even a humorous remark is deemed an aggression and slammed by the technological fact-checking wizards with ideological bent in an instant, we the people are being forced to tread softly, lest we awaken the fictitious fire-breathing dragon that snores quietly in its lair.

 

But a minor question arose that piqued the neurons: Why are we gung-ho in the “Testing” mode? After all the Omicron has swept the globe and the 50 states of this Union without much ado. And to boot, it is a milder version but enforces a natural immunity against almost all the preexisting variants, based on the South African data. On the other side of the spectrum is Israel recommending a fourth vaccine booster against the Omicron. The logic always escapes the confines of rigid thought.

 

In a circumstance such as this what will further testing accomplish? Will it ward off the evil virus?

 

Extensive Testing is needed in the early phase of a viral illness which can prevent spread and additionally help in Contact-Tracing of all the contacts who may then quarantine for a specified period and prevent the onward march of the virus. But that train is long past the station.

 

How do unstandardized home-testing-kits with a significant false negative/false positive potential benefit the people, even it is a virtue signaled as for the “public good?” Will it further the chaotic environment of insecurity and fear?

 

Perhaps, and giving the devil its due, the home testing kits will help people who test positive to stay home. That is a laudable concern. Just as if you feel sick, tired, fatigued, with the sniffles you perhaps want to stay home and avoid the crowds for further spreading the viral genome. That is all good. Makes us feel good that Daddy is keeping us safe and secure in our homes by providing us with expensive tools instead of spending time in educating the need for such.

 

“But daddy,” asks the little 5-year-old, “that makes me nervous for going out.”

“Why son?” asks the tall, towering father.

“Because, daddy, now I feel that before I can step out of the house without testing, I might spread it to my friend, Jill. And I don’t want to do that.”

“Well son, that is very noble of you. Just for that measure, we have ordered a thousand kits and we can test anytime we want.” The father pats his son on the head.

“But daddy, Jill’s parents live in a small home, and they only have three kits. She can only test once. What happens when Jill uses the one and does not have any kits left?”

“Then son, she will have to stay home, or she might spread the virus to others with negative test.”

“But daddy, that is so unfair!” The boy raises his tinny voice in exasperation.

“We all have to follow the rules.” The father admonishes.

“I am going to give Jill some of my test kits then.” The boy murmurs to himself.

“You will do no such thing. Do you know how many favors I had to give to get these for our family so we can live our lives freely?” The father uses his deep baritone voice for effect.

“But what about my friend Jill?”

“Jill is not my concern. You are.”

And thus, for the unconnected, those living paycheck-to-paycheck, and the poor, the disinterested get the call of “take this and shut up. You get what you get.”

 

Again, the prickly question comes to mind, where are we going with this “Testing?” and when is it all going to end? Apparently, the CDC is withdrawing the Emergency Use Authorization for its PCR test. Perhaps that is because of the many inscrutable uses of thermal cycle thresholds to create false positives or perhaps the public awareness of it all is coming to the fore? Who knows?

 

The two-year-old story is finding itself becoming unglued with unresolved threads that don’t artfully coil together perfectly in a braid. The readers are apprehensive and unsettled, because the flip-flop, word-salad continues to dominate the airwaves and the digital markets, enhancing confusion and chaos. 

 

The world is waking up, albeit slowly, and realizing that they, in a matter of two years have lost the comforts of their liberties and their freedoms. The peoples are rising to question the motives of the men and women behind the opaque curtain. 

 

Meanwhile the proponents of such restrictive provisions are quietly admitting some layer of guilt. For instance, New Jersey quietly pays $53 million to the families of the victims of the nursing home residents. And the New York Governor resigns in shame over extraneous reasons, but similar dark circumstances cloud his legacy. They created an untimely frost which stole away rightful lives. And hush money makes for a good legacy, perhaps?

 

And back to “Testing” again. What do we hope to accomplish with the testing? Fear? Or Contact Tracing? Or perhaps telling people who are positive to stay home? If the former two are the reasons they will fail miserably as the rest of the charade has fallen on hard times. If the latter, then perhaps a simpler inexpensive version might be to educate people to just stay home with sniffles.

 

In the end, someone with the tax-payer purse must realize that throwing money at a pandemic is not the answer. These nested finitudes of virtue signals matter most to those in charge and not those mentally imprisoned by the chaos.  The answer lies not with the Mandates, the vaccine passports, the Lockdowns, and shutdowns, the social distancing, the masking, the  school closures, the compulsory COVID interventions, and the Political/Media overreach with Fear mongering. But there is not much mention about the Natural immunity. The Policy mandates have claimed many young and old lives through suicide and depression and job losses and broken families. Any rational person would condemn such a travesty. We hope there are a few rational people still in existence.  

 

These questions need to be answered. And the answers lie not in the vast burden of crafted narrative on the backs of the good will of the people, but it will come surely from the careful chiseling away at that piece of opaque marble into a statue to remind us of this debacle. Our lives are optimally programmed and not needing the manipulation by wrong-headed tinkerers. The society remains unmoored and focused on the narrowed vision instead of the elemental fundamentals of a broad future. It, the society is being guided today by some pathetic counterfeits who keep throwing these sugar-covered pills promising the rapture of safety and security, while the vast overlay of reality stares back in disbelief.

 

These questions may not be answered, because the power inebriated are dancing in a drunken vicious stupor of circular argument: “We know best.” 

 

They Don’t! 

 

Besides any argument or question is considered anti-science by the bureaucratic policy makers. And they know the harm they are doing to the society of humans, daily.

 

What we as humans, in our conquests for a better future, do is in the unmistakable deliberation with reason. Our future becomes our present and then unfolds itself out in our memories. Let us not look back at our own inactions in dismay, cowered by this overhang of fear and cowardice, but boldly strike at the underbelly of that fear and slay that beast within. And then live our lives in the pursuit of happiness!

 

 

 

Autumn and the Falling Leaf

 There is quite a splendor in the falling of a leaf. It is a measure of life. The entropic nature of our existence unfolds at each fall. The trees turn colors from the green of summer to the brown of Autumn. The glorious trick-spray of gold on the canopy of a forest is a treat to behold, as the chlorophyll is decommissioned from its magic of creating life from thin air.

 

There is magic in the air, as it chills to the gathering fall of leaves and the color in the wide-eyed child’s gaze fills with wonder. Halloween is here! Indeed, the dreams of candy and costume and the ever refrain of “Trick or Treat,” fills the doorsteps everywhere in the neighborhoods. 

 

From the 2000-year-old tradition of the Celtics of Ireland, and Scotland of celebrating the “All Saints Eve,” to the modern-day world of the United States this traditional celebration gathers more steam and joy each passing year as the young frolic and the elders watch.

 

But strangely in the past two years there has been a decay of such spirits and frivolity. Children are strangely fearful in approaching doorsteps. They are being shepherded in a controlled manner. Even Superman showed up with a mask on and Joker had a large cardboard syringe and needle in his hands, typifying the age we live in.

 

Something evil stirs among us humans. It has the strange tantalizing quality to a mysterious voice that filters all its statement through the lens of safety. And who would not listen to such a voice. After all it is carefully crafted for us all. To keep us safe from harm. Perhaps from evil? Ah therein lies the rub. What evil there is, is carefully hidden beneath the overture, riding the coattails of “safety!”

 

Children are the future, our future, their future, and the future of every nation. These are precious souls that need a careful tending to, like a sapling growing silently in a flower bed. One harmful stroke of hand and the poor green shoot of a sapling bends and gets crushed under the weight of the force. Children are like that sapling, carefully nurture and they grow to be the giant oaks of tomorrow, creating, innovation and reimagining life. Harm them and they die silent and weak.

 

Our children are facing some insurmountable odds that grow each day. This “falling leaf” Autumn has brought with it the purchase of such harmful intent. It is couched under the banner of “safety and security.” But it is neither.

 

Vaccination of children against a virus that has a mortality in the 0.00023-0.0004% range (or 654 died of a 2,800,000 infected with COVID. Hence the children do not need to be protected against, for a simple reason; The child’s immune system takes care of itself. Besides children have low levels of the ACE-2 receptors that entice the SARS CoV2 to attach itself to the cellular surface. So fewer of the viruses can gain access to the children’s cellular machinery. On top of that, they also have a wildly robust immune system that is highly programmable against risk of “non-self” entry by the virus or other pathogen. The entry if it does occur is mild and limited to a day or two of sniffles. After that the virus dare not try a forceable entry because it will be squashed in minutes by the alert immune system. The only children who may need protection are the ones who might have some underlying immune-compromising illness, such as cancer and its therapeutics, some blood disorders, diabetes and obesity. And to reiterate the long-term risks of the mRNA vaccine in children remain unknown and wont manifest till much later, especially given the information that the TLR4 and TLR 7/8receptors that guard the immune system might be affected by the vaccine either as agonist, thus enhancing immunity or by being an antagonist “a detrimental systemic immune activation by mRNAs coding for T cell molecules that mediate T cell activation and Th-1 responses.” 

 

 

So why then one might ask, do all 28 million children need a vaccine against an illness that barely evokes a flinch? That question should and must be all consuming in the minds of ordinary people of various walks of life and medical-scientists world-wide. Shouldn’t it?

 

Dr. Paul Alexander has written a brilliant analytical data-science article filled with 96 studies on the issue. Remarkably it has been ignored by the political and elite operatives in our society. While the masking issues remain in force to this date and are being un-necessarily imposed on the young ones in schools, the political class continues to show its hypocrisy as it trolls the world with its version of “safety and Security.” A version that excludes their personal behavior in both masking and social distancing.

 

Vaccines by their nature take many years of dedication both in trials and for then short-term and long-term safety. The short term being defined in a few months and the longer-term in years. For instance, the real vaccines that we all have received, such as Polio, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Smallpox, each took many years to develop. This vaccine against SARS CoV2 was hatched in less than 9 months under “Operation Warp Speed,” with efficacy and safety data encompassed in a median of mere 2 months. 2 months! Let that sink in.  The 95% (Relative Risk Reduction) efficacy (The Absolute Risk Reduction was calculated at 0.7%, but that is another story for another time) seems to have fallen off the abyss over the 5-6 months post double dosed vaccinated individuals and there is a growing call for a third “booster” shot followed by a six-monthly need for more boosters, as Pfizer joyously reported its “Durable Revenue Stream,”. The inefficacy of the vaccines is documented by Dr. Paul Alexander in this article.

 

Using the same technique of a pseudoscientific approach of 2 months and using 1/3rd the adult mRNA vaccination dose (conjured up out of thin air) with no basic science support, is a new promotional tactic in play, as the FDA (a partially owned subsidiary of the Big Pharma, in this case Pfizer/Moderna/J&J) approved the vaccine for the children under the Emergency Use Authorization.

 

Two issues that might come to mind are: 1. Why is it an EUA? And if it is Why aren’t there any Informed Consents prior to the “jab?” and 2. With the declining infections from the viral infection, why the need to rush?

 

There are several schools of thought from scientists who live and breathe real science that the narrow band of the vaccine contained within the selected splinter of the mRNA genome of the virus that targets the “S” or Spike Protein may be inducing the mutants or variants. If so, the vaccinations might be a source of a viral pandemic in perpetuity!

 

Additionally, there are also basic science data that suggests that the vaccine alters the function of the TLR4 and TLR7/8 receptors in the human body that are needed for a robust immune response. If there is even a hint of such a catastrophe, using such vaccines in children will subject these innocents to a lifetime of illness and even malignancies (cancer). There are biodistribution reports of the lipid-nanoparticles that enclose the mRNA and they may be implicated in a long term autoimmune phenomena where the particles come to rest in the body; brain, kidneys, liver, ovaries, testes, etc.

 

The data from VAERS and other reporting agencies are also equally compelling in the European sites that suggests adverse events are not uncommon. Despite the harms of myocarditis, pericarditis, clotting disorders, strokes in young adults pregnant or athletes has not stirred an eyebrow. Strange, isn’t it?

 

Science has always abided by the simple principle of leaving assumptions aside and strutted for the truth in nature. Why then has this stream of thought, this thread of fostering vitality in all us humans being broken? All humans have a hunger in their mind, a desire to unravel the mysteries of the world and the universe. This microcosm of the virus interacting with a cell is a well-known learned endeavor in scientific circles and yet, questioning the current previously unvetted methodologies rushed to practice, is considered a taboo. A taboo so large that it leaves one job-less and penny-less as the wide-swooping power of the state’s Damocles Sword comes down to silence any voice that dares. 

 

The Art and Science of medicine is also in a free fall. Bias is a common factor in most studies these days that cater to the Big Pharma. Massage the right number of variables and squeeze the p-value of 0.05 through the bias lens and voila you have a “miracle drug” that has little to no value in the real world. The same can be said about the COVID vaccine that has lost its magical 95% Relative Risk Reduction metric over the past 5 months. The declining protection from a viral infection and the rising tide of adverse events are a story that would never be tolerated in Medicine of yesteryears. Alas today, the big bankrolling carpetbaggers from the pharmaceutical companies have control over the new “ethics” of medicine. Questioning any of their rationale is tantamount to obscurity and loss of a profession. A shame that will survive into some historical brief years from now.

 

The leaves are falling as the vibrant colors fade to a dark brown. We live within this syncopation of fear and grief, of love and anger and watch each falling leaf as a requiem of our own mortality. Many premature deaths are a testimony to the shrewdly designed and carried out experiment by a few against the many. And as each green sapling is crushed under the weight of an untried human experiment humanity grows fearful of its own shadow. Within that lack of safety there is no security against the virus, which continues to blossom and prosper under the aegis of this human experiment. 

 

There comes a time to self-educate on the marvels of known and proven science rather than heed the daily call of the news-cycle and talking-heads. Many, in both groups stand to gain considerable wealth and power because of this marketing and promotion. My hope remains that I am proven wrong in my thinking and would love to be proven so. But I fear for the safety of our Innocent children and therein lies this tale…

 

As Autumn’s light slants and the trees opt out of rebuilding themselves, awaiting spring, let us kindle that power that pulsates in all of us to think for ourselves and understand what is before us. And amid that labor of love, let us choose the correct agency to nurture our future.

 

 

PRIMUM NON NOCERE – First Do No Harm

Hippocrates born in 460BC some 2500 years ago was called the “Father of Modern Medicine,” later Sir William Osler was honored with a similar title. Hippocrates may not have used the Latin phrase himself although it is attributed to him, “Primum Non Nocere,” which translated means “First, do no harm.” Osler on the other hand followed the principles of safety in his surgical techniques while at Johns Hopkins. We seem to have come a long way from such a warning.

 

As a society we continue to lurch forwards paying less and less heed to that dictum. From “Blood Letting” which was borne of the ancient Egyptians to the Greeks to the four humors of Galen of Pergamum the art flourished till such luminary lives of George Washington and Charles II were lost by such a therapeutic approach. Scientists have created many a medicine that have fallen to ashes because of harm to the individual patient. Thalidomide used as sedation in pregnancy that caused phocomelia in the newborn and Vioxx that caused cardiac complications. Both and several others were relegated to the ash of history.

 

Vaccines were created to thwart disease, and it took many years of longitudinal study before they were safely employed for the protection of humanity. Polio vaccine took close to 20+ years before being approved for mass vaccination as did the measles vaccine that took more than a decade to be brought into use. Such was the worry of harm to the individual that cast aside all other fears. After all a vaccine used for prevention of an illness, only a minimal harm is acceptable but not a life threatening one!

 

Which brings us to the current COVID vaccine that enjoys the limited rigors of science. After only a few thousand individuals were observed for a median of 2 months in a randomized trial, the vaccine was rapidly and enthusiastically allowed to be used in an Emergency Use Authorization mode. Even being an experimental vaccine, no informed consents were required prior to the “jab.” After much pomp and circumstance as a panacea against the 120-nanometer virus, humans lined up to get the jabs.

 

Any suggestion of Natural Immunity from a previous infection was downplayed as limited immunity, and suddenly after years of evidence related to herd immunity that too was suddenly relegated to wrong science by the experts. Although natural immunity is more robust and durable form of immunity as compared to the Pfizer, Moderna and others whose vaccine related immunity is directed via the mRNA only at the Spike Protein of the SARS CoV2. Yet previously infected individuals were convinced by the public health officials that they too must be vaccinated. The question of negating the broad and durable immunity with the vaccine immunity may bring into question whether the latter might affect the former’s durability. The game was on. As more and more data became available, the population seemed to shrug its collective shoulders to go for the jab. As the vaccination rate contracted, the Authorities first tried “incentives” as lottery tickets, free hamburgers, free tickets to a ball-game and other such inducements. Some were enticed others stood their ground seeking more information. As the desirable goal of the government seemed unreachable, the media and the Authorities started painting those who remained unvaccinated and had questions about the vaccines as “killers” of others. In keeping with that thought the White House brought in social media technocrats to muzzle anyone who questioned the vaccine as purveyors of “misinformation.” The term misinformation was. It seemed applied broadly to anyone questioning the vaccine efficacy or the adverse events related to it.

 

But reality plays its own game. Steadfast through the ordeals data kept emerging as to the harms. The CDC VAERS site continue to collect information on the daily numbers of deaths that were accruing. The current vaccine related deaths have reached beyond 10,000. The Authorities however contend that in the scheme of things with over 160 million vaccinated, these numbers are extremely small hence the risk remains minimal. The question is for whom?

Harms manifested on the elderly include deaths and among the young the potential of myocarditis and its long-term harm of heart failure remains. Blood clotting due to activation of the PF4 factor in some has caused heart attacks, strokes and diffuse micro-clotting with resultant loss of the platelets in the blood stream that protect from spontaneous bleeding. Others have sustained neurological phenomena, including Cranial Nerve paralysis (Bells Palsy) reported in a case controlled study. While some have succumbed to the vagaries of “Pathogenic Priming” and Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE) by the Immune reaction to the large production of the Spike Protein and its circulation within the blood system. While the Swine Flu vaccine was stopped after 10 weeks due to 25 deaths, the COVID vaccine continues unrestrained under the promotional marketing of the pharmaceutical agencies, the governmental Authorities, and the Main-stream Media.

 

Even though many European Countries banned the use of the Astra Zeneca Vaccine on grounds of its lack of Safety, it continued to be used in others. A recent European modeling study based on events show the risks-to-benefit ratio from vaccines. The recent Euro trial suggest the harms outweigh the benefits of the vaccines. The study, published in the weekly edition of the Eurosurveillance journal, models four months of a vaccine distribution strategy in France involving Vaxzevria (commonly called AstraZeneca) from May 2021, and concludes that using the vaccine on the entire adult population there would avert 10 deaths from Covid among 18-39-year-olds, but would be associated with 21 deaths from blood clotting in the same age grouping over the same time period.

 

The organizing principle of vaccination is prevention of an illness from a pathogen with minimal harm. The minimal harm does not, under any circumstance, suggest death, long term infirmity or disability. Such precautions have not been taken thus far. The desire to pursue is so strong that even physicians and the guardians of the public health have been silenced into a tacit agreement of this public health officials, governmental authorities, pharma executives and the main-stream media arrangement. No one, it seems, can speak the truth. Physicians fear loss of license, businesspeople fear loss of their business, fathers, and mothers fear loss of their livelihoods in countering such rhetoric. Science has always been open to questions; that is how it advances. But these days all questioning has been stifled.

 

We must all ask the question, “WHY?”

WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

 What have we done?

 

There was a time for such a discipline as this, called Medical Science.  It is fascinating to live and understand most things around us. The fish that transitioned into reptiles and from the T-Rex evolved the beautiful red rose, trading its mottled green for the fiery red color to attract the bees, or the evolved lens of an eye from the blindness of a bat, such is the majesty of nature that dazzles us daily. We, humans understand such evolutionary dynamics through the rigors of science and longitudinal observations. Science is a fantasy turned into reality. It is the magic smitten love between a human and their environment. That science these days is in peril, fast suffocating under the weight of power and money.

 

There was a time when scientists probed nature to discover her secrets. It would take an Edward Jenner, a Marie Curie, a William Osler, an Alexander Fleming to quell the harm of nature interacting with the human. The magic of discovery and the innovation to help the infirm and those riddled with illness. 

 

Alas things changed dramatically over the past several decades and the process has escalated with time as it approaches us in the present. The truths that have comforted us for decades, now are regaled as discontented outbursts of disequilibrium. Yet the burdens of those dynamic tensions of the past still reverberate in the fibers of our being. And those burdens call on us to visit the past.

 

Science is the discipline of empiricism. You conjure a hypothesis and then experiment to prove it. If the hypothesis is faulty the experiment would be considered a failure and you would go back at it again with a different nuance. Perhaps a lifetime would be spent as with Judah Folkman, MD who was convinced that the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor suppression would be the cure for cancer. It was rich in its concept, but reality did not afford him the wealth of success. History is littered with lives spent in the books, reading and writing, over microscopes, in the clinical wards trying to fathom the mysteries of illness and how to cure them.

 

Such is that history that we embark upon today. The recent history is cobbled together by many a scientist that have turned to statistics in claiming their hour upon the stage and after a while they are heard from no more. But some stay and continue their art of numerical manipulation to keep the spotlight. The sea of medical science literature is eyeball deep in froth. Hundreds if not thousands of “studies” have been rendered useless. Even though some were considered “landmark” in their short lives and cited by several others as proof to their validity. Unfortunately, when the studies were reviewed in one case, only 11% (6 of 53) held up under the scrutiny as being verifiable, or 47 were flawed in their results.

 

Today in the field of cancer medicine, “studies” pop up by the thousands in thousands of journals across the world. Most are flawed in their methodology, others in the small numbers of cases being reported and others still from misinterpretation of the data. Today the hypothesis generation is not in peril, but what is, is the experimentation. If you have an outcome in mind then you generate a  hypothesis and look for a statistical methodology available to prove your underlying premise as being true. New drugs are coming to market bearing news that they can cure this or that. Billions of dollars flow into the coffers of the reporting entity. But as all small sized studies inevitably showing large effect-size results end up in the heap of “wonder why it didn’t work?” Thus, in our bias we are constantly parsing our thoughts and hypotheses into categories and classes, always attempting to understand the processes and compute the distances between what we are emotionally tied to, such as the hypothesis and the potential outcome we wish to achieve. Such binary limitations expose us to the Frankenstein we hope to avoid at the end.

 

The science behind these studies is frequently flawed, the experiments rushed, the outcome preordained, and the eye of the agency is on the monetary prize for the next quarter.  It is the preconceived poem in an elaborate loop of self-perpetuation, constantly erasing and elaborating on itself, to achieve the emotional ending. In fact, you would be considered a cave-dweller if you did not venture into the quicksand of annual reporting on schedule before a major cancer conference or cardiology conference with reams of data and glowing tributes to gain the attention of the ribbon-wearing crowd that stamp their seals of approval on such presentation. Thus, is born the most vicious of assaults on the lives of the uninformed people. “Take this new medicine, it was just approved,” they say as they hand you over the prescription or stick with a needle with a colorless fluid running through it. For, only time determines what works and is durable. We as humans cannot solve for the “x” without knowing the “y,” but using computers and calculators we can statistically twist a tale to suit our needs

 

It is unfortunate as the 21^st century rolls along at its turbulent pace, medicine, it seems has been bought by the highest bidder. The adage, “money talks” is truer today than in any other era. Dollars flow from the highest bidder’s eye to the next great financial reward. This was exposed in a television documentary on PBS. There is a risk for all such immersions but with good “bedside manners in lobbying and marketing preceding the promotions” at hand, all financial risk-aversion is guaranteed. While the CEOs revel in their “Durable Revenue Stream” as they tout their next landmark drug while eying their own financial packages blossom into private jets, mansions, and boats. 

 

We have arrived at another juncture in medical science that bears witnessing for its might. The Pandemic has laid bare some interesting questions that need answers. The Pandemic of 2020 due to SARSCoV2 (virus) the agent for the COVID illness which has taken millions of lives worldwide and continues to ravage nations as we speak is a story worth probing.

 

When the pandemic was announced amidst all the confusions and obfuscation of what policy to invoke by the public health officials, a curious issue arose and was brought to bear; that certain medications, long in the pharmacy and very cheap in price, inhibited the viral replication in vitro and potentially in clinical settings also significantly reduced the severity of the illness. What followed from that information was a torrid flood of negation and diatribe directed at the physician-scientists who had scoured the historical literature and found that indeed there was something fruitful and worth pursuing in such an approach. They started administering to their patients and suggested that they had indeed noted success. 

 

The establishment of the academics and other elites were not too happy with such a discovery. Several studies of poor methodological means were reported almost within the month decrying the harms and the non-effect of such medicines. U.S. Food and Drug Administration states on their websites the potential harms while negating any benefits and advises against its use, even though, scientific data suggested the benefits of using the drug in COVID illness.  Meanwhile the agents of the government were quick to promote Remdesivir, an antiviral drug, which carried a price tag 3000% higher over the cheap generic drugs, Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin being advocated and used clinically by some infectious disease experts. Immediately some states declared a moratorium and placed a restriction on the cheap drug being used by these physicians from writing such prescriptions for their patients. The Expensive drug had a potential windfall in the billions of dollars for the company and was marketed as the potential cure of the viral illness. Perhaps, they felt the cheap drug might hollow out such a windfall?

 

Meanwhile the “Operation Warp Speed” dynamics were in play and pharmaceutical agencies dusted off failed experiments of the past and arrived at a new vaccine against the virus. The vaccine was made up of small fragment of the virus that codes for the spike protein, the protein that gains access into the human cell via the ACE-2 receptor on the cell itself. The concept was simple, if the RNA fragment was allowed into the cell and created the “non-infectious” spike protein then the immune system of the individual would recognize it as a “non-self” and direct its energy in the destruction of the spike as well as the virus itself. 

 

After a short period lasting 2 months (median) and using the vaccine in 43,000 individuals in their Phase II/III trials, the pharmaceutical agency boasted a 95% relative risk reduction in the potential for catching the illness and potentially in preventing deaths. The hysterical and frightened world was all ears and saucer-eyed at the prospects of a SARSCoV2 virus elimination and resumption of normal daily life. Lost in this translation was the use of a vaccine that had only had a median of 2 months of follow-up review in regard to the short-term side effects and no long-term efficacy data was available. Pursuant to the past vaccine products which had taken a multi-year testing and efficacy, safety validation, this new mRNA vaccine had a short review lifespan. The vaccine was granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), which is different from the Biological Application License (BLA) granted after long-term safety data has been reviewed and deliberated and the latter has been the bedrock of safety in science for decades.

 

Alas as millions of individuals were vaccinated reports of Adverse Events became apparent. There were minor complaints of sore arms, fever, headaches, which were expected. But soon a trail of severe side effects and deaths started to follow the vaccination event. These events seem to occur within the 24–48-hour post vaccination period. Long term adverse effects, if any, will take time to evolve over the next few years. There is some early evidence that the spike protein itself is pathogenic and can induce harm. Further studies are needed but the vascular and neurological insults noted in some individuals after vaccinations need closer scrutiny.

 

 

The various governmental agencies have continued to encourage the vaccination of all adults and most everyone was on board with the plan. The concept of “Zero COVID” was hatched and the vaccination was encouraged for the 12-18-year-olds and studies were also in progress to vaccinate the 6-month to 12 years in the fall of 2021. If history is a guide, Pandemics never achieve a “ZERO state.” The virus continues to evolve and finds some degree of harmony with the immune population over time. Elimination of a fast-mutating virus like the seasonal influenza remains a similar impossibility. We all live with that risk, mitigating it with partially effective vaccines and good personal hygiene and habits.

 

One wondered silently if 100% vaccination was the correct path to follow. Especially since the children were the least likely to catch the virus and if they did, they quickly rid the virus due to their robust immune systems, with almost no symptoms. And those that had been infected by the SARSCoV2 and developed natural immunity should need the vaccine at all?

 

At that very moment the Pfizer Company announced a blockbuster Quarter with $3.5 billion in revenue, a 70% year over year revenue. Moderna the other RNA vaccine maker also enjoyed significant increase in their cash stream. Johnson and Johnson although not as robust still delivered excellent results for their shareholders, while and Astra Zeneca financials were “soft” since young adults seem to have a higher morbidity and mortality related events from blood clots emanating immediately post vaccination. These alarming events caused the European Union states to put a hold on those vaccines. The total market for the latter two companies was markedly reduced and Pfizer became the clear winner.

 

The currency of science lives in the trust of the user of the product. Losing that currency results in reduced use. Enticing people with rewards as some politicians have resorted to, recently must give us all a pause, as to the need for such an incentive? After all, if the vaccine is a lifesaver as it is purported to be with a 95% Relative Risk Reduction against the virus, why not educate the public and let them make their own decisions? Why use the carrot of an incentive or a stick of a vaccine passport on citizens? And as some in the media are constantly shaming those who are against such passports with threats and retribution, it suggests becoming an interesting study in behavioral economics and habits enforced upon the individual, rather than prime predicate of safety of the individual.

 

But the salient question that still invokes fear in some remains cogent today. Why did public health agencies and the large marketing behemoths in media control the messaging so tightly as to disallow the use of cheaper drugs that seemed to show some benefits and could necessarily mitigate the illness in its earliest phase? Especially since some of these drugs in question were always used in the last phase (the cytokine storm phase) of the disease in trials where most drugs fail. It is possible that the cheaper drugs have little impact on the illness itself although there is a steady trail of data that contradicts such a thought. Yet to go against the cheap generic drugs with such vitriol and against the physicians tending to their patients with such vehemence seems out of frame and should give us p