Stupid anti-vaxers…
How stupid can people be? Obviously, from all that’s going on, damn stupid! Stupid enough that they prefer to commit suicide and take others with them rather than use a thoroughly tested and tried solution to a public health emergency, one that is extremely lethal. We hear and read about the rationalizations for this stupid behavior akin to lemmings intent on suicide, following their brethren over the cliff. The lemmings are actually smarter; they’re driven by instinct. The anti-vaxers are just marching morons who swallow political and social misinformation. Let’s analyze some of their rationalizations.
The vaccines don’t yet have FDA approval. The FDA made a huge mistake with that new Alzheimer’s drug, so that approval might not mean that much in the grand scheme of things. But there is approval for all three vaccines available in the US as an urgent response to a deadly pandemic. In other words, while the lack of full approval might sound like a good rationalization, it’s not! Why is it so hard to understand that we are in a public health emergency in this country and around the world? You only need to consider how many people in the US and worldwide have died from Covid-19 to realize how dire the situation is…unless you have the IQ of pond scum!
Sure, we have many distractions, but those should blow past intelligent people who are smart enough to stay focused on this public health emergency. For example, there’s “Ayn” Rand Paul, who seems to be competing for the “biggest ass in Congress” award (he has a lot of competition!). He basically called Dr. Fauci a liar and communist and accused him of collaborating with the Chinese government’s lab in Wuhan. Even if true—that is, the unproven theory that the virus escaped from that lab—someone needs to put a gag on this idiot! This SOB isn’t an epidemiologist; he’s a moronic and radical libertarian who’s just trying to make political points, just another example of how the pandemic has become politicized.
Robert Kennedy, Jr. is yet another example, but at least he’s pretending to offer advice about taking the vaccine, not trying to make political points amongst Trump’s fanatic followers. (Or is he?) He’s against every vaccine! If he’d had his way, this stupid ass would have continued the smallpox and polio epidemics. (Of course, he might have been stinking up diapers back then, instead of stinking up public health now.) Unfortunately, stupid people commiserate and follow his moronic advice.
These people represent major distractions. And no one should ever listen to them and call them out, just like Dr. Fauci did with “Ayn” Rand. It’s important that VIPs like Dr. Fauci and Dr. Sha continue do this, but we also have strength in numbers if all of us who’re sane do so. The best way to shut them up is to get vaccinated and live. That seems to be even working a bit now with Fox News. And even Trump-toady Steve Scalise finally got the vaccine (of course, Trump got it back in January…on the sly).
I’ve heard that the vaccines make you sick. This rationalization is so easy to rebut that I debated whether I should even mention it. Yeah, your arm might be sore. You might have some flu-like symptoms for a few days. And, guess what? No vaccine is perfect. “Breakthrough” is a misnomer. Let’s say a vaccine is N% effective, where N is less than 100. So what? That only means you have a one-hundred-minus-N chance of getting sick. Moreover, most vaccines have a much higher percentage than N of keeping you from needing a hospital and/or dying, or even having long-lasting consequences from the viral attack.
And let’s understand mutations here: Viruses mutate. They’re fast-acting examples of Darwinian evolution. Most mutations aren’t viable. Some are just as deadly as the original. And others, like the Delta variant, are worse. That’s evolution at work, and the virus is feeding off us. Vaccination slows down mutation, making it less likely that one variant comes along that evades the vaccines. It’s a numbers game. That happens with influenza. And it happens because people are too stupid to get vaccinated. Covid’s no different, although it’s more deadly.
Forget about Trump’s moronic statement that it’s like the flu. Perhaps the current flu virus would become as deadly as Covid, or even more so, without the flu vaccine (the 1916 epidemic was very deadly), but Covid is now the leader.
Of course, there are deadlier viruses—Ebola and Marburg, for example. To anthropomorphize a bit, a vaccine knows it can’t be too deadly and be successful. Evolution’s rules mean that it strikes a balance between deadliness and fast transmission. A good vaccine goes after both, and we have three that do that well right here in the US. at least for now.
I wear a mask. Why do I need the vaccine? I’ll spend very little time with this rationalization. I’ll only state that with the Delta and future variants, we need to use both. Even with 100% vaccination of all people who qualify, there’ll be sectors in our society who are susceptible because they simply can’t be vaccinated—the young (no vaccine approved, even for emergency use, for those under twelve, although trials are in progress) and the immuno-compromised (those in chemotherapy and some elderly). And also remember: No vaccine is perfect; you can get sick, even if vaccinated, and then endanger others. You need to do both: get vaccinated and wear a mask when you don’t know the status of whom you’re with.
My Fox News and trusted political leaders tell me to not take the vaccine. My rebuttal here is even shorter: Don’t trust them! They’re out to kill you. Be smart. Use your common sense. And, by the way, some Fox pundits and right-wing politicians are starting to sing a different tune. See above.
Microsoft is injecting everyone with microchips in order to control us. Huh? This and other conspiracy theories—”it’s a plot by the Dems to kill us,” “Fauci (Putin, Xi, Biden, Pelosi) is trying to kill Americans” (interesting how this misinformation tries to include sane people as well as the insane), and “It’s the Andromeda Strain” are but a few examples—these are prevalent on social media and swamp any serious information that’s available (like this article); and Facebook, Twitter, etc. don’t do enough to stop this misinformation (that’s too polite a moniker, of course). I agree with President Biden. Maybe Zuckerberg et al aren’t directly murdering people, but by not halting this absurd nonsense, or at least putting a warning on it, they’re aiding and abetting murder. In any court of law, those who aid and abet murder are also culpable. They’re like the getaway car driver helping murdering bank robbers escape. Everyone propagating these stupid conspiracies, including the social media sites, are aiding and abetting mass murder! Period.
I’m probably preaching to the choir in this article. Readers of this blog are generally intelligent people. About half the population ages twelve and up are generally intelligent people, even if they don’t read this blog, because they have opted to be vaccinated. Dr. Fauci and others have spoken the truth: Right now, the best way to save your life and protect you and your family, especially if you have kids under twelve and immuno-compromised persons in it, is to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Anything else is stupid! ‘Nough said.
***
Comments are always welcome.
“Detectives Chen and Castilblanco.” Binge-reading who-dun-its with enough action, suspense, and twists to entertain and educate any reader, most of these two NYPD homicide detectives’ cases start in NYC, but they often expand to national and international proportions. Castilblanco is the gentle yet kick-ass Puerto Rican progressive who lives on antacids and becomes a Buddhist; Chen is the serious Chinese lady with that Asian Mona Lisa smile who has no love for criminals. Together the two make a great crime-fighting team. These novels can be found wherever quality ebooks are sold.
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!