Vaccination, Choice, Public Health Options 3

The anti-vaxx lies keep on coming...one can only wonder why so many people lie--or believe lies--about a measure that is demonstrably safe and effective against a dangerous virus.

The US Supreme Court hasn’t ruled against the COVID-19 vaccines or mandatory vaccinations
Samantha Putterman | September 28, 2021

If Your Time is short
The United States Supreme Court has not issued any ruling related to the COVID-19 vaccines or universal vaccinations, and there is currently no case on its docket involving challenges to vaccine mandates...

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/sep/28/instagram-posts/us-supreme-cou...

Fact Check: Did Norway Reclassify COVID As Flu?
Ed Browne | 9/29/21

...The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH/FHI) told Newsweek these claims are not true...

https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-norway-reclassify-covid-flu-dangerous-niph-f...
________________________________________

Fact check: False claim homeless people unaffected by COVID-19 spreads online – again
Chiara Vercellone | Sept 28, 2021
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/09/28/fact-check-anyone-can-g...
_________________________________________

Fact check: Doctored CNN graphic references false claims that COVID-19 death count is inflated
Devon Link | Sept 30, 2021

...Matt Dornic, head of strategic communications for CNN Worldwide, told USA TODAY that CNN never aired the report shown in the viral image.

Additionally, the text in the graphic misspells coronavirus.

A search of CNN’s website for the headline does not yield any results...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/09/29/fact-check-doctored-cnn...

YouTube Bans All Anti-Vaxx Content in Sweeping Bid to Suppress Misinformation
KATIE CANALES | 30 SEPTEMBER 2021

...YouTube is banning all anti-vaccine content on its platform, including misinformation about approved vaccines for common illnesses in addition to COVID-19...it will still allow discussion around vaccine policies, new vaccine trials, and personal accounts of receiving the vaccine...the company will remove the accounts of high-profile anti-vaxxers like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, and anti-vaccine activist and author Joseph Mercola...

https://www.sciencealert.com/google-to-expand-its-ban-to-all-anti-vaccination-co...

>3 margd: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media need to do the same. The lies and disinformation of the anti-vaccine and anti-mask people need to be marginalized as much as possible. They are literally killing people, sometimes even themselves but much more often those gullible enough to believe the horseshit they propagate.

A possible Tamiflu like pill to treat Covid-19, with others in the works.

https://www.audacy.com/wcbs880/news/national/merck-says-experimental-pill-cuts-w...

Yay! Effective. Easy to administer. Cheaper than Regeneron, sounds like.

ETA: Dr Peter Hotez on radio suggested three possible downsides to Merck's new drug:
1. not as effective as vaccines, which people may think they now have reason to avoid
2. possible mutagen, so needs more testing before pregnant women and young children use
3. belongs to class of drugs that can result in resistance if misused (as we can bet it will be...)

>5 rastaphrog: Good news! New drug to fight the virus.
Bad news! Another excuse to not getting the vaccine.

Why we have peer review:

Fact Check-Pre-print study that claimed 1 in 1,000 risk of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccine was withdrawn due to miscalculation
Reuters Fact Check | October 1, 2021

...A Canadian study had found that the incidence rate of myocarditis is 1 in 1,000 following an mRNA vaccine. The study has since been retracted due to an error making the above calculation, where the denominator was incorrect by a magnitude of roughly 25...

https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-preprint-myocarditiswithdrawn-idUSL1N2...

Girl, 15, dies of Covid on day she was due to get vaccine

A 15-year-old girl who tested positive for Covid-19 has died on the day she was due to have her vaccine, her family said...

‘It is like drink-driving’: Jürgen Klopp says anti-vaxxers endanger others

Jürgen Klopp has launched an attack on people who refuse coronavirus vaccinations by comparing them to drink-drivers and saying they are to blame if others catch Covid from them. The Liverpool manager accused the anti-vaccination movement of ignoring the experts and endangering others while making disingenuous claims about a loss of freedom to justify their stance...

Both from the Guardian. Maybe some people who refuse to listen to doctors will at least listen to sports personalities who are their idols. BBC with the same story:

Jurgen Klopp: Liverpool manager says vaccine is 'not a limit on freedom'

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he does not understand why some people refuse the coronavirus vaccine... Klopp says "99%" of his players have been vaccinated and he has not had to convince anyone to do so. The German says he was jabbed to protect not just himself but "all the people around me". "I don't understand why that is a limitation of freedom," he said. "Because if it is, then not being allowed to drink and drive is a limitation of freedom as well - but we accept that. I got the vaccination because I was concerned about myself but even more so for everyone else around me"...

Just an example of how fake news spreads. An elderly friend of mine, an 83-year old cancer survivor with serious diabetes amongst other things, received a letter from his doctor warning him that even though he had been fully vaccinated he should still take precautions against COVID as it could still harm and even kill people of his age and fragile health. He sent similar letters to a number of his similarly placed patients. Someone got hold of it and quoted it out of context on social media suggesting that this highly-respected nationally-known doctor was recommending that vaccines are useless. When it got back to the doctor he was horrified at the way his words were being misused. He recommends that all his patients be vaccinated, but simply warns that they should continue taking precautions.

>10 John5918: as part of my post bone marrow transplant maintenance program (which is also a clinical trial and I am doing well) I take the cancer medication Revlimid. My wife asked the doctor a couple weeks back whether this drug did more than just kill cancer cells, whether it effected my immune answer and the answer was that to a degree it kills immune cells too. So I am going to have a compromised immunity for the rest of my life and not just for Covid but everything else too. So also as long as the pandemic is a real thing I’m not going to be in restaurants, bars, movie theaters, grocery stores or other such public places.

I have to accept that for what it is but I have no doubt the vaccines work very well. I’ve been vaccinated and then re-vaccinated again post transplant and this Wednesday I’m scheduled to get a booster shot. I suspect there might be another booster shot sometime in the future.

Vaccinating is not just about protecting yourself. It’s also very much about stopping the spread to protect others and if there weren’t so many selfish, ignorant assclowns out there we would get the world back to the normal faster.

>11 lriley: I totally agree. Here in Denmark everything is more or less back to normal. About 500 new cases a day and hospitals are not overwhelmed by covid-19, but by RS-virus which seems to stricke harder this year. But that's thanks to a rather good vaccine coverage and as autumn is coming and more people are indoors, things might change a bit again.
We also have anti-vaxxers, just not so many. People can still be tested for free, just not at so many places as before. Vaccination is being offered without waiting time and for free.

And there's lot of numbers and statistics to be found.
https://coronasmitte.dk/nyt-fra-myndighederne/vaccinationsindsatsen-i-tal

Bottom line seems to be that you need vaccination rates like ours to be on the safe side. I'd really wish that less could do it.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/covid-is-killing-rural-americans-at-twice-th...
COVID is killing rural Americans at twice the rate of urbanites

My take ~ People who prefer life as it was lived in the 1950s and the 1850s appear to prefer death over life in 21st Century America. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

A ‘Historical Event’: First Malaria Vaccine Approved by W.H.O.
Malaria kills about 500,000 people each year, about half of them children in Africa.
Apoorva Mandavilli | Oct. 6, 2021

...The new vaccine, made by GlaxoSmithKline, rouses a child’s immune system to thwart Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of five malaria pathogens and the most prevalent in Africa. The vaccine is not just a first for malaria — it is the first developed for any parasitic disease.

In clinical trials, the vaccine had an efficacy of about 50 percent against severe malaria in the first year, but dropped close to zero by the fourth year.

...A modeling study last year estimated that if the vaccine were rolled out to countries with the highest incidence of malaria, it could prevent 5.4 million cases and 23,000 deaths in children younger than age 5 each year.

And a recent trial of the vaccine in combination with preventive drugs given to children during high-transmission seasons found that the dual approach was much more effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization and death than either method alone.

...Called Mosquirix, the new vaccine is given in three doses between ages 5 and 17 months, and a fourth dose roughly 18 months later. Following the clinical trials, the vaccine was tried out in three countries — Kenya, Malawi and Ghana — where it was incorporated into routine immunization programs.

More than 2.3 million doses have been administered in those countries, reaching more than 800,000 children. That bumped up the percentage of children protected against malaria in some way to more than 90 percent from less than 70 percent...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/06/health/malaria-vaccine-who.html

Anti-Vaxxers Could Fuel Spike in Childhood Diseases: 'It Will Be Horrific'
Steve Friess | 10/06/21

...what scares epidemiologists now is that many conservatives who denounce vaccine mandates are eliding the medical questions of whether they are safe. Instead, says David Rosner, a Columbia University historian who specializes in the intersection of politics and public health, they're focusing on a political view that requiring them is wrong.

"We are at the beginning of a much more profound change that may lead to resistance to other vaccines but also may lead to disintegration of any sense of social obligation, social cohesion and social purpose," he warns. "It's part of the questioning of what the country is and what it represents. When you see this kind of breakdown and unwillingness to work together, even under the most obvious circumstances where we've had more than 650,000 people die, it feels like the beginning of a major dividing point."

...the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases noted "an alarming decline in vaccination rates" last year that it says puts individuals of all ages at risk of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases. Miami-Dade County in Florida, for instance, saw a 60 percent drop in the number of children's vaccines administered in April 2020 vs. April 2019; in Michigan in May 2020, half of infants five months or younger were behind on their vaccines; in New York City, vaccine dose delivery fell 91 percent between March and May 2020. But experts attribute those drops in shots more to parents' fears of taking their kids to doctors at the height of the pandemic lockdown out of fear of contracting COVID than to raging vaccine hesitancy.

Anecdotally, however, many pediatricians see a baffling, troubling sea change. Joel Heidelbaugh, a physician who oversees family practice residents at the University of Michigan School of Medicine at a clinic in suburban Detroit, says he now sees parents who refuse vaccines for their children at least twice a week whereas such refusals pre-COVID occurred a few times a year.

https://www.newsweek.com/2021/10/15/anti-vaxxers-could-fuel-spike-childhood-dise...

Ivermectin: How false science created a Covid 'miracle' drug
Rachel Schraer & Jack Goodman | 10/6/2021

...more than a third of 26 major trials of the drug for use on Covid have serious errors or signs of potential fraud. None of the rest show convincing evidence of ivermectin's effectiveness.

Dr Kyle Sheldrick, (a medical doctor and researcher at the University of New South Wales in Sydney) one of the group investigating the studies, said they had not found "a single clinical trial" claiming to show that ivermectin prevented Covid deaths that did not contain "either obvious signs of fabrication or errors so critical they invalidate the study".

Major problems included:

The same patient data being used multiple times for supposedly different people
Evidence that selection of patients for test groups was not random
Numbers unlikely to occur naturally
Percentages calculated incorrectly
Local health bodies unaware of the studies ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-58170809

The right wing Front Line Doctors group have monetized their anti-vaccine bullshit. They get people on their website to chase after consultations (which they charge for) and prescribe and direct them to pharmaceutical retail entities (which again charge them) that then send the gullible prescriptions for Covid that really don’t work if the victim turns out to have a serious case of the virus. No direct contact with anyone (Front Line Doctors my ass) at all necessary. It’s really unconscionable.

The vaccine is free (and by the way I got another Pfizer shot yesterday—my 5th). It has proven its worth and is by far the easiest, cheapest, safest, and best way to protect yourself and anyone you may come into contact with.

(excerpt)



... "The language was absurd on multiple levels, beginning with its incorrectness—unless they were talking purely about a legal definition, the issue of whether or not there was “wrongdoing” in Hunter Biden accepting a no-show $50,000-a-month job from a crooked Ukrainian energy firm was a matter for readers to decide, not an issue of fact. Still, a lot of people not only swallowed it, but vomited these and other terms back up again, over and over, on social media, or to their friends and family, or to anyone at all, in what became a new way for a certain kind of person to relate to the world.

"As a student in the Soviet Union I noticed subscribers to what Russians called the sovok mindset talked in interminable strings of pogovorki, i.e goofball proverbs or aphorisms you’d heard a million times before (“He who takes no risk, drinks no champagne,” or “Work isn’t a wolf, it won’t run off into the woods,” etc). This was a learned defense mechanism, adopted by a people who’d found out the hard way that anyone caught not speaking nonstop nonsense could be suspected of harboring original thoughts. Voluble stupidity is a great disguise in a society where silence is suspect.

"We’re similarly becoming a nation of totalitarian nitwits, speaking in a borrowed lexicon of mandatory phrases and smelling heresy in anyone who doesn’t. This cult reflex was bad during the Russiagate years, but it’s gone into overdrive since the arrival of COVID. The CNN writer who thinks it’s necessary to put a disclaimer in the lede of a story about molnupiravir, of all things, is basically claiming he or she is afraid a theoretical unvaccinated person might otherwise read the story and be encouraged to not take the vaccine.

"Except, if that theoretical unvaccinated person could be convinced by anything CNN said or did, they’d have already gotten the shot, because the network runs ten million stories a day directly imploring people to get vaccinated or die. News flash: the instinct to armor-plate even unrelated news subjects with layer after layer of insistent vaccine dogma is not for the non-immunized, who mostly don’t watch outlets like CNN or read The New York Times." ...


_____________________

Matt Taibbi, writing at substack.com ("TK News by Matt Taibbi" ), 07 October, 2021

"The Cult of the Vaccine Neurotic"

(https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-cult-of-the-vaccine-neurotic)

Vatican Backs South Africa, India Proposal to Suspend COVID-19 Vaccine Production Barriers (ACI Africa)

The Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, has maintained the support of the Vatican entity of a call to waive barriers in the production of COVID-19 vaccines as proposed by South Africa and India.

In the proposal that has attracted wide-reaching support, the two countries on 2 October 2020 asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to suspend its enforcement of key patents for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, in order to allow countries to produce generic treatments and expand vaccine access.

In his address during the 15th Ministerial Conference of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Archbishop Gallagher noted that the Holy See has always supported the proposal that still faces resistance from some WTO members.

The Vatican official warned that the “significant inequalities” in access to medications and vaccines posed a major challenge to the countries that could not afford the vaccines...

>18 proximity1: So, cutting that short, it looks like Taibbi is complaining that news outlets are guilty of factual reporting about the realities of the covid virus and the vaccines? Okay, useful to know that he's an idiot. Thanks for sharing.

Voluble stupidity is a great disguise in a society where silence is suspect.

It's also how you get Republicans to vote for you, particularly when the stupidity has a generous mix of bigotry thrown in. See: any Trump speech. See also: any other Republican's speeches.

United States military combat deaths from 1775 to 2019 all wars as counted on the Wikipedia site 666,441+.

United States citizens dead from covid from March 2020 to approx. now over 700,000 and counting. It took us from December of 1941 to June of 1945 to lose 300,000 men and women in WWII. In less than half that time 700,000+ dead. Taibbi can go fuck himself as far as I'm concerned if he doesn't think this is a major fucking issue. If he's unvaccinated without a good medical reason he's a fucking dope. If this is some freedom or choice issue for him he's a fucking selfish piece of shit and he can stick his drum sticks up his ass.

Unvaccinated patients are getting kicked off organ transplant waitlists
Transplant recipients must take immune-suppressing drugs, raising risk for COVID.
Beth Mole - 10/8/2021

...On August 13, the American Society of Transplantation and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) released a joint statement* recommending that "all solid organ transplant recipients should be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2," as should "all eligible household and close contacts" of those recipients. More and more transplant programs are adopting the policy—but not yet all...

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/unvaccinated-patients-are-getting-kicked...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

* AST Statement about Vaccine Efficacy in Organ Transplant Recipients (5p).
American Society of Transplantation | Aug 13, 2021
https://www.myast.org/sites/default/files/ast%20ishlt%20guidance%20vaccine%20081...

No More Frequent Malaria Battles for Kenyan Mother after Vaccination at Catholic Hospital (ACI Africa)

A very positive story about the new malaria vaccine. While it doesn't guarantee that one will not still catch malaria, the bouts are very mild for vaccinated children.

“Being a mum, it is normal to be worried about your children especially knowing that vaccines usually have side effects. But the sensitization at this hospital was good and, in the health talks I attended, I was told about the side effects to expect and how to deal with them,” she said, and added that her son only developed mild fever after the vaccination. This, she says, was easier to manage than dealing with malaria...

So, as with the COVID vaccine, the potential side effects are minimal compared to actually suffering the full blown disease.

Hundreds of Police Officers Have Died From Covid. Vaccines Remain a Hard Sell.
Mitch Smith | Oct. 12, 2021

...More than 460 American law enforcement officers have died from Covid-19 infections tied to their work since the start of the pandemic, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, making the coronavirus by far the most common cause of duty-related deaths in 2020 and 2021. More than four times as many officers have died from Covid-19 as from gunfire in that period. There is no comprehensive accounting of how many American police officers have been sickened by the virus, but departments across the country have reported large outbreaks in the ranks.

While the virus has ravaged policing, persuading officers to take a vaccine has often been a struggle, even though the shots have proven to be largely effective in preventing severe disease and death.

Some elected officials say police officers have a higher responsibility to get vaccinated because they are regularly interacting with members of the public and could unknowingly spread the virus. The debate echoes concerns from earlier in the pandemic, when police officers in some cities resisted wearing masks in public.

Yet as more departments in recent weeks have considered requiring members to be vaccinated, officers and their unions have loudly pushed back, in some cases threatening resignations or flooding systems with requests for exemptions...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/us/police-covid-vaccines.html

South Sudan: How to deliver Covid vaccines in a country with few roads (BBC)

South Sudan is one of the countries with the lowest rate of vaccination against Covid-19 in the world - just 0.8% of the population have had one dose and 0.3% both jabs. It shows the stark inequality in vaccine distribution, as some developed nations are now administering a third booster shot and vaccinating children as well.

"Even if we can secure the vaccine... it's over 10 times more expensive in South Sudan compared with neighbouring countries, which have a very reliable road network," said Nay Myo Thu, the immunization specialist of the UN children's agency, Unicef, in the country. South Sudan is a vast country, roughly the size of France. But only a few roads are paved. Most of the country remains largely inaccessible by road.

Decades of war that led to a split with Sudan in 2011 and neglect by its former rulers in the north meant that infrastructure remained grossly underdeveloped. But even after gaining independence, the country has been beset by governance challenges and insecurity caused by political and ethnic violence. This makes it more difficult to run a vaccination programme. This means that during rainy seasons flooding cuts off some areas and renders airstrips unusable...

Cross-posted from COVID thread:

zeynep tufekci (UNC) zeynep | 8:56 AM · Oct 15, 2021:
For some, fear of needles reaches phobia-levels and can cause them to faint or have a panic attack.
Research suggests about one in ten adults avoid vaccines because of this.
Canada, UK etc. reach out, offer support and privacy rooms. What do we do? Everything to make it worse.

Text ( https://twitter.com/zeynep/status/1448996193212710934/photo/1 )

Cross-posted from COVID thread:

zeynep tufekci (UNC) zeynep | 8:42 AM · Oct 15, 2021
72% of the unvaccinated said they'd quit after a mandate. In real life, few do.
Studies show older people are vulnerable to misinformation and Fox News, and yet almost all are vaccinated. What explains this? My piece of the sociology of the unvaccinated.*

Excerpt text ( https://twitter.com/zeynep/status/1448992640343674881/photo/1 )
-------------------------------------------------------------------

* The Unvaccinated May Not Be Who You Think
Zeynep Tufekci | Oct. 15, 2021

...The remarkable success of vaccine mandates shows that for many, it is not firm ideological commitments that have kept everyone from getting vaccinated, and that the stubborn, unpersuadable holdouts may be much smaller than we imagine...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/15/opinion/covid-vaccines-unvaccinated.html

:D What's more Hitler? COVID or masks/vaxx?

Jon Stewart jonstewart | 9:44 AM · Oct 15, 2021
New Episode!!! @theproblem
What's More Hitler! | The Problem With Jon Stewart | Apple TV+

5:46 ( https://twitter.com/jonstewart/status/1449008246036045825 )

>18 proximity1: the issue of whether or not there was “wrongdoing” in Hunter Biden accepting a no-show $50,000-a-month job from a crooked Ukrainian energy firm was a matter for readers to decide, not an issue of fact.

Statements like these always make me cock my head. Hey, you can't tell the readers there wasn't "wrongdoing" because that's up to them to decide, but I'll call it "crooked" instead of leaving it up to the readers.

Unvaxxed troops may or may not be dismissed, but refusing COVID-19 vaccine would not be advantageous career move, I suspect.

Fact check: Biden can't dishonorably discharge troops for refusing COVID-19 vaccine
Ella Lee | Oct 14, 2021

...“Biden Orders Dishonorable Discharge for 46% of Troops Who Refuse Vaccine,” reads text in a Sept. 29 Instagram post. Another version of the post received more than 5,000 likes in five days before it was deleted...

...Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Biden ordered dishonorable discharges for troops refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. The Biden administration did not order the Pentagon to dishonorably discharge unvaccinated troops, and the president doesn’t have the authority to do so.

Fewer than 46% of U.S. troops are unvaccinated. Service members have at least a few weeks to get their shots, and if they don't, experts say involuntary discharges are unlikely.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/10/15/fact-check-biden-didnt-...

There are three kinds of discharges from military service—honorable, general and dishonorable. To me the most appropriate if the military member hasn’t been a problem to this point would be a general discharge. General discharges automatically turn into honorable discharges after 6 months I think. A general discharge might make a potential employer hesitate and will almost certainly cut you off from employers who work with the military—maybe not Blackwater but a dishonorable is like a lifelong punishment.

It is mystifying that a service member who just by being in has already gone through numerous vaccinations pretty much without ever raising an eyebrow would choose to draw a line here and decide to die on that kind of hill. The military is a bastion for conservatives but even so…..seeing hundreds of thousands of their fellow citizens dead from this virus they still decide to fall back on their ideology.

Gordon Brown urges emergency Covid vaccine airlift to Africa (Guardian)

More than 100,000 lives can be saved in Africa by undertaking the emergency airlift of 240m unused vaccines in the next fortnight, Gordon Brown has urged. The former prime minister called on a group of rich nations to back “the biggest peacetime public policy decision” by supporting an October airlift that would see unused vaccines handed to parts of the global south struggling the most. Brown is using his role as an adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) to push for a more ambitious plan to deliver vaccines to Africa, amid continuing international concern over the shortage. With only 5% of the population vaccinated in Africa, Brown urged the leaders of the US, the EU, Canada and the UK to back an emergency airlift. He said that 40% of Covid deaths in Africa had happened since the start of August, making the need for action urgent...

>32 John5918: That would be a very good thing to do.

Kentucky's backroad churches may be key to saving hospitals overwhelmed by COVID
Sarah Varney | October 17, 2021

...Kentucky is in the midst of a COVID-19 wildfire that is sparing no part of the state; new case counts topped 4,000 a day for much of September, before easing somewhat this month. Hospital intensive care units are still at capacity in some regions, with COVID-19 patients occupying half the beds. Gov. Andy Beshear has called the situation "dire."

...Local health agencies have been eager to enroll churches in the all-hands-on-deck vaccination effort; older residents are more likely to attend religious services, and in communities like Smilax, ministers are trusted advisers.

Some church leaders have refrained from encouraging vaccination, afraid of offending congregants in a state where mistrust of government intrusion runs deep. But not Lewis, who helped build Full Gospel Church on a rare flat parcel of land in 1972 and has led it ever since. Lewis, who has thick silver hair and a luminous smile, spends long stretches of the day in prayer, and he says God told him to protect his flock.

When "Sister Maxine" from the regional health department suggested a drop-in vaccine clinic in the church parking lot, Lewis says, he was all in favor. He promoted it from the pulpit and on the church's must-read Facebook page.

"We've still got to use common sense," he says. "Anything that can ward off suffering and death, I think, is a wonderful thing."...

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/10/17/1046098823/covid-vaccine-ke...

A Florida school says students who get vaxxed must stay home for 30 days due to unfounded claim that they'll infect others
Yelena Dzhanova | 10/17/2021

Centner Academy in Florida told parents any student who gets vaccinated must quarantine for 30 days.
That's because of a belief that vaccinated students can infect unvaccinated students, WSVN reported.
An infectious disease expert who spoke with WSVN characterized that belief as "science fiction."...

https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-school-says-vaxxed-kids-quarantine-30-da...

Good idea!

Tara Moriarty (U of Toronto) @MoriartyLab | 9:05 PM · Oct 17, 2021
Canadians, Please share widely.
I'm reaching out to CONSTRUCTION businesses with temp employees (seasonal, term, contract, casual).
Why? To offer free Q&A services where people can speak anonymously with scientists, pharmacists, doctors about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

If you run or work in a business like this and would like to learn more about the program and how to access it, please email me: tara(dot)moriarty(at)utoronto(dot)ca.

Or request a special session for your staff at the link below:

Vaccine Q&A session for COVID-19 and vaccine questions offered by COVID-19 Resources Canada
covid19resources.ca
Vaccine Q&A ( https://covid19resources.ca/public/vaccineqa/ )
We are offering virtual, kitchen table discussions to answer YOUR questions about the authorized COVID-19 vaccines in Canada.

...Anyone in Canada can join a session, or as many sessions as they want, for free. Any group of 20+ people can request a special session...link is on the same page.

Texas bill to block COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employers stalls in the Senate as business groups rally against it
Mitchell Ferman and James Barragán | Oct. 18, 2021

Legislation intended to block any Texas entity, including hospitals and private businesses, from mandating COVID-19 vaccines for employees has stalled out in the Senate with less than two days left in the third special legislative session this year.

State Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, said he opposes the bill, which makes entities requiring the vaccines vulnerable to discrimination lawsuits. Seliger said the legislation — added to the session agenda as a late priority by Gov. Greg Abbott — does not have the votes to pass in the upper chamber.

“At the moment it’s not too well developed,” Seliger said of Senate Bill 51, authored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Tyler, calling it “anti-business.”

“I’ve got some real reservations because I think it’s another example of big government,” Seliger said. “And we don’t do that.”

SB 51 has been on the Senate’s calendar since Thursday, but the chamber has not taken action, even as it passed other priority legislation...

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/18/texas-covid19-vaccine-mandates-bill/

Covid: Australia's Flying Doctors take vaccines to vast remote areas (BBC)

Australia’s vaccination rollout has really picked up in recent months, partly due to Covid outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne. But in remote areas hardly touched by the virus, it’s often a different story. Australia's famous Royal Flying Doctor Service is part of a huge logistical effort to get jabs in arms...

Incorrect vaccine administration is a potential cause of post-vaccine adverse effects, but more research is still needed to confirm or reject this hypothesis

CLAIM
“Study: Vaccines Being Administered Incorrectly”; “Now we find out they're administering the COVID-19 jabs incorrectly”

VERDICT
MISLEADING

KEY TAKEAWAY
Like many other vaccines, mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are recommended to be administered via the intramuscular route, in the deltoid muscle of the shoulder. Some studies posit that accidental IV vaccine administration could explain post-vaccine myocarditis and blood clots, which are rare adverse effects associated with the COVID-19 vaccines. But there isn’t enough information at the moment to establish the exact cause. The studies offer promising findings that scientists will follow up on and the knowledge gained from this research will help make COVID-19 vaccines even safer.

...vaccine administration technique has come under increasing scrutiny by scientists, following an earlier bioRxiv preprint* authored by a research group in Germany, which observed that intravenous administration of an adenovirus-based COVID-19 vaccine (e.g. AstraZeneca-Oxford and Johnson & Johnson) could cause thrombocytopenia (a decrease in platelets in the blood) and blood clots2. The authors of this preprint, as well as those for the Clinical Infectious Diseases study, hypothesized that if incorrect administration was the cause of these adverse effects, then the risk of such effects could be reduced simply by aspirating during vaccination to ensure that the needle isn’t in a blood vessel. Aspiration is performed by pulling back on the needle’s plunger to ensure that no blood enters the needle.

Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccinologist and associate professor at the University of Auckland, told Health Feedback that aspiration was initially practiced to avoid inadvertently injecting the vaccine into the blood when the needle hits a small blood vessel. “But as the flashback of blood hardly ever happens, the practice was abandoned by many practitioners,” she said. Editor’s note: “Flashback” refers to the initial entry of blood into the needle; it is a visual indicator that the needle is in a blood vessel....

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/incorrect-vaccine-administration-is-a-pot...

* Leo Nicolai et al. 2021. Thrombocytopenia and splenic platelet directed immune responses after intravenous ChAdOx1 nCov-19 administration. BioRxiv ( June 29, 2021 ) doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.29.450356 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.450356v1

Beware of stories that trend when Russian bots arrive at work?

COVID-19 · Oct 18, 2021 ("last night")
https://twitter.com/i/events/1450228607645667329

A 2008 study co-authored by Dr. Fauci related Spanish flu deaths with secondary bacterial pneumonia caused by both virus and bacteria, fact-checkers say

Fact-checkers, including Reuters, Snopes and USA Today, said a 2008 co-authored study by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the US's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, found Spanish flu deaths mainly were from bacterial pneumonia. The study "does not mention masks and found that bacterial pneumonia led to most deaths in the Spanish flu pandemic when it had been preceded by 'viral damage,' or influenza infection," Reuters reports.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fact check: Fauci study did not attribute 1918 Spanish flu deaths to bacterial pneumonia caused by masks
Reuters Staff | Oct 2020

A false claim has resurfaced on social media saying Fauci published a study which attributed 1918 Spanish flu deaths to bacterial pneumonia caused by masks

https://reut.rs/3odhGZk
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-fauci-mask-pneumonia-1918/fact-chec...

Interesting. Global covid cases continue to decline. Russia, Romania and Ukraine are bucking the trends.
Anyone have a good sense of what's happening in this part of the world? *
New variant?
Public health measures?
Image-cases Russia June-Oct ( https://twitter.com/DFisman/status/1450420906757705728/photo/1 )
Image-cases Ukraine June-Oct ( https://twitter.com/DFisman/status/1450420906757705728/photo/1 )
Image-cases Romania June-Oct ( https://twitter.com/DFisman/status/1450420906757705728/photo/3 )
- David Fisman (U of Toronto) @DFisman | 7:17 AM · Oct 19, 2021

* Discussed at https://twitter.com/DFisman/status/1450420906757705728 :
Rising in Denmark and Finland, too.
Denmark dropped all mitigation measures on September 10.
Russia continues to break records for new Covid-19 cases and daily deaths. Only about 30% of the population is vaccinated.
Russia's reported deaths vs. excess deaths are hugely divergent.
Worsening of weather -> people inside (happening in Finland to a large extent too)
England doesn’t look good either…

The latest Nova Scotian urban legend: one man has been paid by antivaxxers to get the shot for them and has (supposedly) received dozens of doses of vaccine
Tim Bousquet | October 18, 2021

...the latest urban legend now spreading across Nova Scotia, which I’m calling the Vaccine Con. I’ve heard it from several people, and it goes like this: A man is charging people to get vaccinated for them — they give him their email address and health card, he makes a vaccination appointment, shows up at the pharmacy with the health card and gets the shot, and the confirmation email is sent to the payer. I’ve heard this a couple of different ways; sometimes the man is an entrepreneur who seeks out the antivaxxers to sell them his services, but other times a group of vaccine-hesitant seek out the man (a homeless man, in one telling) and make the initial offer. In one telling, the dollar amount was $100, in another $500. Either way, supposedly, this one man has been vaccinated dozens of times.

Like other urban legends, the Vaccine Con comes at a moment of social anxiety. People are anxious about the proof of vaccination requirement, and more particularly as they notice that getting vaccinated and the resulting proof of vaccination is tied only to an email address and health card, and not to a photo ID. So the story is theoretically possible.

But it’s highly unlikely, for several reasons. First is the obvious: come on, someone is getting vaccinated 40-something times (or whatever)? There have been a handful of cases where distracted or tired health care workers have accidentally given people a single shot with too much vaccine, and some of those people were hospitalized. I haven’t been able to find any news articles about people getting dozens of shots, but were it to happen, I can’t imagine the results would be pretty.

But if a person did get dozens of shots of the vaccine and there were no ill effects, wouldn’t that in itself disprove the antivaxxers’ claims that the vaccine is dangerous? So why would they continue to pay someone to get a harmless shot in their stead?

There are other problems with the Vaccine Con legend. Why does the location of the Vaccine Con switch from bars to construction sites to online, and why does the dollar amount keep shifting? Maybe there are lots of these guys at different sites getting paid different amounts to get shots for other people, but if so, why isn’t there a woman catering to female antivaxxers?

And there’s something about the “dude who doesn’t mind getting dozens of shots” and/or “homeless guy getting taken advantage of” angle of the Vaccine Con that speaks more to other social anxieties than to, well, truth.

But, as I say, anything’s possible. If someone can give me some definitive proof of this that isn’t a long chain of telephone, I’m all ears. If not, I’m not worrying about it...

https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/the-latest-nova-scotian-urban-legend-one...

Putin’s Flack Misleads on Russian Vaccine Phobia
Oct 21, 2021

...On October 19, The Moscow Times reported that Russia had set a new record for COVID-19 fatalities...President Vladimir Putin ordered Russians to take a week off work to stave off the surge in cases nationwide.

...Russia was the first country to announce a COVID-19 vaccine, known as Sputnik V, in August 2020. But one year after the vaccine’s rollout, ...only 19 percent of the population had been fully vaccinated with the two required doses. The figure now stands at only about 35 percent.

...Putin...touted Sputnik V at the release as being safe and effective even though large-scale clinical trials hadn't begun. His claims met skepticism from some Russian medical authorities who urged Russia’s Ministry of Health to revoke Sputnik V’s registration until after the large trials could be completed.

...Sputnik V has yet to gain full international acceptance despite evidence suggesting it is safe and effective.

The World Health Organization recently suspended the approval process for Sputnik V, citing a lack of data. The United States and European Union have not yet approved Sputnik V for use.

Independent polling among Russians has shown great resistance to vaccination regardless of brand. In March, Reuters reported more than 60 percent of Russians in a Levada Center survey said they didn’t want Sputnik V. Most cited side effects as the reason. About 64 percent said they thought the coronavirus was made as a bioweapon.

By comparison, the Levada Center found that 69 percent of Russian doctors and medical specialists trusted Sputnik V as safe and effective...

https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-putin-s-flack-misleads-on-russian-vaccin...

Fact check: No evidence American Airlines, Amtrak workers walking out over COVID-19 vaccine mandates
McKenzie Sadeghi | Oct 21, 2021

The claim: American Airlines and Amtrak employees are walking out over COVID-19 vaccine mandates
Amtrak says no employee walkouts
American Airlines refutes rumors
Our rating: False

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/10/21/fact-check-american-air...

Trump and Son Whitewash Vaccine Willingness Before Biden
Robert Farley | October 21, 2021

The percentage of Americans who say they would “definitely not” get the COVID-19 vaccine has remained relatively stable since 2020. And the daily number of people getting vaccinations had slid near a low point when President Joe Biden announced sweeping vaccine mandates.

Yet, former President Donald Trump and his son Eric have been dishing out revisionist history with claims that vaccine hesitancy soared once Biden assumed office and that “people were getting the vaccine in record numbers” until Biden implemented vaccine mandates.

...polling shows that same vaccine hesitancy, particularly among Republicans, existed both before and after Biden took office.

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/scicheck-trump-and-son-whitewash-vaccine-willi...

Who Killed Colin Powell?
How vaccine refusers endanger everyone else.
William Saletan | Oct 21, 2021

...Millions of other Americans are...jeopardizing the people around them. When pollsters ask unvaccinated people why they’ve declined to get a shot, 59 percent say that among other reasons, they don’t think they personally need it. Thirty-one percent say they’re “making a statement about personal freedom,” and 27 percent say they’re “just not concerned about coronavirus.” Fifteen percent say they’re “personally unlikely to suffer serious long-term effects if I contract COVID-19.” These explanations are entirely self-centered.

Eventually, the chain of transmission ends up killing people like Powell. He was 84 and had a disease whose symptoms and treatment tend to weaken immunity. Such people can’t rely on COVID vaccines, since their immune systems often respond faintly or not at all to inoculation. They need the rest of us, who do get robust immunity from COVID shots, to protect them by getting vaccinated and breaking the chain of transmission before it gets to them. That’s what (conservative radio talk show host Dennis Prager and Texas gubernatorial candidate Allen West) and tens of millions of other unvaccinated Americans have refused to do...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/10/colin-powell-vaccinated-covid-anti-v...

>46 margd: It's why I'm laying low. Powell had multiple myeloma which is the very same thing I have. His death triggered articles about what MM actually is and from one article they cited that people fully vaccinated for multiple myeloma in a medical study that came out in July were only shown to have a 45% chance of an effective immune response if they got covid. Powell was waiting for his booster. I already have mine but that 45% tells me I need to be careful especially living in a county in upstate NY that is only 48.75% vaccinated surrounded by other counties that are even less. In my county of approx. 85,000 people 17 people have died from covid since Sept. 8 and yet all kinds of people are running around like it's pre-covid days. 25 days in the hospital for my cancer this year is more than enough for me. I don't want to go back in and I certainly don't want a tube stuck down my throat--to have my lungs turned to leather because of blood clots combined with the ventilator forcing air into them 24-7 for days or weeks on end.

Covid: Protect schools from anti-vax protests - Starmer (BBC)

Councils should be able to stop anti-vaccination protesters from demonstrating outside schools by using exclusion orders, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said. Sir Keir said it was "sickening" that protesters were spreading "dangerous misinformation" to children. He urged the government to "urgently" update the law so exclusion zones can be rapidly set up around school gates.

Ministers have also expressed concern about such protests. Home Secretary Priti Patel said freedom to protest was a fundamental part of democracy, but told the Daily Telegraph: "It is completely unacceptable for children, teachers, or parents to be intimidated and harassed outside their school by protesters peddling misinformation and dangerous lies about the life-saving vaccine programme." Almost eight in 10 schools said they had been targeted by anti-vaccine protesters...

Three of my close relatives in UK have recently caught COVID, but thank God they are all vaccinated and they seem to have only mild symptoms.

Eric Topol (Scripps) @EricTopol | 11:46 PM · Oct 25, 2021
Federal advisors on boosters who think there isn't adequate evidence and "the decision would be viewed by anxious Americans who might conclude mistakenly that the vaccines are ineffective"
https://nytimes.com/2021/10/25/health/covid-boosters-cdc-fda.html

The evidence is clearcut. And the vaccines are remarkably effective
Table-booster reduces rate of severe disease ( https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1452844173258752004/photo/1 )
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Yinon M. Bar-On et al. 2021. BNT162b2 (Pfizer) vaccine booster dose protection: A nationwide study from Israel. MedRxiv Aug 31, 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.27.21262679 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.27.21262679v1

This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed

Abstract
...Results Twelve days or more after the booster dose we found an 11.4-fold ... decrease in the relative risk of confirmed infection, and a more than 10-fold decrease in the relative risk of severe illness. Under a conservative sensitivity analysis, we find ≈5-fold protection against confirmed infection.

Conclusions In conjunction with safety reports, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of a third vaccine dose in both reducing transmission and severe disease and indicates the great potential of curtailing the Delta variant resurgence by administering booster shots...

Edward Nirenberg @ENirenberg | 12:32 AM · Oct 27, 2021:
https://twitter.com/ENirenberg/status/1453218125520982019
I just love that there was a child who swallowed a penny in the Pfizer 5-11 year old trial.
Like if ever you needed an example of an adverse event that had nothing to do with the intervention.

Clarification:
I love it as a counterexample to the ridiculousness that people claim vaccines do.
I would prefer if individuals, regardless of age, did not mistake any denominations of currency for comestibles.
------------------------------------------------------------

Dr Greg Kelly @drgregkelly | 12:39 AM · Oct 27, 2021:
There was also someone in the Moderna trial who got struck by lightning which was duly reported, as it should be.
As far as I know there haven't been any further...

Covid vaccine volunteer, 72, struck by lightning after getting Moderna injection
The freak accident was revealed in the US Food and Drug Administration's safety report into Moderna's vaccine, which has now been approved
Jimmy McCloskey | Dec 18, 2020
https://metro.co.uk/2020/12/18/covid-vaccine-volunteer-struck-by-lightning-after...
_______________________________________________
ETA:

Joshua Benton (Harvard) jbenton | 10:59 AM · Oct 27, 2021:
In the Pfizer vaccine trial for 5- to 12-year-olds, there were 4,647 participants and only 5 "severe adverse events," none of them related to the vaccine.

The best of them, BY FAR:
"Ingestion of a penny (1 person in the vaccine group)"

https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/vaccines-for-5-11-year-olds-fda-m...

Image-text ( https://twitter.com/jbenton/status/1453375910695026700/photo/1 )

My daughter was bullied at school for having the Covid jab. No wonder UK take-up is low (Guardian)

Misinformation led to her being picked on. A clear government campaign aimed at 12 to 15-year-olds is vital...

"...perceived invincibility from COVID-19 (may undermine community efforts to achieve herd immunity)...is associated with (not) believing there is a need to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in one’s community and one’s willingness to inoculate against the disease. These effects are most pronounced among individuals from countries lower in cultural collectivism (e.g., USA, UK, Canada)..."


James M. Leonhardt et al. 2021. Invincibility threatens vaccination intentions during a pandemic (Research Article). PLOS Published: October 27, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258432 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0258432

Abstract
Some people feel they are invincible to the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). They believe that being infected with COVID-19 would not be a serious threat to their health. While these people may or may not be correct in their personal risk assessment, we find that such perceived invincibility may undermine community efforts to achieve herd immunity. Multi-level analysis of survey respondents across 51 countries finds that perceived invincibility from COVID-19 is negatively associated with believing there is a need to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in one’s community (n = 218,956) and one’s willingness to inoculate against the disease (n = 71,148). These effects are most pronounced among individuals from countries lower in cultural collectivism (e.g., USA, UK, Canada) and highlight the need to consider the interplay of individual and cultural factors in our efforts to understand, predict, and promote preventative health behavior during a pandemic.

Your unvaccinated friend is roughly 20 times more likely to give you COVID
Christopher Baker and Andrew Robinson (U Melbourne) | October 27, 2021

https://theconversation.com/your-unvaccinated-friend-is-roughly-20-times-more-li...

Syringe shortfall threatens Africa’s COVID vaccine drive (Al Jazeera)

Africa’s struggle to inoculate people against COVID-19 risks being hobbled by a shortage of syringes just as supplies of vaccines flood into the continent, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. UNICEF, the United Nation’s fund for children, is predicting an “imminent shortfall” of up to 2.2 billion of the single-use syringes used to give jabs, WHO Africa said...

How lifting Kenya's curfew may push revellers to get jabbed (BBC)

The dusk-to-dawn curfew that Kenyans endured for 18 months was revoked last week by the president. Uhuru Kenyatta chose to announce it on the public holiday when the East African nation remembers the heroes who fought for freedom from British colonial rule. The country's relief was palpable...

Medical experts too were pleased - and felt President Kenyatta's announcement was long overdue. "In this stage of the pandemic, what matters most is not number of infections but their relationship with hospitalisation or death," tweeted Dr Githinji Gitahi, who heads the health charity Amref Africa. "As has been demonstrated (eg in the UK) most important is not closures, curfews and lockdowns but vaccination"...

only around 2.8% of Kenyans have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. They fear that if Kenyans do not take vaccination seriously, then the dreaded curfew or other measures, including lockdowns, could be reinstated after Christmas. That is why they are asking the government to set up vaccination centres in popular meeting places, such as bars and restaurants, to encourage people to get jabbed. In fact, some of them are ready to sponsor free meals and drinks for those who choose to get vaccinated at their venue.

When the vaccine rollout began in March, President Kenyatta promised that 10 million Kenyans - about 25% of the population - would be jabbed by the end of the year. A lack of vaccines was initially behind the slow take-up, but now hesitancy is one of the main drivers stopping people. So the strategy to target revellers might convince some - and is likely to have more of an effect than public information adverts battling the misinformation proliferating on WhatsApp...

Facebook puts tighter restrictions on vaccine misinformation targeted at children
Facebook will also remind users that the vaccine is now available for kids
Emma Roth | Oct 30, 2021

...Meta says in a new blog post* that it’s partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to take down harmful content related to children and the COVID-19 vaccine. This includes any posts that imply the COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe, untested, or ineffective for children. Additionally, Meta will provide in-feed reminders in English and Spanish that the vaccine has been approved for kids, and will also provide information about where it’s available...

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/30/22754046/facebook-tighter-restrictions-vacci...

--------------------------------------------------------------

Supporting COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts for Children
Kang-Xing Jin, Head of Health | October 29, 2021
https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/supporting-covid-19-vaccine-children/

Eye-opening list of common meds which used fetal cells in testing, research and/or development:
Form sent to hospital employees requesting religious exemption:

Religious Exemption Attestation for COVID-19 Vaccine
Conway Regional Health System
https://twitter.com/JustKiss77/status/1454888883641065472/photo/1

No evidence that Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes blood clots
Tom Kertscher | October 29, 2021

There’s no evidence that either of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines used in the United States — Pfizer and Moderna — cause blood clots...

...An Instagram post that uses excerpts from an interview on Infowars, a conspiracy oriented website run by Alex Jones, claims that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine causes blood clotting "in a minute or two."

......a serious syndrome involving blood clots known as TTS is associated with the third COVID-19 vaccine being administered in the United States, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is a "plausible causal relationship" between that vaccine and TTS...

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/oct/29/instagram-posts/no-evidence-pf...

Sandi Bachom (credentialed journalist) @sandibachom | 1:52 AM · Oct 31, 2021:
I’ve been saying for some time Stop the Steal, the insurrection, QAnon, antivaxx and anti mandate
are part of the same disinformation amplification.
FDNY and NYPD march protesting mandates chant “1776” just like they did at the Capitol
0:15 ( https://twitter.com/sandibachom/status/1454687584735612930 )

No evidence that masks cause dangerous carbon dioxide buildup for children
Tom Kertscher | November 1, 2021

...Our ruling
A Facebook post claimed: "Unmask your kids! Any carbon dioxide concentrations above" 2,000 parts per million are "dangerous!"
There is no evidence that children’s health is endangered by a buildup of carbon dioxide caused by masks.
We rate the post False.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/nov/01/facebook-posts/no-evidence-mas...

Efficacy is how well a vaccine works in a controlled clinical trial, looking at how many people who got the vaccine ended up getting sick, compared with those who didn't get the vaccine. If a vaccine has an 80% efficacy at preventing illness, 80% fewer people in the flu-shot group of the clinical trial will get sick.

Effectiveness is how well the virus works in the real world, usually analyzed through observational studies after a given season is over. Real-world populations are much larger and more variable than those included in clinical trials. If a vaccine has an 80% effectiveness at preventing illness, 80% fewer of the people who get the vaccine will have gotten sick that year.

The flu shot isn't that effective. Here's why you should still get it.
Jennifer Welsh | Nov 1, 2021
https://www.livescience.com/why-you-should-get-flu-shot

Covid jabs to be compulsory for NHS staff in England from April (Guardian)

Covid vaccination is to be made compulsory for the NHS’s 1.45 million staff in England, despite criticism that forcing frontline personnel to get jabbed is heavy-handed and will lead some to quit... On Monday, Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said that while a majority of hospital bosses backed jabs becoming compulsory, more than 90% of them feared it could exacerbate the understaffing that is already endemic across the service...

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has announced that
vaccinated state employees will receive five additional days of paid time off.

- Kyle Griffin (MSNBC) @kylegriffin1 | 7:00 AM · Nov 4, 2021

Biden Battles a Triple-Headed Monster on Vaccines
Beating back anti-vaccine disinformation will require a far more ambitious counteroffensive.
Peter J. Hotez | Jul. 19, 2021

...If the Biden administration is serious about combating anti-vaccine and anti-science disinformation as a means to raise COVID-19 vaccination rates or achieve compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), it must recognize the following realities.

...focusing primarily on social media fails to address the source of the disinformation.

Instead, there must be engagement and willingness to counter an evil empire with three heads. I compare this to Ghidorah, the three-headed dragon fighting Godzilla and other animated characters.

(1) ...conservative news outlets and political leaders on the right

(2) ...the many non-governmental, anti-science organizations that monetize the internet through advertising or selling products

(3) ...the state actors. Both U.S. and British intelligence have called out the Russian government for its effort to flood our media and internet with anti-science messages and activities.

...I have recommended to the Biden administration that they immediately establish an interagency task force with representation from the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce, State, and HHS to find a way to defeat Ghidorah.

The evil empire will not stop at COVID-19 vaccines and prevention. It is just the beginning...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/biden-battles-a-triple-headed-monster-on-vaccines

:D

Dr. Glaucomflecken (opthalmologist, comedian, speaker) @DGlaucomflecken | 1:55 PM · Nov 2, 2021:
I have an important announcement

(Parody of nurse who was denied religious exemption & fired, filming herself leaving, 1:22)
https://twitter.com/DGlaucomflecken/status/1455594485925105667

Children urged to get HPV jab after Covid saw sharp drop in uptake (Guardian)

Cancer experts are urging families to ensure their children get the HPV vaccine after it emerged that almost half of those eligible missed out last year because of the pandemic...

Another Catholic bishop sets a public example of vaccination in Africa.

SOUTH SUDAN: Prayerfully Discern and Get Vaccinated” Bishop Hiiboro urged (AMECEA)

Rt. Rev. Bishop Hiiboro reveals that, he was happy to quote the Holy Father Pope Francis who has openly supported and encouraged vaccination throughout the world. Pope Francis had this to say, “Thanks to God’s grace and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from Covid-19. The vaccine brings hope to ending the pandemic, but only if we collaborate with God and one another.” Bishop Hiiboro stated that, many people still fear receiving the vaccine, hoping that by receiving the vaccine himself, he will encourage many people to do the same...

And, How a vaccine-hesitant sheriff became a vocal proponent (Guardian)

The sheriff of Macon county, Alabama, thought he was too strong and healthy to worry. Then he got Covid...

DeSantis, Social Media Posts Mislead on COVID-19’s Toll in Florida
Brea Jones | November 5, 2021

Florida’s total COVID-19 case rate is higher than the national rate and 10th highest in the U.S. But social media posts and the state’s governor point to a recent decline in daily cases as evidence of Florida’s success in handling COVID-19, while ignoring the full impact of the pandemic’s toll on the state.

Florida’s total case rate is still higher than the national rate and among the highest in the U.S.

As of Nov. 5, the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases for Florida was 7 cases per 100,000 people...as of Nov. 5. Florida was tied with Louisiana for the fewest daily cases per 100,000 among the 50 states.

...Florida has the 10th highest case rate — more than 17,000 per 100,000 people — when measured by its total number of cases during the pandemic, as of Nov. 5. That’s higher than the national case rate of 13,995 per 100,000 people.

...Florida — the third largest state — has the third most COVID-19 deaths and cases in the nation, with more than 3.6 million cases and more than 59,000 deaths since February 2020. When adjusted for population, Florida’s COVID-19 death rate also ranks 10th among the 50 states, with 278 deaths per 100,000 people.

...Florida’s recent rise and decline of cases fit a pattern that health experts have seen with other variants, where cases peak and decline over a two-month cycle.

...Florida — along with Tennessee, Oklahoma, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas and Kentucky — followed this trend, as cases started to rise in late June and began to fall in August. Only Kentucky’s seven-day average case rate is higher than the U.S. seven-day average rate, as of Nov. 5.

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/11/scicheck-desantis-comments-social-media-posts-...

Fact check: Experts say flu season is real, not tied to increased holiday sugar intake
Ella Lee | Nov 5, 2021

“In the US, we have a candy holiday, followed by a pie holiday, followed by cookies and candy holiday before an alcohol holiday,” reads text in an Oct. 26 Instagram post. "BUT we call it 'flu season' rather than sugar poisoning and lack of sun season...."

...Flu activity tends to increase during colder months, which occur at different times of the year around the world.

...Flu is seasonal, not sugar related, and influenza is not “released” due to stress.

“The human genome is stored as DNA, and influenza viruses complete their life cycle using only RNA," (Dr. Patrick Jackson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Virginia) said. "You can look as hard as you like and not find any influenza DNA in the human genome that could be ‘released’ by physiologic stress."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/11/05/fact-check-flu-season-r...

Jerome Adams* @JeromeAdamsMD | 7:35 AM · Nov 6, 2021
We can’t definitively prove anything- including vaccines- is 100% safe.
You’ll always be able to find some stone you feel is yet unturned.

But I CAN prove to you Covid has caused
100s of child deaths,
1000s hospitalized and/or w/ long haul symptoms, &
150k w/ lost caregivers.**

* Jerome Adams @JeromeAdamsMD Father, physician, public health advocate. Former IN Health Commissioner/ Associate Professor of Anesthesia/ 20th US Surgeon General

** https://nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/more-140000-us-children-lost-primary-o...

--------------------------------------------------

Rusty Trombone @rustytrombone88:
Of those kids…how many had serious medical conditions? The majority. We cannot mandate this vaccine on kids.

Jerome Adams @JeromeAdamsMD:
Respectfully, obesity is a COVID risk factor. And 1/2 US adults and 1/4-1/3 US kids are obese. So it’s not as simple as “just worry about the unhealthy ones” when so many are unhealthy.
And the vaccine isn’t (100%) effective (nothing is), so must also create safe environments

Eric Topol @EricTopol | 1:15 PM · Nov 5, 2021:
Anti-vaxxers are posting that vaccines don't block spread or catching Covid. That is utterly false.
—Vaccines markedly prevent symptomatic infections; for mRNAs efficacy = 95%, maintained w/ 3rd shot at ≥ 6 months
—Vaccines markedly reduce spread, ≥ 50%

Quote Tweet
Eric Topol @EricTopol · Oct 28, 2021
A new, rigorous and important study of Covid transmission—with or without prior vaccination—in 621 people with mild infections
Just published @TheLancetInfDis
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00648-4/fullt...

Vaccination reduced spread, but it still occurred in household contacts (unvaxx 38%, vaxx 25%)...
Highlighted text ( https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1453753424483258368/photo/1 )
Table ( https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1453753424483258368/photo/2 )

Fresh from Dr Seuss and Mr Potato Head controversies, Rs are now upset with Big Bird. :D

Republicans and anti-vaxxers are absolutely furious that Big Bird got a Covid vaccine
Liam O'Dell | 11/7/2021

...the lovable puppet took to Twitter on Saturday to share the news that he had received her Covid-19 jab – although he gave no mention as to which branded vaccine he had, and whether it was the first or second dose.

“I got the COVID-19 vaccine today! My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy.

“CNN reporter Ms. @EricaRHill even said I’ve been getting vaccines since I was a little bird. I had no idea,” he wrote.

However, while many were relieved that the childhood favourite had some protection against the coronavirus, the news appeared to ruffle some feathers from US politicians and others critical of Covid vaccinations.

Texas senator Ted Cruz ...

https://www.indy100.com/viral/big-bird-covid-vaccine-sesame-street-b1953057

___________________________________________________

Big Bird's been at it since at least 1972:
0:30 ( https://twitter.com/MuppetWiki/status/1457121825746526211 )

>68 margd: Don't worry DeSantis has a nice comfortable lead as far as COVID deaths are concerned. Last week his lead in COVID deaths when compared to New York was 3260. Today he has 3674 - what a guy!

>68 margd: the numbers I remember seeing for Florida deaths from covid in 2020 (the vaccine started rolling out in late December 2020) was in the neighborhood of 23,000.

So 2021's numbers are pretty much 36,000 Floridians dead from covid and counting after the vaccine started becoming more and more available. Significantly more Floridians dying after vaccine availability over relatively a similar period of time which I think says something about the policies set by DeSantis and supported by the majority of the republican party. Basically those policies have been catastrophic for the population DeSantis governs but he spins his bullshit anyway. NYS has lost something like 57,000 people but a lot of those deaths were in the first months of the pandemic when almost no one knew how to treat covid. That Florida has now passed NYS in deaths again tells something about how state's can set good or bad policy.

>74 lriley: - per my note taking from the CDC website

3 January - Florida Deaths - 21987
6 November - Florida Deaths - 60334

So... in 307 days the boy from Florida can claim credit for 38347 kills. That works out to 124.9 people a day - a kill rate of 5.2/hour or about one Floridian every 11.5 minutes.

Another way to express the nightmare

3 September: Florida COVID deaths - 46324, New York COVID deaths - 54378
6 November: Florida COVID deaths - 60334, New York COVID deaths - 56660

14010 vs 2282

>75 alco261: …..and there is no good reason for 2021 being worse as far as more cases or more people dying from Covid than 2020 for any state when we have vaccines now and when we know more about how to treat the sick and when we know what mitigation efforts work. The reason why Florida, Texas and a lot of other Republican governed states have done so poorly is that they have turned the things that work into a political football and mostly that’s to further political ambitions and careers. They’ll trade on the lives of their own voters to do that.

Why mandatory vaccination is nothing new (BBC)

Mandatory vaccinations have been with us for centuries, quietly saving lives – and they're often largely unopposed until something changes... a vaccine mandate is a powerful tool for safeguarding public health. But it can also be a highly contested one. In some ways, attitudes towards the current Covid-19 vaccine requirements reflect the patterns of previous centuries, making it important to understand the historical lessons of compulsory vaccination...

Inoculation gave way to more sophisticated vaccination once the English doctor Edward Jenner developed a smallpox vaccine in 1796. Mandatory vaccination began just a few years later. In 1806, Elisa Bonaparte, the ruler of Lucca and Piombino in present-day Italy (and sister to Napoleon), mandated the vaccination of newborn babies and adults. Another milestone occurred in 1853, when the Compulsory Vaccination Act required infants in England and Wales to be vaccinated against smallpox... "The United States has had vaccination mandates in place since the late 1970s"...

Vaccine passports have used for decades – with many countries insisting upon mandatory vaccinations for diseases such as yellow fever before travellers can enter...

While there will be disagreement between sects and individuals, particularly where religion is highly decentralised – as among US evangelical Christians – there are no established religions that prohibit vaccination. In fact, throughout history, religious officials have played important roles in encouraging and implementing vaccination. After all, it's in their interest to safeguard the health of worshippers...

From Dec 8, patients unvaccinated by choice must foot their own Covid-19 medical bills: MOH
November 08, 2021

SINGAPORE — From Dec 8, Singapore will start charging Covid-19 patients who are not vaccinated against the disease by choice.

This will apply to all unvaccinated coronavirus patients admitted on or after Dec 8 to hospitals and Covid-19 treatment facilities, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced in a statement on Monday (Nov 8).

For patients who are partially vaccinated, they will not be charged until Dec 31 to allow them to receive the full course of their coronavirus vaccination.

This means that from Jan 1 next year, only fully vaccinated Singaporeans, permanent residents and long-term pass holders who have not travelled recently will have their Covid-19 medical bills paid by the Government.

The Government will also still fully foot the medical bills of Covid-19 patients who are ineligible for vaccination — children below 12 and those who are medically unable to receive the jabs.

Right now, the Government is paying the full Covid-19 medical bills of all Singaporeans, permanent residents and long-term pass holders, with the exception of those who test positive for the coronavirus soon after returning from overseas travel...

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/dec-8-patients-unvaccinated-choice-must-fo...

‘Detox’ routines won’t undo Covid vaccine, experts tell anti-vaxxers
Gloria Oladipo | Sun 14 Nov 2021

...Carrie Madej, an osteopath based in Georgia, falsely claims (TikTok video) a bath containing baking soda, epsom salts and the cleaning agent borax will “detox the vaxx” from anyone who has received a jab.

Experts say such a bath could irritate the skin and eyes – but will not remove the effects of a Covid vaccine...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/14/covid-vaccine-mandate-detox-bora...
____________________________________________

Fact check: Image purporting to show COVID-19 vaccine appointments and organ donation sign is altered
McKenzie Sadeghi | Nov 11, 2021

...“COVID Vaccines Here NO Appointment Needed,” the purported sign from Mass General Brigham Hospital reads. Text circled in red on the sign says, “Don’t forget to donate your childrens organs.” ...Reddit, Facebook and Twitter...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/11/11/fact-check-photo-vaccin...
_____________________________________________

Claim that French study showed long COVID doesn’t exist misinterprets the study and fails to account for its limitations

CLAIM
Long COVID is “mostly a mental disease”; the condition long COVID is solely due to a person’s belief, not actual disease; long COVID doesn’t exist

VERDICT
INACCURATE

...KEY TAKE AWAY
Persistent symptoms of illness despite recovery from an initial infection have been documented by scientists following various bacterial and viral infections, such as in the case of myalgic encephalitis (ME), more commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome. Long COVID, which bears some similarities to ME, is a poorly understood condition in which COVID-19 survivors continue to experience symptoms of illness weeks to months after recovering from the initial infection. These symptoms include fatigue, difficulty breathing, and difficulty thinking clearly, and can significantly impact a person’s quality of life...

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/claim-that-french-study-showed-long-covid...
____________________________________________

Aaron Rodgers’ Inaccurate COVID-19 Claims
Lori Robertson, Jessica McDonald and Eugene Kiely | November 9, 2021

...Because Rodgers had COVID-19 and had not been vaccinated, the three-time NFL MVP had to self-isolate for 10 days before he could play — leaving his team without its star QB in Sunday’s loss to Kansas City.

In a Nov. 5 interview on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Rodgers criticized the NFL protocols and launched a fusillade of inaccurate statements about COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

...he had been “immunized” via a homeopathy protocol

Unvaccinated More Likely to Contract COVID-19, Have Severe Cases
No Vaccine is 100% Effective
Ivermectin Not Shown to Be Effective Against COVID-19
And More Unproven Treatments
No Basis For Fertility Worry
‘Best’ Immunity is ‘Hybrid’ Immunity

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/11/scicheck-aaron-rodgers-inaccurate-covid-19-cla...

Trump loyalists team up with anti-vax doctors for ‘health and freedom’ tour
Peter Stone | Fri 3 Sep 2021

Top loyalists to Donald Trump, who frequently push lies about election fraud, have joined forces with conservative doctors touting unproven Covid curesand vaccine skepticism, and like-minded evangelical ministers at a series of events across the US this summer.
Donald Trump speaks at a rally on 6 January.

The conservative “ReAwaken America” tour – featuring ex-general Michael Flynn and top Donald Trump loyalist donors – has held events in Florida, Michigan and other states.

It underscores how Trump’s allies, anti-vaccine doctors and conservative preachers are amplifying baseless claims that are hurting the nation’s public health and its democracy with potentially far-reaching impacts, say pandemic and election experts.

The tour comes as Covid cases soar and as Republican drives to pass state laws weakening voting rights increase. While the tour has touted Flynn’s key role, a Tulsa Oklahoma media figure and Christian entrepreneur named Clay Clark has been instrumental in orchestrating the gatherings – also dubbed “health and freedom” conferences – using his “ThriveTime” podcast and radio show and Charisma News coverage.

...Simone Gold...Stella Immanuel...Scott Jensen...Mike Lindell...Patrick Byrne...

The ReAwaken meetings, which each appear to have drawn audiences in the hundreds or more, have also taken place this year in Oklahoma and California, with more slated for Colorado and Texas in coming months. Promotional materials indicate that attendees are asked to pay $250 for general admission or $500 for VIP tickets, with pastors eligible for half-price tickets.

...Roger Stone...

...(Irwin Redlener, who leads Columbia University’s Pandemic Resource and Recovery Initiative)...“The increasingly flagrant promotion of anti- science ignorance and bizarre political extremism is worrisome”...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/03/trump-loyalists-doctors-minister...

>80 margd: it wouldn’t shock me if every one of these clowns from Gold to Byrne are vaccinated. That they’re playing the entire audience of chumps who’ll listen to them for personal gain.

>81 lriley: Looks like my chump and spouse survived their bouts with COVID, thank goodness, though spouse (heart condition) may have some persistent fatigue(?) Sounds like some fallout with vaxxers in their family(?) (I'm not hearing the half of it, I'm sure.) Tough to balance rage at the misinformers with sympathy for misinformed, but must keep connections to be heard at all...

The firehose of misinformation continues:
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Article misrepresents WHO guidance regarding vaccination at schools; the WHO recommends that parents must be informed about the vaccination

CLAIM
The WHO considers a child's presence at school alone to be sufficient as informed consent for vaccination

SOURCE: Pam Vernon, Signs of the Times, 23 Nov. 2019

VERDICT: INACCURATE...

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/article-misrepresents-who-guidance-regard...

-----------------------------------------------------------------

US cardiologist makes misleading claims about Malaysia's Covid-19 vaccine drive
AFP Singapore, AFP Malaysia | 15 November 2021

A video has been shared repeatedly on social media that shows American cardiologist Dr Peter McCullough urging Malaysia to dismantle its Covid-19 vaccination program because vaccines are purportedly unsafe and create virus mutations. The claims — many of which have previously been debunked by AFP — are misleading, according to experts.

https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9QW7UP-1

------------------------------------------------------------------

Fact check: False claim that Australia is freezing bank accounts of unvaccinated
McKenzie Sadeghi | Nov 12, 2021

...“Australia PM of Victoria is free/zing people’s bank accts who haven’t had the V, they can’t buy or sell until forced into submission,” reads an Oct. 31 Facebook post that accumulated more than 300 reactions within a few days.

Similar versions of the claim, which specifically mention Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews, have been shared on Rumble, Twitter, Reddit and YouTube...

It's true that some states in Australia have considered garnishing bank accounts. But that action is aimed at collecting unpaid COVID-19 fines, not punishing those who are unvaccinated against the virus.

...Australia is not freezing bank accounts of unvaccinated...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/11/12/fact-check-australia-no...

>82 margd: I have unvaccinated in my family too—4 that I know. One fortunate thing is research and science continue to go forward despite all the obstinacy. We’ve had more than enough death and suffering from this and I’m hopeful that the Merck and Pfizer pills will be out soon and be game changers.

Inaccurate claims about 'rabbinical court' opposing Covid-19 vaccination spread online
Rob Lever, AFP | 15 November 2021 at 16:02

Online articles and social media posts claim a "rabbinical court" that is part of Israel's legal system ruled against Covid-19 vaccination for young people and children in a binding decision for observant Jews. But leading rabbinical authorities in both Israel and the United States have endorsed vaccination, and experts say the ruling did not come from a widely recognized Jewish legal authority.

...(New York-based Beth Din of America director, Rabbi Shlomo) Weissmann said the articles and social media posts misused the term "rabbinical court" in arguing against vaccine mandates.

"In theory, three people can get together and form a 'rabbinical court' to perform certain rabbinical court functions," he said.

"But when the term 'rabbinical court' is used to connote a body that has the authority to rule on a matter of communal importance, the court really derives its authority by widespread communal acceptance," Weissmann said.

"If an actual rabbinical court (which meets regularly and is organized under the auspices of a sizable community) were to issue a proclamation, that might be newsworthy and it might even possess some degree of authority under Jewish law, depending on the circumstances. But when three unknown individuals sign a document, purportedly as a 'rabbinical court,' the term 'rabbinical court' becomes somewhat meaningless," he added...

https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9RK34P-1

Words got us into the anti-vaccine crisis. Here’s how they’ll get us out.
Researchers are studying ways to keep misinformation from spreading, from exposing ‘data voids’ to minding sentence structure.
Schuyler Velasco | October 27, 2021

...As the U.S. continues to struggle with vaccine hesitancy — fueled by a misinformation machine so powerful that the Surgeon General’s Office declared it a risk to public health — researchers have increasingly focused on the role language has played in the spread of panic and mistrust. It’s an area of study that drills down into the power of individual words, and draws expertise from many fields, from linguistics to psychology to computer engineering to media studies.

Taken together, the research suggests a compelling framework for looking at a problem that has proven so intractable. It could be that an original sin of the pandemic response — perpetrated by well-meaning government officials, public health agencies, and media giants — was a failure to understand the power of words.

...Operation Warp Speed...breakthrough infections...once a problematic term is coined, it can quickly take hold...And the more commonplace a term or idea becomes, the more plausible it seems.

...Other qualities — “whether the information is attention-grabbing, whether it’s because it aligns really well with someone’s preexisting views, whether it’s particularly memorable” — also play a role in making pervasive health myths resonate

...a false story linking baseball legend Hank Aaron’s death in January (from natural causes) to his COVID vaccination weeks before...was a combination of a timely news event and a group of keywords that hadn’t been put together before, and it briefly spread like wildfire.

...another pervasive myth — that the COVID-19 vaccine causes infertility — was primed to take off because it connected to a persistent falsehood about vaccines more generally.

...in the case of the keyword searches for “vaccine” and “ingredient”..., purveyors of misinformation took advantage of an information vacuum (wasn’t much legitimate ink spilled on the subject. So people searching for those terms were more likely to stumble across the crazy stuff.)

...Elizabeth Glowacki, a Northeastern University professor who studies public health and communication, says the overall uncertainty of the COVID era, combined with the internet’s reach, created an environment ripe for turning messages on their heads, misinterpreting innocent turns of phrase, and sowing conspiracy theories. “In general, humans have a really tough time with uncertainty. Anything that’s new can be scary...So even if it’s a new vaccine, a new treatment, there’s a lot of fear. One of the ways that people cope with fear is creating their own theories, or latching onto theories that might already be out there.”

...Roseann Bongiovanni, the executive director of GreenRoots, an environmental justice and community health organization in Chelsea, Massachusetts — a city with one of the highest COVID infection rates in the state...Conspiracy theories have spread ...primarily on the messaging platform WhatsApp, shared Instagram videos, and fringe-right Spanish language media outlets...‘they’re injecting me with a microchip and they’re going to follow me’...myth...has particular potency in Chelsea, which has a high number of undocumented residents. Terms like “tracking,” “government surveillance,” and “database” are scary in a tangible sense. And latching onto a terrifying word can mean the difference between getting a vaccine and rejecting it.

...John Wihbey, a professor of journalism at Northeastern University who has studied the evolution of increasingly assertive content labeling, from gentle warnings that an article is “disputed by third parties” to graying out problematic content before it can even be read...flooding social media sites with corrective feedback (labels, warnings, alerts, suggestions)... backfire effects all but disappeared when the corrective information was reliable enough.

...Glowacki believes it’s also important to improve public health messaging from the outset, down to the level of sentence structure and active verbs. Personifying the danger — and making it the subject of a sentence rather than a passive object — makes it more real..."COVID is preying on people, or COVID is targeting people.” Casting any looming crisis as an immediate and direct threat also helps to capture people’s attention...“Visual communication needs to be explored further”...

...Getting through to people, (Bongiovanni) says, involves “making a personal connection and saying, ‘Trust me, I got the vaccine, and look, nothing happened to me. There’s no microchip in my body; nobody’s tracking me.’”...

https://expmag.com/2021/10/words-got-us-into-the-anti-vaccine-crisis-heres-how-t...

Kids ‘50 times more likely to be killed’ by COVID-19 vaccines? Pants on Fire
Tom Kertscher | November 15, 2021

There is no clear evidence COVID-19 vaccines have caused any deaths.

Several hundred children have died from COVID-19....

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/nov/15/viral-image/kids-50-times-more...

__________________________________________________

Fact check: Wife of Pfizer CEO 'alive and well,' not dead from COVID-19 vaccine
Ella Lee | Nov 16, 2021
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/11/16/fact-check-wife-pfizer-...

mRNA anti-tick vaxx (Lyme Disease etc.):

Petr Kopáček et al. 2021. An mRNA-based anti-tick vaccine catches ticks red-handed. Science Translational Medicine • 17 Nov 2021 • Vol 13, Issue 620 • DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abm2504

Abstract
An anti-tick mRNA cocktail vaccine promotes tick detachment and prevents transmission of tick-borne infection in guinea pigs (Sajid et al.).

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.abm2504

------------------------------------------------------

Eric Topol's highlights of abstract: https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1461051382220296195/photo/1

Video Questioning Vaccine Efficacy Pushes Falsehood About Israel Data
Saranac Hale Spencer | November 10, 2021

The COVID-19 death rate for unvaccinated people has been significantly higher than for vaccinated people in both Israel and the U.S. Despite that, conservative commentator Ben Swann makes the false claim in a video that Israeli data prove vaccines aren’t effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths. But the charts he uses don’t distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients...

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/11/scicheck-video-questioning-vaccine-efficacy-pu...

Fact check: Vaccines protect against contracting, spreading COVID-19
Daniel Funke | Nov 17, 2021

The claim: The COVID-19 vaccine doesn't stop you from getting or spreading the virus, so it can't protect others

...Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that the COVID-19 vaccine doesn't stop you from getting or spreading the virus, so it can't protect others. While vaccinated individuals can get COVID-19, experts and public health officials say they are less likely to contract the virus than unvaccinated people. That means they're also less likely to spread the virus to others. When vaccinated people do get sick, the chances of severe illness, hospitalization or death are low. Research indicates they also get better faster than their unvaccinated counterparts.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/11/17/fact-check-covid-19-vac...

Colorado Order Addresses Surge in Hospitalizations, Not Vaccination Status
Brea Jones | November 18, 2021

SciCheck Digest
Responding to a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order on Oct. 31 allowing hospitals that are at or near capacity to transfer or stop admitting patients. Social media posts falsely claimed the order says hospitals can “refuse to treat the unvaccinated.” But the order doesn’t mention vaccination status...

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/11/scicheck-colorado-order-addresses-surge-in-hos...

Fact check: Article falsely claims Fauci said COVID-19 vaccines are not working as advertised
McKenzie Sadeghi | Nov 18, 2021

...Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Fauci said COVID-19 vaccines are not working as advertised. Fauci said health officials are beginning to see waning immunity against hospitalizations and infections, but it would be a "misrepresentation" to say vaccines aren't working. He stressed the importance of booster shots to increase levels of immunity as vaccine protection fades over time. Experts say boosters are not evidence of failed vaccines, and studies show a third dose is effective in reducing the risk of severe illnesses and hospitalizations.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/11/18/fact-check-fauci-suppor...
___________________________________________

Fact check: Doctored video of Kamala Harris speaking on vaccines is spreading on social media
Bayliss Wagner | Nov 19, 2021

...the clip is doctored. It was edited from footage of a speech that Harris delivered at a vaccine mobilization event in Detroit on July 12, removing the first syllable of the word "unvaccinated" to make it appear as if she is saying "vaccinated." ...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/11/19/fact-check-doctored-vid...
___________________________________________

Radio 4 programme featured Covid vaccine misinformation
19 November 2021

What was claimed
A whistleblower has described how Pfizer made up results about injuries and deaths during vaccine trials. This has been published in the British Medical Journal.

Our verdict
While it is true that the BMJ did publish an article about concerns raised by a whistleblower who was previously employed by a company running some of Pfizer’s Covid-19 trials, it did not include allegations that the company had made up results about deaths...

https://fullfact.org/health/radio-4-you-and-yours-vaccine-hesitancy/

Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 Vaccine Formulation Tweaked to Improve Stability
Jessica McDonald | November 19, 2021

SciCheck Digest

With the release of its pediatric COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer switched the buffer used in its formulation to increase the stability of the product, allowing it to remain at refrigerator temperatures for longer. The Food and Drug Administration OK’d the change, which is also being made to some doses for teens and adults. Social media posts, however, misleadingly suggest that the ingredient swap is dangerous or was added to prevent heart attacks in children...

A minor change to Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, done to make doses easier to store at warmer temperatures, is being misconstrued online as a safety hazard or as a sign that the vaccines are not safe for kids. There is no evidence to support either claim.

The ingredient in question is Tris, or tromethamine, which is used as a buffer in the children’s vaccine — and will soon be available in some adult and teen formulations as well — to keep doses at the correct pH, neither too acidic nor too basic. The original iteration of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine used phosphate buffered saline, or PBS....

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/11/scicheck-pfizer-biontechs-covid-19-vaccine-for...

Unusual bedfellows: how gangs are pushing New Zealand’s Covid vaccination drive (Guardian)

Cabinet ministers have been meeting with gang leaders as the country targets an ambitious vaccination rate...

Günter Kampf. 2021. COVID-19: stigmatising the unvaccinated is not justified (Correspondence)., The Lancet | Volume 398, ISSUE 10314, P1871, November 20, 2021 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02243-1 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/vol398no10314/PIIS0140-6736(21)X...

In the USA and Germany, high-level officials have used the term pandemic of the unvaccinated, suggesting that people who have been vaccinated are not relevant in the epidemiology of COVID-19. Officials’ use of this phrase might have encouraged one scientist to claim that “the unvaccinated threaten the vaccinated for COVID-19”.

But this view is far too simple.

There is increasing evidence that vaccinated individuals continue to have a relevant role in transmission. In Massachusetts, USA, a total of 469 new COVID-19 cases were detected during various events in July, 2021, and 346 (74%) of these cases were in people who were fully or partly vaccinated, 274 (79%) of whom were symptomatic. Cycle threshold values were similarly low between people who were fully vaccinated (median 22·8) and people who were unvaccinated, not fully vaccinated, or whose vaccination status was unknown (median 21·5), indicating a high viral load even among people who were fully vaccinated. In the USA, a total of 10 262 COVID-19 cases were reported in vaccinated people by April 30, 2021, of whom 2725 (26·6%) were asymptomatic, 995 (9·7%) were hospitalised, and 160 (1·6%) died. In Germany, 55·4% of symptomatic COVID-19 cases in patients aged 60 years or older were in fully vaccinated individuals, and this proportion is increasing each week. In Münster, Germany, new cases of COVID-19 occurred in at least 85 (22%) of 380 people who were fully vaccinated or who had recovered from COVID-19 and who attended a nightclub. People who are vaccinated have a lower risk of severe disease but are still a relevant part of the pandemic. It is therefore wrong and dangerous to speak of a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Historically, both the USA and Germany have engendered negative experiences by stigmatising parts of the population for their skin colour or religion. I call on high-level officials and scientists to stop the inappropriate stigmatisation of unvaccinated people, who include our patients, colleagues, and other fellow citizens, and to put extra effort into bringing society together.

Virginia Lt. Gov.-Elect Sears Distorts Facts on COVID-19 Vaccines
Eugene Kiely | November 24, 2021

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Virginia Lt. Gov.-Elect Winsome Sears (R) spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines that we have previously debunked...

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/11/scicheck-virginia-lt-gov-elect-sears-spreads-c...
___________________________________

Benefits Outweigh Risks of Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine, Contrary to Posts Misusing VAERS Data
Lori Robertson and Jessica McDonald | November 24, 2021

SciCheck Digest
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System can detect possible safety issues in vaccines. Anyone can submit an unverified report, regardless of whether a vaccine is known to have caused the problem. Yet viral messages continue to misuse the VAERS data, and flawed calculations, to claim the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children is unsafe and will cause many more deaths than it will prevent...

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/11/scicheck-benefits-outweigh-risks-of-pediatric-...

Claim that the COVID-19 vaccine is riskier than the disease for children is based on an economist’s incorrect calculation of the metric “number needed to vaccinate”
Editor Flora Teoh

CLAIM
“more children will die from the vaccine than will die from COVID in the first place and there’s proof”

VERDICT
UNSUPPORTED

SOURCE: Toby Rogers, Gateway Pundit, Substack, 1 Nov. 2021

DETAILS
Incorrect: The metric known as “number needed to vaccinate” is calculated by dividing 1 with the absolute risk reduction or dividing 1 with the product of vaccine effectiveness and incidence rate. Rogers instead divided the estimated number of deaths prevented by the vaccine by the total number of children aged five to 11 years old in the U.S., which isn’t correct.
Inadequate support: Rogers’ claim that more children would die from the COVID-19 vaccination than from COVID-19 rests on an incorrectly calculated metric called number needed to vaccinate and a misleading use of vaccine adverse event reports.

KEY TAKE AWAY
The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends that children get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they’re eligible. While children do face a lower risk of illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 compared to adults, overall these risks still exceed the risks posed by the COVID-19 vaccine. The scientific evidence indicates that it is safer for children to get vaccinated than to get COVID-19.

FULL CLAIM: “For every one child saved by the shot, another 117 would be killed by the shot. The Pfizer mRNA shot fails any honest risk-benefit analysis in children ages 5 to 11.”; Based on VAERS, “there are 128 reports of fatal side effects following coronavirus mRNA injections in people 12 to 24. (That’s through October 22, 2021)”

REVIEW...

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/claim-that-the-covid-19-vaccine-is-riskie...

In case of interest, 4p history of smallpox and vaccination:

Stefan Riedel et al. 2005. Edward Jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2005 Jan; 18(1): 21–25. doi: 10.1080/08998280.2005.11928028 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1200696/

New Omicron variant: Does southern Africa have enough vaccines? (BBC)

The global average is more than 100 doses per 100 people, and many richer countries have far exceeded that. But in South Africa, only 42 doses have been administered per 100 people. Elsewhere in the region, the rates are even lower. Lesotho has given out fewer than 30 doses per 100 people, and Namibia just 25...

African countries have relied on a combination of bilateral deals, donations and the Covax vaccine-sharing scheme to get jabs rolled out. Earlier this year, countries struggled to get supplies via Covax, but the situation improved in July and August. Although the supply of doses to African countries has increased, the Global Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) says donations so far have been "ad hoc, provided with little notice and short shelf lives". This makes it extremely challenging for countries to plan vaccination campaigns, Gavi said in a recent statement...

Uneven supply has clearly been a problem, but the fact South Africa has had to delay the delivery of doses suggests there is also something else going on. South Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla suggests "fake news" is playing a role in making people - especially younger age groups - unsure about the vaccine. There is a lot of fear - sometimes driven by misinformation or a lack of good information - about the safety of the vaccine. Serious complications are extremely rare, based on evidence from wide-scale clinical trials and the billions already jabbed, and pale in comparison to the complications from Covid, even in younger people. Some of the claims circulating are outright false, but some are based on an element of truth - that you can still get Covid after being vaccinated, for example. Research in partnership with South Africa's health department found this has led some people to believe vaccines don't work. But that's not the case - you may still catch Covid, but for most people it will be far milder because the vaccine reduces symptoms, keeps people out of hospital and massively reduces deaths from the virus...

Fear of side effects and safety were identified as two of the biggest reasons people weren't getting vaccinated. But the third was access, including the time it takes to travel to vaccination centres. In north-west South Africa, many people in rural communities don't have easy access to vaccination sites, according to the report produced for the health department. There have also been issues with supply in certain areas, with sites running out of doses before they've vaccinated everyone who's turned up to be jabbed.Sarah Downs, a researcher in vaccines and infectious diseases at Wits University in Johannesburg, said there was "a lot more hesitancy than anti-vax rhetoric" in South Africa. And in some cases there were barriers to people being vaccinated, such as clinics not going out to where people are, or a misconception that they have to pay for the vaccine. Poor public transport in some areas has also made it more difficult and expensive for people to get to a clinic, she said. As an example of how these different factors can play out, a survey by the University of Johannesburg found white people were more vaccine-hesitant than black people, but white people were also more likely to have had the jab, possibly because of better access to healthcare.

Omicron throws spotlight on South Africa’s faltering vaccination campaign (The New Humaintarian)

The South African government had set a goal of fully immunising 70 percent of adults by the end of the year, but has so far managed to get both jabs in the arms of only 36 percent – just over 16 million people. It has acknowledged it will miss its long-promised target... South Africa’s vaccination programme got off to a shaky start in March over the initial difficulty the government faced – like other developing countries – in procuring enough serum. The pipeline is now more secure, but the rate of vaccinations is again stuttering, currently reaching less than half of its weekly target.

It’s not that South Africans oppose immunisation: 72 percent of people say they are willing to receive a vaccination, or have done so already, according to a mid-year survey by the University of Johannesburg and the Human Sciences Research Council. That’s a higher rate than many European countries, and well ahead of the United States...

Class – and to an extent race – help explain some of the mismatch between vaccine intention and action. Acceptance of inoculation is far more pronounced among Black South Africans, but white citizens are more likely to have been jabbed. Part of the reason revolves around ease of access to vaccination sites, the survey points out. Medical aid and private car ownership – which skew disproportionately towards white South Africans – allow a much more convenient vaccine experience than queues at public clinics, reliance on public transport, and the chance of being docked half-a-day’s pay...

Opinion: Red states are now paying people not to get vaccinated
Catherine Rampell | 11/29/2021

...Expanded pandemic benefits ended, first in a few GOP-controlled states (over the summer) and eventually nationwide (in September)...

Now, Republicans are expanding these laziness-inducing benefits once again — but only for workers who refuse shots.

At least four states — Florida, Iowa, Kansas and Tennessee — have recently extended benefits to workers who are fired or quit over their employers’ vaccine requirements. For context, workers who are fired for cause or who quit voluntarily are usually not eligible to receive unemployment benefits. With limited exceptions, only those laid off through no fault of their own have been able to receive such aid...

...Incidentally, most of the states implementing this new policy had earlier rejected calls from President Biden to use federal relief funds to issue $100 payments to inoculated individuals. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R), for instance, said this summer that it wasn’t “the role of government” to financially incentivize vaccines.

At least not vaccines for humans, anyway. Over the past two years, Tennessee has sent almost half a million dollars to farmers for vaccinating their cattle against various ailments, according to the Associated Press. So, apparently, that’s an appropriate role for government.

...A recent report from Axios argues that these policy changes are primarily about building “loyalty with unvaccinated Americans”: “Republicans see a prime opportunity to rally their base ahead of the midterms,” Axios reports...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/29/florida-iowa-kansas-tennessee...

>100 margd: For 24-7 news channels like Fox and for Republican politicians like DeSantis and Lee they’re just playing to their base. It’s all political for them. If it kills some of those in their base they’ve decided they can live with that.

>100 margd: The way unemployment works, those businesses which fire workers due to vaccine mandates will also end up paying more to the unemployment system to pay for the benefits.

>102 jjwilson61: All to the good, say DeSantis and his scurvy ilk? These Rs are not only pandering to the anti-vaxxers, they're discouraging businesses from actiing in their own interests. I thought Rs were pro-bizness??
_________________________________________

Social Media Posts Falsely Claim COVID-19 Vaccines Caused Stillbirths There is no evidence that 13 stillbirths occurred in Canada and local health authorities say there is "no truth" to the claim.
AFP | 1 Dec 2021
https://www.boomlive.in/world/fact-check-covid-19-vaccine-canada-stillbirth-heal...
_________________________________________

WHO Data On COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects Misinterpreted A WHO spokesperson said further investigation was needed to confirm any causal link.
AFP | 1 Dec 2021
https://www.boomlive.in/world/fact-check-covid-19-vaccine-world-health-organisat...
_________________________________________

Sorry, But Gibraltar Doesn’t Make the Case for Vaccine Critics
William Echols | December 01, 2021

...'Most vaccinated' place on earth cancels Christmas. RT-16 Nov, 2021...

https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-gibraltar-vaccination-covid-surge/315890...
__________________________________________

Fact Check: Does Florida Now Have Lowest Daily U.S. COVID Cases Per Capita?
Ed Browne | 12/1/21

...while Florida is experiencing low case rates now, it is the joint seventh-worst-affected state in regard to overall death rates per 100,000 people throughout the COVID pandemic as a whole, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data as of November 30.

Similarly, it has reported the 15-highest COVID case rate per 100,000 people throughout the pandemic as a whole, the CDC data also showed.

...Biostatisticians told Newsweek that Florida's current low case rate is a snapshot in time and should not be used to vindicate the effectiveness of no-mandate policies..

https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-does-florida-have-lowest-daily-us-covid-case...

Why mass vaccine donations to Africa aren’t working (Quartz Africa)

A new joint statement by the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (Avat), the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and Covax say that most donations of covid-19 vaccine doses to Africa have been done in an “ad hoc” manner, with little notice and with doses that have short shelf lives, making it “extremely challenging” for countries to plan vaccination campaigns and increase vaccine absorption. The bodies call for a change in approach to achieve higher coverage rates in the continent. “Countries need predictable and reliable supply,” they said...

The full text of the statement can be found here.

Fact check: False claim that lid was on Boris Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine
Ella Lee | Dec 6, 2021

...Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Johnson received a COVID-19 booster shot with the lid on. Images and videos show an un-capped needle entering Johnson's arm as he received his COVID-19 vaccine booster.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/12/06/fact-check-lid-wasnt-uk...
_________________________________________

Fact check: Image falsely ties WHO, independent organizations to COVID-19 conspiracy theory
Chiara Vercellone | Dec 6, 2021

...Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that the WHO and other organizations are linked to a chart of "planned" COVID-19 variants and their "launch" dates. It's unclear where the image originated, but Johns Hopkins University, the WHO and the World Economic Forum have said they had nothing to do with the image. Many of the purported release dates of the variants are far different than when the strains were actually detected. And while the exact origin of COVID-19 is still unclear, there's consensus it wasn't planned.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/12/06/fact-check-image-falsel...

Goodable @Goodable | 12:35 PM · Dec 7, 2021:
How Canada Works:
An ice cream company called Chapman's raised the hourly wage for employees who were double vaccinated.
Anti-vaxxers found out and threatened a boycott.
When ordinary Canadians found out, they started buying every single box of the ice cream on the shelves.

Images:
A freezer full of Chapman’s ice cream
3 boxes of Chapman’s ice cream
A freezer full of Chapman’s ice cream
An empty shelf in a grocery store that used to be full of Chapman’s ice cream
____________________________________________________________

Cdns take their grocery choices seriously. When Heinz moved its huge tomato business from SW Ontario to Ohio, Cdns boycotted Heinz ketchup. French's (mustard) saw an opportunity and now rivals (dominates?) on grocery shelves. There is social pressure to buy French's ketchup, I can attest! margd

The great measles immunity heist
Long seen as a relatively trivial childhood disease, the measles virus is finally being outed for the insidious killer it is
Penny Durham | 13 February 2020

...In a 2015 paper*, (then Harvard) Professor (Michael) Mina and his team took datasets on measles and mortality from England, Wales, the US and Denmark, spanning the pre- and post-vaccine eras. Using complex analytical procedures they found each measles epidemic correlated with a period of greater infectious disease mortality two to three years later. For comparison, there was no such link with pertussis.

Measles, they concluded, may once have been implicated in up to half of all childhood infectious disease deaths...

https://medicalrepublic.com.au/the-great-measles-immunity-heist/25264

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Michael J Mina et al. 2021. Long-term measles-induced immunomodulation increases overall childhood infectious disease mortality. Science. 2015 May 8;348(6235):694-9. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa3662 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaa3662

Abstract

Immunosuppression after measles is known to predispose people to opportunistic infections for a period of several weeks to months. Using population-level data, we show that measles has a more prolonged effect on host resistance, extending over 2 to 3 years. We find that nonmeasles infectious disease mortality in high-income countries is tightly coupled to measles incidence at this lag, in both the pre- and post-vaccine eras. We conclude that long-term immunologic sequelae of measles drive interannual fluctuations in nonmeasles deaths. This is consistent with recent experimental work that attributes the immunosuppressive effects of measles to depletion of B and T lymphocytes. Our data provide an explanation for the long-term benefits of measles vaccination in preventing all-cause infectious disease. By preventing measles-associated immune memory loss, vaccination protects polymicrobial herd immunity.

>107 margd: Long seen as a relatively trivial childhood disease

Well, maybe that's how it has long been seen in the Global North, but in much of the rest of the world it has always been known as an "insidious killer".

>106 margd: it’s been a while but we’ve been to various parts of Canada a bunch of times and I’ve always gotten the idea that Canadians are fussy about products produced in their own country which I think is a very good thing. Just watching TV up there and seeing say a potato chip commercial where it’s important to point out that the chips in question are made from potatoes grown in Canada. You almost never see that in the United States. It’s about protecting the lobs and livelihoods of your own.

What’s Really Behind Global Vaccine Hesitancy
Countries with low vaccination rates are suffering from more than just inequity.
Olga Khazan | Dec6, 2021

...South Africa has about 150 days’ worth of vaccine supply. It’s now facing the same problem that’s bedeviling countries the world over: Lots of people don’t want to get their shots. South Africa recently paused deliveries of the J&J and Pfizer vaccines because it has more stock than it can use. “We have plenty of vaccine and capacity but hesitancy is a challenge,” Nicholas Crisp, the deputy director-general of the country’s health department, told Bloomberg recently.

The South African experience is an example of how anti-vaccine sentiment has become a global phenomenon at precisely the worst time. Nearly a quarter of Russians, 18 percent of Americans, and about 10 percent of Germans, Canadians, and French are “unwilling” to get vaccinated, according to a November Morning Consult poll of 15 countries. ... About a third of South Africans have been vaccinated, a higher percentage than most other African countries, but 22 percent of South Africans weren’t willing to accept a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a study from this past spring, compared with just 4 percent of people in Ethiopia and 38 percent of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Malawi and South Sudan recently destroyed thousands of vaccine doses because the countries weren’t going to be able to administer them before they expired.

...Some surveys suggest that vaccine hesitancy is actually higher in rich countries than in poor ones...

...Getting people to overcome their hesitancy will require restoring their trust in science, their leaders, and, quite possibly, one another. The crisis of vaccine hesitancy and the crisis of cratering trust in institutions are one and the same.

...In South Africa, vaccine hesitancy is higher among white South Africans than among Blacks, though whites are more likely to have been vaccinated...

...Russian anti-vaxxers are numerous and include opposition activists, Communists, and some Orthodox figures.

...Russia also spreads vaccine hesitancy beyond its borders with the help of government-funded news sites and trolls...

...mostly, restoring trust in medicine and vaccines comes down to the extremely boring and extremely necessary task of properly funding public health, even when there’s not a pandemic raging. African countries have struggled to vaccinate willing people with the doses they have, because clinics are few and the health workforce is strapped. Sometimes even political populism can be overcome if the public-health system is strong: Brazil, where trust in the public-health Sistema Único de Saúde is high, has an excellent immunization track record despite having a populist leader. Brazilians trust the SUS with their lives, so they trust it for their shots.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/12/which-countries-have-most-a...

Alberta Health Services @AHS_media | 3:57 PM · Dec 8, 2021:
We are aware of misinformation that a number of children are being hospitalized at Alberta's Children's Hospital with adverse events following their COVID-19 vaccination. At this time, AHS has not had any pediatric hospitalizations related to COVID-19 vaccination.

>110 margd: Malawi and South Sudan recently destroyed thousands of vaccine doses because the countries weren’t going to be able to administer them before they expired.

Worth remembering that often these vaccines are very near their expiry date before they even arrive, and that in a country like South Sudan, which is currently experiencing widespread flooding apart from the conflict and economic breakdown, the logistics of vaccination, including trying to maintain a cold chain for the vaccines, is horrendous. Nevertheless, it is true that there is a great deal of vaccination hesitancy in many African countries where, often with limited access to mainstream media sources, people increasingly rely on social media on their mobile phones for news. Unfortunately social media is the source and/or channel for much of the fake news about vaccines, and many people are being misled.

How to talk to vaccine-hesitant people (BBC)

Researchers have uncovered the best way to discuss the benefits of vaccination with someone who's unsure. Here are the dos and don'ts of these tough conversations...

1) Pick your battles...
2) Be humble...
3) Make it personal...
4) Describe the methods beneath misinformation...

>113 John5918: Don't insult their intelligence?

God's Technical Support (1:33)
Brittlestar | Dec 10, 2021

https://twitter.com/brittlestar/status/1469077580452175875

Oklahoma Guard Leader Tells Vaccine Refusers to Prepare for 'Career Ending Federal Action'
Konstantin Toropin | 10 Dec 2021

...Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, the top officer for Oklahoma's Guard, released a statement Thursday that opened with a forceful defense of service members under his charge exercising their "personal responsibility" and "the right to not take the vaccine."

(However) "Anyone exercising their personal responsibility and deciding not to take the vaccine must realize that the potential for career ending federal action, baring (sic) a favorable court ruling, legislative intervention, or a change in policy is present," Mancino wrote in the statement.

State National Guard formations are unique in the military in that they have dual obligations: to both the state and federal government. When under their governor's authority, the Guard is said to be operating under Title 32. However, when deployed by the federal government, they operate under so-called Title 10 orders and are commanded by the president.

"The Governor has used his authority under Title 32 to grant you a limited safe harbor within his authority to not be subject to Title 10 negative actions for not taking the vaccine," Mancino explained.

This distinction -- whom an individual Guard member ultimately takes orders from and when -- has been the crux of the fight between Oklahoma and the Pentagon. That fight now includes a lawsuit launched by Stitt and threats from the Pentagon to withhold pay.

...Mancino...is "fully vaccinated, plus the booster...I believe the vaccine to be safe and effective against COVID-19 based on the millions of doses administered"...ultimately, "continued service in the national guard will require connections with Title 10 authority...Such connections including training events, schools, and mobilizations are going to eventually force you out of that safe harbor, and subject you to title 10 authorities. This is reality" ...

Increasing politicization of the National Guard means that Oklahoma Guardsmen aren't the only troops stuck between state and federal posturing. A spokesperson for Stitt told Military.com last week that at least five other Republican governors are considering similar moves.

While Stitt and other governors may be eager to test the limits of their authority against the Pentagon and the rest of the federal government, Mancino's message makes it clear the struggle could have consequences for Guard members.

"It is important you do not mistake my vigorous defense of the Governor's rights under Title 32 as a guarantee you will not face consequences from Title 10 authority," Mancino wrote. "I have no such power."

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/12/10/oklahoma-guard-leader-tells-vacci...

Matthew Holloway @_mattyflex | 4:56 PM · Dec 11, 2021
Happening now in Missouri:
If you are positive for COVID-19, you no longer have to quarantine or isolate.
In fact, being ordered to isolate or quarantine is literally illegal, thanks to our attorney general.
This is step one in the plan to eliminate public health in Missouri.

Resolution 21-62 of the Cass County Commission
https://twitter.com/_mattyflex/status/1469788138893725697/photo/1

Fact check: No evidence Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines cause miscarriage
Daniel Funke |Dec 13, 2021

...Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that miscarriage is among the "tragic side effects" of mRNA vaccines. Experts and research indicate the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are not linked to increased rates of miscarriage. Public health officials recommend pregnant people get vaccinated against COVID-19.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/12/13/fact-check-pfizer-moder...

No, Fauci Did Not Say COVID Vaccines Are ‘Making People Worse’
Dan MacGuill | Published 14 December 2021

Vaccine opponents stooped to new lows in December 2021, to almost violently misrepresent remarks Fauci made nearly two years earlier...

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fauci-covid-vaccine-worse/
______________________________________________

No, the COVID-19 vaccine is not the deadliest vaccine ever made
Samantha Putterman | December 10, 2021

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., claimed that the COVID-19 vaccines are the most deadly, citing deaths reported in the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, an open database where anyone can report anything.

Health officials say that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and comparable to other vaccines...

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/dec/10/robert-f-kennedy-jr/no-covid-1...

Kroger grocery chain to end paid Covid-19 leave for unvaccinated employees
Phil Helsel | Dec 14, 2021

The (US)’s largest traditional grocery store chain, with almost 500,000 employees, said vaccinations are a focus for the company...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kroger-grocery-chain-end-paid-covid-19-leav...
-----------------------------------------------------

Jerome Adams (Purdue MD) @JeromeAdamsMD | 12:32 PM · Dec 14, 2021:
We’re going to see more of this from companies. It not about politics, but the bottom line.
Businesses are increasingly viewing unvaxxed as a workplace liability...

AmazonSmile donated more than $40,000 to anti-vaccine groups in 2020 (Guardian)

Amazon’s charitable program is paying tens of thousands of dollars to anti-vaccine groups in a move experts say is “shocking” as millions of Americans remain unvaccinated in the face of another Covid-19 wave. AmazonSmile reportedly donated more than $40,000 to leading sources of vaccine misinformation in 2020, according to separate analyses by Popular Information and the Washington Post...

Dutch MP ordered to delete Covid Holocaust social media posts (BBC)

A right-wing Dutch MP has been ordered to delete social media posts comparing Covid restrictions to the Holocaust. Thierry Baudet, leader of the Forum for Democracy party, had said on Twitter that unvaccinated people were "the new Jews" and "those who look away from the exclusions" were "the new Nazis". His posts prompted legal action from Holocaust survivors and Jewish groups...

Which countries rolled out vaccines faster – and why (Guardian)

Outside of a country’s wealth, there are a number of factors that have been associated with slower and faster Covid-19 vaccine rollouts... there has been a vast and continuing inequality in the global Covid vaccine rollout. This mirrors other rollouts, such as the vaccine for diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus, which has a vaccination rate as low as 41% in some countries. In the case of Covid, inequality has been compounded by wealthy nations buying up doses, and the need to ramp up adult vaccination programs in countries that hadn’t had them before. This map shows how the Covid vaccine rollout has progressed globally, showing the number of doses administered per 100 people over time...

Doctor Makes False Claim About Stillbirths in Canadian Hospitals
Brea Jones | December 16, 2021

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant people, and the World Health Organization says the vaccines are safe for them. Yet online articles cite a Canadian doctor who falsely claims that the vaccines have caused an unusually high number of stillbirths in Canadian hospitals. A hospital representative told us there was “no truth to this claim.”...

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/12/scicheck-doctor-makes-false-claim-about-stillb...

Fact check: Claim about weekly Pfizer vaccines is satire
Ella Lee | Dec 16, 2021

The claim: Pfizer scientists warned weekly vaccinations against omicron may be needed to avoid lockdown

Our rating: Satire
Based on our research, we rate SATIRE the claim that Pfizer scientists warned that weekly vaccinations against omicron may be needed to avoid a lockdown. Stonk Market's website includes a disclaimer that says it is a satire site. Searches of Pfizer's press release archives and Google turned up no legitimate reports in line with the article's claims.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/12/16/fact-check-claim-weekly...

South Africa to donate 2 mln J&J COVID-19 shots to African countries (Reuters)

South Africa said on Friday it would donate roughly 2 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) COVID-19 vaccine to other African countries. The shots will be made available over the next year through a medical supplies platform set up by the African Union (AU). "This donation embodies South Africa's solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the continent with whom we are united in fighting an unprecedented threat to public health and economic prosperity," the South African government said in a joint statement with an AU vaccine task team. AU COVID-19 envoy Strive Masiyiwa said the 2,030,400 donated doses would be distributed to the lowest-income countries as quickly as possible. South Africa has fully vaccinated about 38% of adults, more than in many other African countries but well short of the government's year-end target...

Anti-Vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s House Party Guests Told to Get Vaccinated Before Coming
MY HOUSE, MY RULES
Jamie Ross | Dec. 17, 2021

An invitation for a holiday party at the home of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—one of America’s most notorious anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists—reportedly urged guests to get tested or vaccinated for coronavirus before they came inside his house. Politico reports Kennedy held a holiday gathering at his home in California last week, and virtual invites told attendees to take the same precautions that Kennedy has spent the pandemic attempting to undermine for enormous financial gain. When Politico asked him about the apparent hypocrisy at his shindig, Kennedy blamed his wife—Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines. “I guess I’m not always the boss at my own house,” Kennedy told Politico’s Daniel Lippman. He added that tests and vaccines statuses weren’t checked at the door. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine group, the Children’s Health Defense, more than doubled its revenue in 2020 to $6.8 million, according to an AP investigation...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr-house-party-guests-were-told-t...

U.S. COVID-19 vaccine mandate revived, Supreme Court showdown looms
Tom Hals and Mike Scarcella | Dec 18, 2021

Dec 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday reinstated a nationwide vaccine-or-testing COVID-19 mandate for large businesses, which covers 80 million American workers, prompting opponents to rush to the Supreme Court to ask it to intervene...

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-appeals-court-rei...

The great COVID-19 infodemic: How disinformation networks are radicalizing Canadians
Ashleigh Stewart | December 18, 2021
.https://globalnews.ca/news/8450263/infodemic-covid-19-disinformation-canada-pandemic/

Ban ‘idiot’ anti-vaxxers from flying, says Ryanair boss (Telegraph)

Only vaccinated people should be allowed to fly, said Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary said as he launched a blistering attack on “idiot” anti-vaxxers...

Opinion: Harsher and harsher punishments are not the way to convince the unvaccinated
Megan McArdle | December 15, 2021

...In some cases, yes, there are clearly valid reasons to treat the unvaccinated differently from the vaccinated, and possibly effective ways to do so. When unvaccinated people impose substantial, direct and unnecessary costs on others, it’s fair to impose rules that limit the damage or recoup those costs.

...at this point we’ve reached a hard core of refusers who are not merely a little hesitant, but apparently happy to risk their lives rather than take a shot. If the possibility of dying doesn’t faze them, how likely are they to respond to lesser threats?

...we punish people who violate the social contract in other ways, and what else can you call recklessly endangering others and clogging up our health-care system with avoidable infections? But of course we, too, have obligations under the social contract. The health-care system exists to provide treatment for the sick, not judgments about how they got that way. And if you aren’t moved by appeals to the Hippocratic oath, consider the ways that punitive instinct might backfire.

Mandate a vaccine and your nursing home might struggle to find sufficient staff. Deny paid sick leave to the unvaccinated, and people might come to work with covid-19. Force anti-vaxxers to pay the costs of covid-19 treatment, and they might not seek care until they are really sick, costing the system even more and straining its capacity. Send unvaccinated people to the back of the triage line and you establish a precedent. How many of us would always fare well in a health-care system based not just on prognosis but perceived virtue?

...it’s frustrating when people refuse a lifesaving vaccine. But we can’t solve that problem by building a world that none of us, vaccinated or not, would much want to live in.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/15/targeting-vaccine-resistance-...

Claims of vaccine hesitancy in African countries are at odds with the reality on the ground (Stat)

When word gets out that Covid-19 vaccines are locally available, crowds rush to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital in western Uganda. Hundreds of people will wait for hours in the sweltering heat outside the hospital’s always full vaccination tent; many are turned away when vaccine doses run out... we are constantly confronted with the challenges of getting people vaccinated in places like Mbarara. The local vaccination team, responsible for an area with about one million people, sometimes gets shipments as small as 200 doses as a result of Uganda having only enough vaccines for 15% of its total population. People in rural areas often have no transportation to get to cities like Mbarara where vaccination sites are clustered. Even those living within walking distance frequently cannot afford to step away from their jobs to wait in line for hours, especially when uncertainty over local supply looms large. Our work serves as a continuous reminder that local demand for vaccines is high and access is the biggest barrier to increasing full vaccination rates... So we have watched with dismay as an alternative narrative has crept into the mainstream of American dialogue: that low vaccination coverage in Africa stems from people not wanting to be vaccinated...

None of these claims reference the high percentages of African people who say they wanted to be vaccinated, which are similar to or even higher than rates of vaccine acceptance reported in the U.S. This distortion of the narrative of global vaccine equity is detrimental to progress. Earlier this year, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) released results of a large survey across 15 African countries in which 79% of respondents said they would get vaccinated against Covid-19, with even greater rates of acceptance among people living in villages. In August, another 12-country study found acceptance rates ranging from 67% to 89% in Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. For comparison, the same 12-country study found that only 65% of Americans planned to get vaccinated, a number consistent with current vaccination coverage levels...

A pre-emptive drug, not vaxx for HIV. Can virus develop resistance if regimen followed haphazardly, I wonder?

First-ever injectable HIV prevention drug approved by FDA
Jacquelyn Martin/AP | December 21, 2021

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first-ever long-acting injectable drug for HIV prevention.

Until this week, the only FDA-licensed and approved medications for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, most commonly known as PrEP, were daily oral pills containing the HIV treatment drugs tenofovir and emtricitabine, which slow the progression of an HIV infection in the body.

...PrEP is taken daily so that it builds up in your system, to the point that if there is an HIV infection, it prevents the virus from replicating and spreading throughout the body.

When taken as prescribed, PrEP services reduce the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%, according to new data from the CDC. Now, individuals who feel at-risk of HIV infection have the option of taking the daily pill, or the new shot every two months, after two initiation injections administered one month apart.

...CDC data shows that an estimated 34,800 people in the United States acquired HIV in 2019, the most recent year for which data are available...

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/injectable-hiv-prevention-drug...

Several African companies could make covid vaccines, if Big Pharma drops its resistance (Quartz)

The pharmaceutical industry has repeatedly claimed that only a few companies worldwide are able manufacture covid-19 vaccines. But as the world grapples with omicron, a recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that more than 100 firms can produce the required mRNA shots, including eight companies in Africa—in Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia.

But Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna are hanging on tight to the intellectual property that’s made them billions. Activists say these companies should transfer this technology to capable manufacturers in Africa to provide urgent protection against the virus for a broader range of people...

Gordon Brown: Coronavirus vaccine rollout 'a stain on our soul' (BBC)

Former prime minister Gordon Brown says the failure to distribute vaccines to poorer countries is a "stain on our global soul". He said people were realising coronavirus would "come back to haunt" every country, without a push to get the whole world vaccinated next year. So far, eight billion Covid vaccines have been administered worldwide. But of those, the vast majority have been given in high and middle-income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) says 98 countries have not yet met the target of vaccinating 40% of their populations. About three-quarters of the population have received a vaccine in the UK, US and France, and 80% in Japan. In Nigeria only one in 20 people has been jabbed, and in Ethiopia the figure is just 8%. Only one in four African healthcare workers has been vaccinated. Some have linked low vaccination rates to the emergence of new coronavirus variants such as Omicron, first identified in South Africa and now spreading rapidly across the world...

The best way to deal with Covid myths this Christmas? Pre-bunk rather than debunk (Guardian)

The theory of psychological inoculation follows the medical analogy exactly: just as exposure to a weakened or inactivated strain of the virus triggers the production of antibodies to help fight off future infection, preemptive exposure to a weakened dose of a falsehood (coupled with strong refutations) can help people cultivate mental or intellectual antibodies against future misinformation. In other words, you prebunk, instead of debunk...

Fact Check: Have More Americans Died From COVID Under Joe Biden Than Donald Trump?
Yevgeny Kuklychev | 12/21/21

...False. While the number of deaths from COVID in the U.S. under president Biden is on course to top the death count during the Trump administration, it has not yet done so. Around 379,000 people have died in the U.S. from COVID since January 20, when Biden took over as president, around 45,000 fewer than under Trump.

https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-have-more-americans-died-covid-under-joe-bid...
________________________________________________

Did White House Say Unvaccinated Are Looking at ‘Winter of Severe Illness and Death’?
White House COVID-⁠19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients had a harsh warning for Americans who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Dan Evon | Published 21 December 2021

...Context
This is a genuine public statement from Jeffrey Zients, counselor to U.S. President Joe Biden and the White House's COVID-⁠19 response coordinator, at the beginning of a White House press briefing. However, contrary to how it has been presented by some, it was part of a longer statement emphasizing the importance of wearing masks and getting vaccinated, not a standalone warning.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/white-house-unvaccinated-winter-severe-illness...
________________________________________________

COVID-19 Far More Lethal Than a Cold, Contrary to Suggestion in Viral Video
Saranac Hale Spencer | December 22, 2021

COVID-19 has killed more than 805,000 people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet a viral video on social media suggests the disease is the same as a “common cold.” COVID-19 is in the same family of some cold viruses, but its potential for a severe outcome — including death — is much higher than for the common cold...

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/12/scicheck-covid-19-far-more-lethal-than-a-cold-...
_________________________________________________

Posts misrepresent Sri Lankan expert's advice on vaccine protection against Omicron
AFP Sri Lanka | Wednesday 22 December 2021

Posts circulating in Sri Lanka claim two local experts gave conflicting remarks about the need for people to be vaccinated against the Omicron coronavirus variant. The posts -- which shared two screenshots of local media reports -- circulated online as the island nation reported its first case of Omicron. But the posts are misleading; AFP found that the original comments from one of the experts were misrepresented...

https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9UQ86L-1

The people dying in the U.S. in great numbers in 2021 are the unvaccinated many of whom are absolute numbskulls who not only refused the vaccine but put themselves in dangerous and witless situations. Even Trump has figured this out—you think more of his followers would take his cue and get vaccinated too. The last couple days Trump has more forcefully made this point by the way. It might have saved a lot of lives if he’d been making this point all along. I guess better late than never.

Fuck off Eric Clapton.

The mis- and disinformation never ends, seems like...
Hope these fact-check articles are useful in politely rebutting their holiday spread.

Joe Rogan interview with Peter McCullough contains multiple false and unsubstantiated claims about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines

CLAIM: the pandemic was planned; the COVID-19 vaccines are experimental; previously infected people have “permanent immunity”; VAERS shows vaccines killed thousands of people, vaccine-induced spike protein causes damage

VERDICT: Inaccurate

SOURCE: Peter McCullough, The Joe Rogan Experience, 13 Dec. 2021...

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/joe-rogan-interview-with-peter-mccullough...
________________________________________

Magazine memorial misrepresented as evidence of spike in US pilot deaths
Rob Lever, AFP USA | 23 December 2021

Online articles claim there has been a huge surge in US pilot deaths, citing a memorial section in the Air Line Pilots Association union's magazine as evidence and linking it to Covid-19 vaccination. But the association says it reported more deaths before Covid-19 vaccines were widely available, and the US Federal Aviation Administration says it has carefully reviewed data about the safety of the shots and permits pilots to receive them....

https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9UV4VV-1
_______________________________________

Video makes inaccurate claims about Covid-19 shots harming children
Juliette Mansour, Marine PENNETIER, Claire Savage | 23 December 2021

A video viewed hundreds of thousands of times online features researcher Robert Malone making a series of claims about mRNA Covid-19 shots causing harm to children. But experts say the claims are inaccurate, and a physician from a leading children's hospital called the video "dangerously and flagrantly incorrect."...

https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9V36YN-1
_______________________________________

Did Trump Praise COVID-19 Vaccines?
The former president reportedly called the vaccines one of mankind's greatest achievements.
Dan Evon | 23 December 2021

Claim: Former U.S. President Donald Trump said that the COVID-19 vaccines were "one of the greatest achievements of mankind," that "the vaccines work," and that "the ones who go to the hospital and get sick are the ones who don't take the vaccine."

Rating: Correct attribution...

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/did-trump-praise-covid-19-vaccines/

It never stops...one must pity the marks.

Joe Rogan interview with Peter McCullough contains multiple false and unsubstantiated claims about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines

CLAIM: the pandemic was planned; the COVID-19 vaccines are experimental; previously infected people have “permanent immunity”; VAERS shows vaccines killed thousands of people, vaccine-induced spike protein causes damage

VERDICT: Inaccurate

SOURCE: Peter McCullough, The Joe Rogan Experience, 13 Dec. 2021...

DETAILS
Inaccurate: The COVID-19 vaccines aren’t experimental. Their safety and efficacy were demonstrated in clinical trials that involved tens of thousands of people. Previously infected people don’t have “permanent immunity”, given that reinfections can and have occurred.
Unsupported: No evidence was presented for the assertions that the pandemic was planned or that scientists and/or public health authorities are conspiring to prevent people from getting early treatment. There’s also no evidence for the claim that the spike protein generated by mRNA vaccination is dangerous.

KEY TAKE AWAY: To date, more than 241 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Clinical trials as well as the safety monitoring of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns provide overwhelming evidence that the vaccines’ benefits far outweigh their risks. There’s no evidence indicating that the amount of spike protein generated by mRNA vaccination is dangerous. The use of multiple doses of COVID-19 vaccines isn’t unusual or unprecedented; some childhood vaccines that have been used for decades also require four or more doses for complete immunization...

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/joe-rogan-interview-with-peter-mccullough...
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Contrary to Peter McCullough’s claim, getting vaccinated is safer than getting COVID-19, in spite of rare cases of myocarditis

CLAIM:
a “game-changing study” showed that “COVID vaccines were more dangerous than the virus itself”; “children aged 12 to 17 are more likely to be hospitalized for myocarditis than for COVID.”

VERDICT: Inaccurate.

SOURCE: Mike Landry, Peter McCullough, The Western Journal, 15 Dec. 2021

DETAILS
Factually inaccurate: Data indicate that the risk of myocarditis following vaccination is lower than following COVID-19, and also has a better clinical outcome. Post-vaccination myocarditis risks were inflated due to methodological flaws in the preprint used as scientific evidence in the claim. The claim that 80% of children have already been infected by SARS-CoV-2 is also inaccurate.

Misrepresents source: Contrary to what was claimed, the cited preprint study doesn’t investigate the rate of hospitalization due to vaccine-associated myocarditis and thus doesn’t show that people have more chance to be hospitalized from vaccine-associated myocarditis than from COVID-19.

KEY TAKE AWAY
Although cases of myocarditis have been reported following mRNA vaccination against COVID-19, the cases are rare, usually mild and patients rapidly recover. In contrast, COVID-19 is associated with a higher rate of myocarditis with potential risks of clinical complications. Overall, based on all scientific evidence available, the benefits of vaccines largely outweigh their risks...

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/contrary-to-peter-mcculloughs-claim-getti...
__________________________________________________________

Contorted claim of children killed by COVID-19 vaccines is Pants on Fire
Tom Kertscher December 21, 2021

Steve Kirsch stated on December 12, 2021 in a blog post: “They've now killed close to twice as many kids from the vaccine as have died from COVID.”

Our ruling: pants on fire

Nine deaths of adults have been linked to a causal relationship between the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and TTS, a rare event that causes blood clots with low platelets. But there are no confirmed deaths involving children linked to the vaccines.

The latest tally of children who have died with COVID-19 is 771...

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/dec/21/steve-kirsch/contorted-claim-c...
___________________________________________________________

This video shows an experiment with frog cells, not vaccines
Richard Kang, AFP South Korea | 24 December 2021 at 01:12

A video of cells moving in a dish has been shared repeatedly in Korean-language Facebook posts that claim it shows "nanorobots in Covid-19 vaccines". This is false: the video has circulated in reports since November 2021 about an experiment with frog cells, not vaccines. A researcher involved in the experiment told AFP it has no connection to vaccines. Health experts have separately told AFP that Covid-19 vaccines do not contain nanorobots...

https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9V679K-1
___________________________________________________________

Did Trump Praise COVID-19 Vaccines?
The former president reportedly called the vaccines one of mankind's greatest achievements.
Dan Evon | 23 December 2021

Claim: Former U.S. President Donald Trump said that the COVID-19 vaccines were "one of the greatest achievements of mankind," that "the vaccines work," and that "the ones who go to the hospital and get sick are the ones who don't take the vaccine."

Rating
Correct Attribution...

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/did-trump-praise-covid-19-vaccines/

Kenya has just begun offering booster vaccines. I phoned the local vaccination centre this morning and made an appointment for early next year. The government has also announced that vaccination certificates are now required to enter certain public spaces. Implementation appears to be patchy, though. Yesterday my wife and I were in different up-market shopping malls. I was not asked for my certificate at all. She had to show hers, but they did not try to verify it by scanning the QR code. Over the Christmas travel period some bus companies were reportedly refusing to allow unvaccinated people to travel on their vehicles.

Edited Clip From Justin Trudeau's Interview Shared With False COVID-19 Claim
AFP | 27 Dec 2021 8:41 AM E

Social media posts feature a clip of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaking about "attacking fundamental rights," with some suggesting he was referencing his government's response to COVID-19. But the clip has been misleadingly edited, and the Liberal leader was answering a question about part of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, not speaking about the pandemic...

https://www.boomlive.in/world/fake-news-covid-19-canada-justin-trudeau-attacking...

David Juurlink (U Toronto) @DavidJuurlink | 4:39 PM · Dec 27, 2021:
If you know someone who's on the fence about vaccination show them this. It's not too late.

Graph--adult hospitalizations Ont Jan-Nov 2021 ( https://twitter.com/DavidJuurlink/status/1475582138154168325/photo/1 )

Unvaccinated Kenyan travellers get reprieve (Business Daily)

The unvaccinated Kenyans coming back to the country have received a sigh of relief following a directive by the aviation regulator allowing them to travel but must undergo mandatory inoculation at the airport on arrival. Previously, Kenya would not allow those without proof of vaccination entry and had issued a directive to the airlines not to board them... “Effective December 28, 2021, there exists a temporary variation on proof of vaccination for all Kenyans arriving into the country for the next seven days on the condition that the individuals register for vaccination on the Chanjo–Ke platform and a valid negative PCR Covid-19 test certificate taken within 72 hours of flight and presented at the port of entry. The individuals will receive inoculations on arrival,” said KCAA...

Understanding, not judgment, should shape our response to those who remain unjabbed (Guardian)

91% of people aged over 18 in the UK have had at least one Covid jab, 88% have received two and 64% have had their third. But the 9% who have yet to be vaccinated at all accounts for about five million people, whose preponderance among those now being hospitalised is clearly a huge problem... What cannot be doubted is that if more people were vaccinated, the latest phase of the Covid crisis would be much more manageable, and the people in charge might not be faced with such a difficult set of options. If the NHS is soon overwhelmed, tightening across-the-board restrictions might become inevitable, but it would highlight the unfairness of disrupting the lives of the vaccinated majority to protect those who are still unjabbed...

Inevitably, the facts of the vaccine gap are immeasurably more complicated, as no end of statistics prove... Conspiracy theory and misinformation are sizeable and worrying features of the Covid era, and our politicians still say surprisingly little about them. But particularly in cities, beyond high levels of mobility and transience, figures showing large numbers of unvaccinated people reflect much deeper questions of age, class, ethnicity, faith and language – and what poverty, insecurity and institutionalised prejudice do to people’s relationship with the state. In that sense, the limits of the vaccination drive remind us of one of the most simple truths of power and politics: that if governments continually ignore fundamental issues of trust and basic empathy, any big social rupture will instantly reveal the consequences... what is important is to get to the complex combinations of factors that make people either hesitant about vaccination, or downright hostile...

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/peter-navarro-calls-vaccinating-children-for-covid-1...
Peter Navarro Calls Vaccinating Children for Covid-19 ‘Abuse At a Minimum and Murder in Some Cases’

***
In other words, play Russian roulette with the lives of your family members, instead.

Covid: President Macron warns he will 'hassle' France's unvaccinated (BBC)

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned he intends to make life difficult for people in France who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19. "I really want to hassle them, and we will continue to do this - to the end," he told France's Le Parisien newspaper...

US science teacher arrested for vaccinating 17-year-old student (BBC)

A New York school teacher with no formal medical qualification has been arrested for allegedly giving a Covid vaccine to a student, say officials. Police say Laura Russo administered the dose at her home despite having no legal authorisation to give jabs, or consent from the boy's parents. Ms Russo, 54, who teaches biology, was held on New Year's Eve and could face four years in prison if convicted. The 17-year-old boy had reportedly wanted the vaccine...

A hard lesson for Novak Djokovic: patience with vaccine sceptics is wearing thin (Guardian)

He has been detained amid growing hostility towards people who appear to be unjabbed. Even fame could not protect him...

Covid: Anti-vaccine campaigns are mumbo jumbo, says PM (BBC)

Boris Johnson has accused anti-vaccine campaigners of speaking "mumbo jumbo" when it comes to coronavirus jabs. The prime minister said those spreading false information on social media were "totally wrong" and it was time for him "to call them out". Some European countries are making vaccination mandatory, but Mr Johnson stressed it was important for the UK to maintain its voluntary approach. In the UK, 90% of over-12s have now had at least one dose of a Covid vaccine. And nearly 83% have had a second dose, while 60% have had their booster or third primary dose...

https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article25701...
Americans used to understand we have to fight contagious diseases. What happened?
BY D. ROBERT WORLEY SPECIAL TO THE STAR

When my fellow baby boomers had children in elementary school, the classroom was often referred to as a petri dish where every known contagion was circulating. Kids brought it all home, and home became its own petri dish of contagious diseases. The adults took the contagions to work. Teachers encouraged parents to keep their sick children at home to protect their classmates and stop the spread. Employers urged the sick to protect their co-workers, take their sick leave and stay at home. The phenomenon of contagion seemed to be grasped by the vast majority.

What happened? How, in a substantial segment of society, did we lose our understanding of contagion? How, in a substantial segment of society, did the personal responsibility to protect others be replaced by the “freedom” to endanger others?

Voluntarily staying home — a matter of personal responsibility — was not the only mitigating measure. Schools remained open but only the vaccinated could attend, and the early years classroom became the gatekeeper for preventing disease spread. Smallpox vaccines were still given. Mandated polio, measles, mumps and rubella vaccines eliminated these terrible diseases. Without question, these were grand advances for the sciences and scientifically-informed public health policy.

Today, once again, science has done its part and public health policy is scientifically informed. Missing is a grasp of contagion and concern for others in a significant segment of society. Books have been written and studies have been conducted that corroborate an undercurrent of related sentiments: anti-science, anti-expertise and anti-intellectualism, which can be encapsulated under the recycled rubric of the “dumbing down of America.”

These sentiments are accompanied by a national empathy deficit and a trust deficit in government and institutions. These sentiments appear most associated with a corrosive political ideology. Once-trusted news outlets now present alternative realities that deepen the distrust. The public is left vulnerable to misinformation and conspiracy theory.

Perhaps the most important trend is the empathy deficit for our fellow man when we need it most. One often hears policy positions justified by claims such as, “I’m entitled to my opinion” — and the implication is that opinion is as good as fact. Intelligent discourse is blunted.

What about religious exemptions? Christian Scientists have a longstanding, legitimate claim to religious exemption. It’s in their scripture and in their practice. Some others attempt to hide behind religion, but their previous acceptance of the flu and MMR vaccines exposes the lie. The rationalizations are boundless.

What can be done? It’s easy to concentrate on the negative even when hundreds of millions have been vaccinated, long lines wait hours for COVID-19 tests, and health care professionals stand tall. These represent the majority who grasp contagion and are exercising personal responsibility. They represent hope. But the minority has been immunized against appeals from scientists, experts and intellectuals. The result is that much needed collective action will be stunted by distrust in government and institutions.

What’s the prognosis? The minority’s actions lead to overextended hospitals affecting all and for incalculable harm mostly to themselves. Returning the effects to manageable levels can only come from of the majority’s sustained efforts.

***
Common sense is no longer common.

You know, my favorite holistic nutritionist/ antivaxxer studied Indian tradition that includes consumption of one's urine, so I'm not really surprised: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine_therapy. Bet this one doesn't have Trump's approval?

Anti-Vax Leader Urges Followers to Drink Their Own Urine to Fight COVID
Zachary Petrizzo | Jan. 09, 2022

...Christopher Key...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-vax-leader-christopher-key-urges-followers-to...

Kari Raymer Bishop (Ontario teacher) @KRaymerBishop | 4:48 PM · Jan 10, 2022:

Used teaching strategy on local moms' Facebook group.
Posted pediatric vaccine info, disabled comments, welcomed questions via dm.
Antivaxxers don't get to hijack the message. Moms can safely ask questions without being attacked.
Inbox is full. Kids are getting vaxxed.

Italian Catholic Bishop Forbids Unvaccinated Priests from Distributing Communion (ACI Africa)

An Italian bishop has prohibited unvaccinated priests and lay people from distributing Communion as Italy tightens its COVID-19 restrictions... “I prohibit the distribution of the Eucharist by priests, deacons, religious and lay people who are not vaccinated,” the bishop wrote. “With regard to vaccines, let me recall what Pope Francis said: ‘Getting vaccinated … is an act of love. And helping to ensure that the majority of people get vaccinated is an act of love. Love for yourself, love for family and friends, love for all peoples,’” he said...

>150 John5918: Communicants are maybe 2 ft from priest or lay minister, so good public health move to require that latter be vaxxed. Even better if vaxxed priests and lay ministers were required to test negative before Mass--especially where there is high community transmission and the number of communicants are in the hundreds. (Seems like a number of priests in our area have succumbed to the virus in recent months, though I assume they were vaxxed, and their churches appear noticeably well ventilated.)
______________________________________________

The 10% unvaccinated adults in Quebec are probably the most hardcore anti-vaxxers. Rich ones would pay proposed tax no matter how high. Wonder how the less wealthy would react? Acquiesce? Revolt? Go underground? Sue?

Quebec had some bad breaks early on, e.g., spring break coincided with initial outbreak, but Quebec's health minister (just resigned) made some bad decisions, e.g., allowing workers to move between longterm care homes--residents died by the thousands, including a cousin's MIL, a sweet woman...

Quebec wants to tax people unvaccinated against COVID-19. Can the province do that?
Sean Boynton | January 11, 2022

...(Premier Francois) Legault noted that half of those in intensive care are unvaccinated — even though that group comprises 10 per cent of the adult population.

(David Duff, a professor in the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law) says although the prospect of taxing people for choosing not to get the vaccine may be unprecedented, the tax system has long been used to incentivize people’s behaviours through credits or relief...saving for retirement... (margd: taxes on tobacco, liquor?)

...While the tax is unprecedented in Canada, similar measures have been introduced by other countries. Austria announced in December that vaccine holdouts over the age of 13 will have to pay up to 3,600 euros ($5,139 Canadian) in fines every three months. Starting this month, Greece will fine residents aged 60 and over who refuse the vaccine 100 euros (CA$142) monthly. And in Italy, residents 50 and older are now required to be vaccinated or could face fines of up to 1,600 euros (CA$2,287).

It’s yet to be seen whether such policies will drive up vaccinations in those countries. But Devon Greyson, an assistant professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, says the impact may not be as big as Quebec officials are hoping for...studies done in B.C. that found while most people supported policies that improved vaccine access and information, that support dipped slightly for incentives like cash payments for getting the shot — and plummeted when respondents were asked about punishing holdouts. “It’s reasonable to think this may result in a short-term uptick in vaccinations, but I think the questions are more about the long-term effects and simply the ethics of going ahead with something like this”...

“I think it’s interesting that this comes after Quebec backed off the vaccine mandate for health-care workers, who would reasonably be a greater source of infection than the general population.”

Greyson says it will be important for the Quebec government to ensure vaccinations are accessible to all segments of the population — including low-income and racialized residents — before starting to penalize the unvaccinated.

'Divisive measure'
That’s also a chief concern of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, who issued a statement Tuesday evening that predicted the “divisive measure … will end up punishing and alienating those who may be most in need of public health supports and services...poor diet and exercise choices, those who choose higher risk occupations or recreational activities...Some essential services — like basic health care for those who are ill — transcend such individual choices.”

In an interview, (acting general counsel Cara Zwibel) said the tax may also violate protections of individuals’ bodily autonomy included in the Canadian and Quebec charters of rights and freedoms...“The burden is on the government to prove they have a pressing and substantial objective that (they) are trying to achieve and that this is a proportional response to that. And the government hasn’t said what the objective is here.”

(Premier Legault's)...government has repeatedly stressed the importance of inoculations to ease the pandemic and reduce the strain on the health care system.

What does the law state?
Constitutional law experts also say the proposed tax would not limit people’s access to health care in the way charging unvaccinated patients for services would, clearing the threshold set by the Canada Health Act.

Stephane Beaulac, constitutional law professor at the University of Montreal, told Global News that any legal challenges against the tax would likely be based on arguments of discrimination, which would be difficult to succeed. “The problem is that under the Canadian Charter or the Quebec Charter … there are specific grounds of discrimination that are prohibited...And last time I checked, there is nothing specifically addressing one’s vaccination status...In other words, choosing not to get vaccinated is, under Canadian and Quebec law, something that is within the realm of freedom, of one’s liberty. But that doesn’t mean that if there is a measure that goes against the choice that one has made for oneself, that it would constitute discrimination.”

Alberta and British Columbia said Tuesday they would not follow Quebec’s lead and introduce a financial penalty for unvaccinated people.

Duff says those provinces and others will still be watching how the proposed tax plays out in Quebec — and whether it makes any difference in the fight against the pandemic...

https://globalnews.ca/news/8504826/quebec-covid-vaccine-tax-legal/

>151 margd:

For me this bishop's message also has an important symbolic value in a world where there is vaccine hesitancy and where some people are citing religious grounds for their refusal to be vaccinated. There have been clear messages from the pope and many bishops that not only does the Catholic Church see no religious objection to vaccination, but it actively encourages and, in cases such as this, requires it.

I think there are a number of Catholic cardinals (one the Cardinal from the Chicago area) and bishops in the United States anyway who are playing the vaccines are made from aborted fetuses card and more or less feeding the anti-Vaxxer sentiments in their congregations. Perhaps Francis could do us all a favor and remove them.

>152 John5918:

Yes, the aborted foetus card is a piece of fake news that was being pushed by anti-vaccination folk. There have been official statements from the Vatican and from many national Catholic bishops' conferences stating that this is not the case, but unfortunately the US bishops are riven by culture wars and some of them haven't yet got the message, or if they have, they are ignoring it as it doesn't fit with the political ideology of the side they have chosen to ally themselves with in the culture war.

>152 John5918: Agreed.
____________________________________

Do 75% of All Covid Deaths Involve People With 4 Comorbidities?
Important context was edited out of a viral video featuring CDC director Rochelle Walensky.
Dan Evon | 11 January 2022

Claim: Some 75% of all COVID-19 deaths involve people with at least four comorbidities.
Rating: False

Context
A recent study found that 75% of all COVID-19 deaths among FULLY VACCINATED individuals involved at least four comorbidities. When CDC Director Rochelle Walensky talked about this study during an appearance on "Good Morning America," a brief clip that was missing important context went viral and was shared with the false claim that Walensky was talking about ALL COVID-19 deaths.

...Walensky was responding to a question about some “encouraging headlines” regarding a new study talking about “how well vaccines are working to prevent severe illness.” Walensky briefly summarized the study on 1.2 million vaccinated individuals and then said: “The overwhelming number of deaths, over 75%, occurred in people who had at least four comorbidities. So really these are people who were unwell to begin with.”

It is this last sentence that went viral on social media. In the clip’s full context, however, it’s clear that Walensky wasn’t talking about all COVID-19 deaths, but COVID-19 deaths among fully vaccinated individuals...

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/covid-deaths-4-comorbidities/

Trump:

Former President Donald Trump spoke with NPR's Steve Inskeep on Tuesday, Jan. 11, in a brief phone interview. They discussed vaccinations for COVID-19, the 2020 election and the outlook for Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections.

The conversation was cut short when Trump hung up the phone while being questioned over his continued lies about the outcome of the 2020 election. He repeatedly attempted to assert misinformation about his election loss, as well as about the necessity of vaccinations...

Steve Inskeep: And why don't we just dive right in? I've got a lot to talk about. There's a lot to go over, but I want to begin briefly on the pandemic. What advice would you give to Americans who haven't chosen to get vaccinated?

Former President Donald Trump: Well, first of all, the mandate is really hurting our country. Now that's advice to an administration more so than to the Americans. A lot of Americans aren't standing for it, and it's hurting our country. It's hurting our economy very badly. And being very — the proud person that did so well with therapeutics and, and vaccines and everything else and getting them done in record times, you know, I — I have a lot to say on the subject. And one of the things I say is they have to start promoting and making the therapeutics more available, because we have great therapeutics, too, in addition to the vaccines.

SI: What is the advice on the vaccines, though?

DT: But the therapeutics --

The vaccines, I recommend taking them, but I think that has to be an individual choice. I mean, it's got to be individual, but I recommend taking them. Many people recommend them. And if some people don't want, they shouldn't have to take them. They can't be mandated, as the expression goes. And I think that's very important. Personally, I feel very comfortable having taken them. I've had absolutely no reverberation.

SI: Do you think the pandemic will continue as long as millions of people do choose not to vaccinate?

DT: I think it's going to phase out. You know, there are many people that have had it, if you look at the numbers. I don't know why they would be getting the vaccine for the most part, unless they were at a certain age group and they had certain problems, whether it's the high blood pressure --

SI: Yeah.

DT: -- the diabetes and, you know, various things in particular. But, you know, we — the administration has to start giving credit to people that had the China plague — or call it whatever you want. But it came out of China, and it's a disaster for the world, to --

SI: People can be — I'll mention that people can be reinfected, but I want to move on. South Dakota --

DT: No, they can be. They can be. But generally speaking, it's not as bad...

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/12/1072176709/transcript-full-npr-interview-former-p...

My bile rises as I’m asked to move my dying cancer patient out of ICU to make room for an unvaccinated man with Covid (Guardian)

I understand that for a chance at survival, the Covid patient needs a ventilator, but in a career filled with ethical dilemmas, this one really tugs at me...

Kenya: Unvaccinated passengers to be blocked at airports (Business Daily)

The unvaccinated Kenyans coming back to the country will not be allowed in after the expiry of a seven-day window that the aviation regulator had issued amid talks with the Ministry of Health to extend inoculation exercise for these passengers at the airport. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority had from December 28 allowed Kenyans who do not have Covid-19 certificate to be admitted in the country but had to undergo mandatory vaccination at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA)...