{"id":1030,"date":"2020-10-10T02:32:45","date_gmt":"2020-10-10T02:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshmitteldorf.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=1030"},"modified":"2021-01-26T01:21:03","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T01:21:03","slug":"ten-elements-of-the-false-covid-narrative-last-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/2020\/10\/10\/ten-elements-of-the-false-covid-narrative-last-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Elements of the False COVID Narrative (last 5)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"interface-interface-skeleton__body\">\n<div class=\"interface-interface-skeleton__content\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Editor content\">\n<div class=\"edit-post-visual-editor editor-styles-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"block-editor__typewriter\">\n<div class=\"block-editor-writing-flow\">\n<div class=\"block-editor-block-list__layout is-root-container\">\n<p id=\"block-27e845b5-2952-4fea-81e5-28ea13ce5ac0\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"27e845b5-2952-4fea-81e5-28ea13ce5ac0\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">I am heartened that the tide seems to be turning. The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/gbdeclaration.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Great Barrington Declaration<\/a> is attracting thousands of scientists\u2019 signatures each day. And the World Health Association\u2019s COVID spokesperson has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=W4PuvmWqp4k\">done an about-face<\/a> and come out in opposition to lockdowns, recognizing explicitly the suffering, the poverty, and the health implications of the policy most of the world has pursued these 6 months.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-e13cdcb5-3877-47a6-bc48-e4083ebae1e8\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"e13cdcb5-3877-47a6-bc48-e4083ebae1e8\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">The global response to COVID claims science for its foundation, and my aim in this series is to show that what is being done does not represent a scientific consensus, and is deeply variant from past public health practices. I don\u2019t understand who is behind this, but I suspect that it is not mere incompetence or bureaucratic inertia; this suspicion is based on<\/p>\n<div id=\"block-03e55e15-48d5-4c4f-a035-ea1460577707\" class=\"block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Block: Classic\" data-block=\"03e55e15-48d5-4c4f-a035-ea1460577707\" data-type=\"core\/freeform\" data-title=\"Classic\">\n<div id=\"editor-03e55e15-48d5-4c4f-a035-ea1460577707\" class=\"wp-block-freeform block-library-rich-text__tinymce mce-content-body html5-captions mce-edit-focus\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/2020\/06\/18\/suppression-of-chloroquine-is-scandalous\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fraudulence of chloroquine trials<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Suppression of scientific dissent<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/2020\/04\/21\/where-did-covid-19-come-from-part-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Evidence that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a lab<\/a>, and suppression of this evidence in the scientific literature and in the press<\/li>\n<li>Secrecy in planning the political response to COVID<\/li>\n<li>Neglect of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thenewamerican.com\/the-covid-cure-is-more-deadly-than-the-disease\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">all the ancillary harms<\/a>\u00a0from lockdown in deciding on a response. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/20\/opinion\/coronavirus-pandemic-social-distancing.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">This warning<\/a>\u00a0published last March in the NYTimes by a senior epidemiologist from Yale probably could not be published in October.)<\/li>\n<li>Well-established, safe and effective\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/orthomolecular.org\/resources\/omns\/v16n37.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">treatments for COVID<\/a>\u00a0are being bypassed to hang the world\u2019s future on the mirage of a vaccine, though vaccines are (1) far more expensive and (2) much harder to prove safe and effective [See #10 below]<\/li>\n<li>Public announcements and even the way the numbers are calculated are inciting widespread fear in the public. I think this fear is far more than is warranted, and I suspect that this is by design.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"block-1dbd7623-13ba-48cb-8c62-ebd68f9f4a94\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"1dbd7623-13ba-48cb-8c62-ebd68f9f4a94\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">The method behind this madness remains elusive to me. But political journalists outside the established media are emphasizing the military connection. One investigative journalist whom I respect for her courage and her diligence is Whitney Webb.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/unlimitedhangout.com\/2020\/10\/investigative-reports\/operation-warp-speed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Here<\/a>, she shows us that Operation Warp-speed is a military project much more than a public health project. It is plausible to me that COVID originated in a bioweapons research lab. And from the beginning, the US response was planned not by public health experts but by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/exclusive-inside-militarys-top-secret-plans-if-coronavirus-cripples-government-1492878\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">secret meetings of military leaders<\/a>.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/unlimitedhangout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cover-1-1160x680.jpg\" width=\"1160\" height=\"680\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"block-fcb4340f-1f9f-4c14-a2e7-744cf050d260\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"fcb4340f-1f9f-4c14-a2e7-744cf050d260\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">I hope you will explore these connections and come to your own conclusions. My more modest goal in this series is to establish that \u201cscience\u201d cannot be invoked to justify the lockdowns, the masking, the secrecy, the closure of schools and churches and cultural institutions. Least of all can \u201cscience\u201d justify censorship, because the process by which science reaches for truth depends on open debate from a diversity of perspectives.<\/p>\n<div id=\"block-bd880751-0c32-44cb-b9b7-fb9841a4af00\" class=\"block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Block: Separator\" data-block=\"bd880751-0c32-44cb-b9b7-fb9841a4af00\" data-type=\"core\/separator\" data-title=\"Separator\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"block-37e13c9e-cae6-4769-9537-8d2e81abed21\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"37e13c9e-cae6-4769-9537-8d2e81abed21\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\"><strong>6. \u201cNew cases of COVID are expanding now in a dangerous Second Wave\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"block-28e8af56-186c-4f03-a58a-1c15a0ad2db6\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"28e8af56-186c-4f03-a58a-1c15a0ad2db6\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">We\u2019re concerned not for the virus but for the suffering and death that it causes. In March and April, we were frightened by the rising numbers of COVID deaths. But in May, CDC stopped reporting daily deaths and switched to reporting daily cases<strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"block-517ed877-ff44-47c9-afa4-752121c0f925\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"517ed877-ff44-47c9-afa4-752121c0f925\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">Traditionally, \u201ccases\u201d are defined as people who become seriously ill. That was the definition for a short while. Then it was \u201cpeople who test positive for the virus\u201d. On May 19, CDC started adding people who tested\u00a0<strong><em>positive for antibodies<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0to the virus as \u201ccases\u201d. We\u2019re told that there is a troubling increase in COVID cases lately. If people really were getting sick, this would be disturbing. But if it is an increase in perfectly healthy people testing positive for antibodies, it is a wholly good thing. It\u2019s called \u201cherd immunity\u201d.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-a3e09150-5ac4-4cb3-a7d9-88b9f601c773\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"a3e09150-5ac4-4cb3-a7d9-88b9f601c773\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">No test is infallible, and invariably there are people who test positive who don\u2019t really have the virus. These are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/action\/showPdf?pii=S2213-2600%2820%2930453-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">false positives<\/a>. As the prevalence of COVID has dropped with summer weather and more of the population already exposed (herd immunity), the rates are so low in many urban areas that false positive tests are swamping the true positives, and we really can\u2019t say anything about trends. This\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nejm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1056\/NEJMp2014836\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent article<\/a>\u00a0concludes that the quality of available data is no longer a reliable basis for policy data decisions.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1032\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1032\" style=\"width: 720px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1032\" src=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/false-positive.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"730\" height=\"614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/false-positive.png 730w, https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/false-positive-300x252.png 300w, https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/false-positive-357x300.png 357w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 730px) 100vw, 730px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1032\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/08\/29\/health\/coronavirus-testing.html<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The low death rates are, of course, a good thing. The problem is that the false positives are being reported without explanation as though they were meaningful data about prevalence of COVID.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-4040f674-3e6f-424c-aec0-2ca6ba986c52\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"4040f674-3e6f-424c-aec0-2ca6ba986c52\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">COVID is no longer among the top 5 causes of death in America. Why is our government slanting the reports in ways that keep us scared? I don\u2019t have an answer to this question. I know there is a great deal of money riding on vaccines, and that by any sane criterion, COVID vaccines are past their usefulness, even if we had reason to believe they were safe. But I don\u2019t think this fully explains the fear campaign. I suggest that it\u2019s my job and yours to keep asking questions.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-360b2ef6-da99-4a66-bfbf-3cd54c826307\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"360b2ef6-da99-4a66-bfbf-3cd54c826307\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\"><strong>7. \u201cDr Fauci and the CDC are guiding our response to COVID according to the same principles of epidemic management that have protected public health in the past.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"block-ed656ea9-516b-40bf-b11f-fb52093c8227\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"ed656ea9-516b-40bf-b11f-fb52093c8227\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">On the contrary, standard public health procedure is to quarantine the sick and protect the most vulnerable. Telling a whole country full of healthy people to stay at home is entirely new, unstudied, a sharp departure from previous practices.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-daab57f1-5165-4d6e-a2e7-85074312eac5\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"daab57f1-5165-4d6e-a2e7-85074312eac5\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">Closing down manufacturers, offices, stores, churches, concert halls, theaters, even closing private homes to social and family guests\u2014all this is a radical new experiment. There are no scientific studies to justify it, because it has never been done in the past.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-dc2ff62e-0352-41de-ba45-fdbc9c014f69\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"dc2ff62e-0352-41de-ba45-fdbc9c014f69\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">Containment of the virus is feasible\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0239800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">if it is begun very early<\/a>, when the virus is geographically contained and the number of cases is small enough that every case can be accounted for. It\u2019s then possible for severe isolation to halt the virus in its tracks. (This was the strategy pursued by China.) Once there are thousands of cases, it is feasible to slow the spread, but not to change the fact that eventually, everyone in the population will be exposed.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-a008cdfe-b3de-495b-91f5-2ba1b3d84ae7\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"a008cdfe-b3de-495b-91f5-2ba1b3d84ae7\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">Dr Fauci was clearly aware of this, because when he made his March announcement, he was asking America to isolate only for a few weeks. His goal was explicitly to \u201cflatten the curve\u201d, meaning to make sure the disease didn\u2019t spread so rapidly that hospital ICUs would be overwhelmed. At the beginning, he (quite reasonably) did not claim that the measures he prescribed to America would contain the virus, but only slow its spread.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-1a5024f8-3a33-4854-99c1-df3d1e68ec71\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"1a5024f8-3a33-4854-99c1-df3d1e68ec71\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">It worked. Except in a few isolated regions, there was never a shortage of hospital beds. But six months later, we are still masking and social distancing, long past when the original justification for these measures has been forgotten.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-4afe1859-73c8-450b-8c3d-f7296d914267\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"4afe1859-73c8-450b-8c3d-f7296d914267\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\"><strong>8. \u201cAsymptomatic carriers are an important vector of disease transmission, which must be isolated if we are to stop the spread of COVID\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"block-1d74954a-eaee-42d3-96e6-9eb0b48a25bc\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"1d74954a-eaee-42d3-96e6-9eb0b48a25bc\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">The justification for separating healthy people from other healthy people is the idea that we never know who is really healthy. We know from past history that colds and flu become contagious a day or two before they have symptoms, though the viral load that they transmit is greatly increased once the virus has taken hold and they are coughing and sneezing.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-26b0bd26-a9e9-4e35-a98e-2c7d67e3012f\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"26b0bd26-a9e9-4e35-a98e-2c7d67e3012f\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">Extending quarantine from the traditional application to people who are obviously sick to the general population is a huge innovation, imposing tens of trillions of dollars in lost productivity worldwide, as well as social and psychological hardship.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full\/10.1177\/1745691614568352\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Isolation kills<\/a>. It could only have been justified by evidence that the virus could not be contained by the same methods that have been used for all previous epidemics. Where is the evidence that asymptomatic carriers are a critical link in the chain of transmission?<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-b7219866-1953-4741-87ef-4ec8a9cb40f4\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"b7219866-1953-4741-87ef-4ec8a9cb40f4\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">Dr Fauci got it right at first when he said, \u201cIn all the history of respiratory-born viruses of any type, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks. The driver of outbreaks is always a symptomatic person.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vrAvjU2LBkg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jan 28<\/a>] Subsequently, there were anecdotal articles documenting particular cases in which asymptomatic transmission did occur [<a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/article-abstract\/2762028\">one<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1201971220301740\">two<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s11427-020-1661-4?fbclid=IwAR0I5SygPRGx-9y-EZA4mURwVxSlfvMewSNigr86W8JQ8UFlY3UsSQtVyzA&amp;error=cookies_not_supported&amp;code=448006c3-347a-42ad-ad84-174472612e7d\">three<\/a>]. How can we know if asymptomatic carriers are an important part of the dynamic spread of the disease? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medrxiv.org\/content\/10.1101\/2020.03.18.20037994v5.full.pdf\">This paper<\/a> is the only attempt I have found to study the question with a detailed mathematical model; but, in the end, it just calculates unknowns from unmeasurables, and reaches no conclusion. We are left with common sense, which says that patients with symptoms have much higher viral levels (that\u2019s why they are sick). They are also coughing and aspirating more of the virus (that\u2019s why the virus evolved to make us cough). When Maria van Kerkhove, speaking for the WHO,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NQTBlbx1Xjs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stated that asymptomatic transmission was not important<\/a>, she was reined in by those who control the narrative, and she\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8rfqOi8Qh-Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">walked back<\/a>\u00a0the statement the next day.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-1de8ec9c-7302-4aae-8569-1deeca7d3467\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"1de8ec9c-7302-4aae-8569-1deeca7d3467\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\"><strong>9. \u201cThe lower death rates now compared to April are due to protective measures such as social distancing, mask-wearing, and limited travel.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"block-470858c8-0840-43f6-8717-149c3151d18c\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"470858c8-0840-43f6-8717-149c3151d18c\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">Why would we expect lower\u00a0<strong><em>death<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0rates? From measures intended to limit social contact and spread of the virus, we should expect lower\u00a0<strong><em>infection<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0rates. But that\u2019s not happening; instead, we have\u00a0<strong><em>higher case<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0rates coupled with\u00a0<strong><em>lower death<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0rates. This can reasonably be explained by (1) changes in definition of what constitutes a \u201ccase\u201d (see #6 above), (2) wider testing, (3) the virus evolving, as most viruses tend to do, toward higher infectivity and lower fatality, and (4) fall weather.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-3819a56e-298f-4f2c-9dbe-734da0a2b16f\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"3819a56e-298f-4f2c-9dbe-734da0a2b16f\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\"><strong>10. \u201cWith enough resources, pharmaceutical scientists can develop a vaccine in a matter of months, and provide reasonable assurance that it is safe.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"block-3493a61b-79e3-4713-8a6e-4f4f3972116d\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"3493a61b-79e3-4713-8a6e-4f4f3972116d\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">This is the most dangerous of all the fictions and, not incidentally, the one most closely related to $6 billion in NIH investments and tens of billions in projected corporate profits.<\/p>\n<p id=\"block-103ba81d-1bb3-4538-92a0-f936fda1b805\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"103ba81d-1bb3-4538-92a0-f936fda1b805\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">The subject of vaccines is highly polarizing. On the one hand, the mainstream press, especially the scientific press, has been hammering with singular purpose the message that vaccines are safe and effective and necessary not just for individual protection but for public health. On the other hand, there is about\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/science-and-health\/21364099\/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy-research-herd-immunity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one third of the American public<\/a> who distrust what they hear about vaccines, enough so that they will refuse a vaccine (if not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nejm.org\/doi\/full\/10.1056\/NEJMp2020926\">coerced<\/a>). [Updated to half of Americans, according to recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/science\/2020\/09\/17\/u-s-public-now-divided-over-whether-to-get-covid-19-vaccine\/\">Pew survey<\/a>] So much has been written about vaccine safety that I would not presume to try to convince you one way or the other in a few paragraphs. I can tell you that my own attitude changed when I had a bad reaction four years ago to a pneumonia vaccine (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/health-science\/i-got-a-pneumonia-shot--and-then-the-pain-began\/2015\/10\/26\/3e465a44-691e-11e5-9ef3-fde182507eac_story.html\">PCV13<\/a>), and learned that there is no corporate liability for vaccine injuries. An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrsa.gov\/vaccine-compensation\/about\/index.html\">act of Congress in 1986<\/a> exempted vaccines from the standard testing for safety and efficacy that other medications must pass, and also indemnified vaccine companies from all liability for harm caused by either design or manufacture. In my opinion, this is a dangerous situation, as it removes all motivation for companies to make a safe product. <del>Recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2020\/04\/15\/2020-08040\/amendment-to-declaration-under-the-public-readiness-and-emergency-preparedness-act-for-medical\">amendments to the 2005 PREP act<\/a> take the extraordinary extra step, for COVID vaccines only, of absolving the companies for liability in advance for fraud and intentional infliction of harm.<\/del>[I thought this was true when I wrote it in October.]<\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"0c5052b9-eec8-4c1d-b9e9-039df392ed39\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">I\u2019ll close this series by defending my claim above that, compared to treatments, vaccines are (1) far more expensive and (2) much harder to prove safe and effective.<\/p>\n<ol id=\"block-8c94acd2-bd17-4c20-95da-88d3731f08e7\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Block: List\" data-block=\"8c94acd2-bd17-4c20-95da-88d3731f08e7\" data-type=\"core\/list\" data-title=\"List\">\n<li>One reason that vaccines are more expensive for the public (and correspondingly more profitable for the industry) is that vaccines are for everyone, while treatments are only for less than 1% of the population that becomes sick enough to need them. There is a race to patent a vaccine, a race for billions of dollars in private profits that derive from spending public research funds, and the profit potential is distorting our public priorities. The best treatment we have is hydroxychloroquine, which is out of patent, has a 65-year safety record, and costs pennies per dose. FDA can only legally approve vaccines on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/f8ecf7b5-f8d2-4726-ba3f-233b8497b91a\">fast track<\/a> basis if they find that no viable treatments are available. This is ample explanation for the campaign to discredit chloroquine and <a href=\"http:\/\/orthomolecular.org\/resources\/omns\/v16n37.shtml\">other effective treatments<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Because a vaccine is given to 100 times as many people, it must be 100 times safer in order to impose the same health burden from side effects. COVID is only life-threatening for people who are old and\/or disabled; so to establish the safety of a vaccine, clinical trials must include people who are old and\/or disabled. The relevant question is:\u00a0<strong><em>are people who receive the vaccine dying at a lower rate than people who received a placebo?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 But\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/09\/22\/opinion\/covid-vaccine-coronavirus.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">none of the trials<\/a>\u00a0are being designed to ask this question.<br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\" \/><br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\" \/>There is a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/518835\/expert-opinion-covid-19-vaccine-rollout-unlikely-before-fall-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reason<\/a>\u00a0why vaccines are tested over many years, and why \u201cwarp-speed\u201d testing cannot tell us what we need to know. Though a vaccine is always designed with one particular pathogen in mind, the effects of vaccination\u2014beneficial and detrimental\u2014extend to the immune system generally. This is the complex subject of cross-immunity [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0021997507000631?casa_token=gN9uzT8SJZMAAAAA:SsX87r1XpK73R7Qcq5vHMnx4KO853huFrhzfuaux-ToIsyPPAPrAJ0KYXNNzYIxhQUfGmcDZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ref<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.karger.com\/Article\/Abstract\/355628\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ref<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/ni.2961\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ref<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpeds.com\/article\/S0022-3476(08)00309-0\/abstract\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ref<\/a>]. It is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_d8PNlXHJ48\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">generally true<\/a>\u00a0that live virus vaccines tend to confer cross immunity toward non-target viruses, while vaccines made from protein fragments tend to impair immunity to non-target infections. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biospace.com\/article\/another-covid-19-vaccine-joins-the-race-this-time-it-s-a-live-weakened-virus\/\">Only one<\/a> of the candidate vaccines is derived from live, attenuated virus. The new class of RNA vaccines [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cell.com\/cell\/pdf\/S0092-8674(20)30932-6.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Moderna<\/a>] is entirely untested, and we have no idea what the long-term effects would be, but\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2020\/05\/26\/moderna-vaccine-candidate-trial-participant-severe-reaction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">initial results<\/a>\u00a0give us pause.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p id=\"block-b0938652-f1f7-4827-9230-f77f59874657\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"b0938652-f1f7-4827-9230-f77f59874657\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">If you are open to an honest and competent criticism of vaccine science and politics, I recommend\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Robert F. Kennedy\u2019s web site<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"block-fed9d8fd-e161-40f7-a7cd-5f7cb5342338\" class=\"block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Block: Separator\" data-block=\"fed9d8fd-e161-40f7-a7cd-5f7cb5342338\" data-type=\"core\/separator\" data-title=\"Separator\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"block-71236368-f4cd-4f33-8718-843682d298af\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"71236368-f4cd-4f33-8718-843682d298af\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\"><strong>The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/p>\n<p id=\"block-bbec6b50-5155-4a04-926d-737fb050e743\" class=\"rich-text block-editor-rich-text__editable block-editor-block-list__block wp-block\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Paragraph block\" data-block=\"bbec6b50-5155-4a04-926d-737fb050e743\" data-type=\"core\/paragraph\" data-title=\"Paragraph\">The story that we are being told about an ultra-lethal virus that \u201cjumped to humans\u201d and the scientific community converging on a response proportional to the threat\u2014this story is unraveling, as more and more doctors and public health professionals are adding their voices to a global movement to restore sanity and integrity in the pandemic response.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am heartened that the tide seems to be turning. The\u00a0Great Barrington Declaration is attracting thousands of scientists\u2019 signatures each day. And the World Health Association\u2019s COVID spokesperson has done an about-face and come out in opposition to lockdowns, recognizing explicitly the suffering, the poverty, and the health implications of the policy most of the &#8230; <a title=\"Ten Elements of the False COVID Narrative (last 5)\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/2020\/10\/10\/ten-elements-of-the-false-covid-narrative-last-5\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Ten Elements of the False COVID Narrative (last 5)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":1031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ten Elements of the False COVID Narrative (last 5) - Josh Mitteldorf<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/2020\/10\/10\/ten-elements-of-the-false-covid-narrative-last-5\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ten Elements of the False COVID Narrative (last 5)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am heartened that the tide seems to be turning. The\u00a0Great Barrington Declaration is attracting thousands of scientists\u2019 signatures each day. And the World Health Association\u2019s COVID spokesperson has done an about-face and come out in opposition to lockdowns, recognizing explicitly the suffering, the poverty, and the health implications of the policy most of the ... 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Selena M. Castillo prepares to administer a flu vaccination on Fort Sill, Okla., Nov. 15, 2019. Spc. Castillo is a medic for 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/10\\\/ten-elements-of-the-false-covid-narrative-last-5\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ten Elements of the False COVID Narrative (last 5)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/\",\"name\":\"Josh Mitteldorf\",\"description\":\"Aging Matters\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Josh Mitteldorf\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/1058476001.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/1058476001.jpg\",\"width\":864,\"height\":363,\"caption\":\"Josh Mitteldorf\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/214c5d1dad9f15c48f03128d5cfccdb1\",\"name\":\"Josh Mitteldorf\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d3a8498f3d727156673030716d233edc57840f110d501b1b523e1780e9043b92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d3a8498f3d727156673030716d233edc57840f110d501b1b523e1780e9043b92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d3a8498f3d727156673030716d233edc57840f110d501b1b523e1780e9043b92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Josh Mitteldorf\"},\"description\":\"Josh Mitteldorf studies evolutionary theory of aging using computer simulations. The surprising fact that our bodies are genetically programmed to age and to die offers an enormous opportunity for medical intervention. It may be that therapies to slow the progress of aging need not repair or regenerate anything, but only need to interfere with an existing program of self-destruction. Mitteldorf has taught a weekly yoga class for thirty years. He is an advocate for vigorous self care, including exercise, meditation and caloric restriction. After earning a PhD in astrophysicist, Mitteldorf moved to evolutionary biology as a primary field in 1996. He has taught at Harvard, Berkeley, Bryn Mawr, LaSalle and Temple University. He is presently affiliated with MIT as a visiting scholar. In private life, Mitteldorf is an advocate for election integrity as well as public health. He is an avid amateur musician, playing piano in chamber groups, French horn in community orchestras. His two daughters are among the first children adopted from China in the mid-1980s. Much to the surprise of evolutionary biologists, genetic experiments indicate that aging has been selected as an adaptation for its own sake. This poses a conundrum: the impact of aging on individual fitness is wholly negative, so aging must be regarded as a kind of evolutionary altruism. Unlike other forms of evolutionary altruism, aging offers benefits to the community that are weak, and not well focussed on near kin of the altruist. This makes the mechanism challenging to understand and to model. more at http:\\\/\\\/mathforum.org\\\/~josh\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/AgingAdvice.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/author\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ten Elements of the False COVID Narrative (last 5) - Josh Mitteldorf","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/2020\/10\/10\/ten-elements-of-the-false-covid-narrative-last-5\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ten Elements of the False COVID Narrative (last 5)","og_description":"I am heartened that the tide seems to be turning. The\u00a0Great Barrington Declaration is attracting thousands of scientists\u2019 signatures each day. And the World Health Association\u2019s COVID spokesperson has done an about-face and come out in opposition to lockdowns, recognizing explicitly the suffering, the poverty, and the health implications of the policy most of the ... 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Selena M. Castillo prepares to administer a flu vaccination on Fort Sill, Okla., Nov. 15, 2019. Spc. 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The surprising fact that our bodies are genetically programmed to age and to die offers an enormous opportunity for medical intervention. It may be that therapies to slow the progress of aging need not repair or regenerate anything, but only need to interfere with an existing program of self-destruction. Mitteldorf has taught a weekly yoga class for thirty years. He is an advocate for vigorous self care, including exercise, meditation and caloric restriction. After earning a PhD in astrophysicist, Mitteldorf moved to evolutionary biology as a primary field in 1996. He has taught at Harvard, Berkeley, Bryn Mawr, LaSalle and Temple University. He is presently affiliated with MIT as a visiting scholar. In private life, Mitteldorf is an advocate for election integrity as well as public health. He is an avid amateur musician, playing piano in chamber groups, French horn in community orchestras. His two daughters are among the first children adopted from China in the mid-1980s. Much to the surprise of evolutionary biologists, genetic experiments indicate that aging has been selected as an adaptation for its own sake. This poses a conundrum: the impact of aging on individual fitness is wholly negative, so aging must be regarded as a kind of evolutionary altruism. Unlike other forms of evolutionary altruism, aging offers benefits to the community that are weak, and not well focussed on near kin of the altruist. 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