COVIDiocy Science: Why Catching COVID is a STUPID Idea, Part X of ???

 We've previously covered the reasons (more than 5) on why you should get vaccinated and NOT try to catch COVID 'naturally'. 

Now we can add another reason: you can go nuts. 

Three separate California teens have developed psychiatric symptoms, seemingly overnight, after catching COVID. 

While the sample size is too small to be of use, the implications are alarming enough that warranted immediate attention. 

Their examination shows that their immune system, instead of attacking the virus which had gotten into the spinal fluid, started attacking the brain instead. 

One of the patients showed anger issues, screaming profanity-laden tirade against anyone within hearing distance, tried to escape the hospital, and has paranoid delusions about being followed and such. 

After a treatment to suppress her immune system went haywire, which had caused brain inflammation, she practically had a personality change 24 hours later. 

Another teen, a former A-student, got "brain fog", a common complaint for COVID sufferers, and became bipolar, flipping from apathy to elation to rage. He can barely remember simple facts, and felt suicidal, and is not responding to psychiatric medication. It was only then he was diagnosed with COVID. He received similar treatment to suppress his immune system, but it was well after his problems, and he never fully recovered. 

And remember, teenagers did not get access to the COVID vaccine until relatively recently, and those under 12 have yet to get them, PERIOD, at least in the US.  

Now, some states are so eager to please the hardcore constituents, they want to send kids back to class WITHOUT MASKS OR VACCINES. 

Don't be a COVIDiot. Get vaccinated, and get your family vaccinated as soon as possible. And mask up. It's about protecting you and your loved ones. 

You can't enjoy your "freedom" if you are dead or sick. 

COVIDiocy Science: Why Catching COVID for Disease-Derived Immunity is a Bad Idea

Some COVID deniers such as Laura Loomer claimed that COVID is no worse than a stomach flu, and had stated publicly she wanted to catch it to prove it wasn't that bad. She got her wish in September 2021, and there has been no word whether she considers COVID better or worse than the stomach flu. 

But scientifically, this is a horrible idea... You should NOT try to catch COVID 'naturally'. 

First, you have a 1 in 62 chance of dying if you catch COVID. (45.5M cases and 738K deaths = 1/61.65)

Second, you have a chance of severe lasting damage from COVID known as "long COVID", which are not just physical, but also psychological and neurological. People have reported personality changes, such as anger issues, apathy, headache, fatigue, trouble breathing, loss of taste or smell, and more. 

Third, you may not get ANY immunity if you have a weak case of COVID. One-third of COVID-infected individuals (with positive tests) show NO antibodies 3 weeks later.  

Fourth, disease-derived immunity fades quickly. A full 28% of medical professionals who tested positive for COVID no longer show sufficient antibodies 2 months later.  

But now there is another thing to worry about... COVID can cause Type I diabetes, where the beta cells that produce insulin were weakened or destroyed by the virus. COVID death autopsies revealed that pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin were infected with the virus, and there's no reason to doubt that happens in the living as well. 

This is NOT a preview. This is TWO SEPARATE teams working on this issue, came to the same results. The paper has been peer-reviewed. This is real science. 

And Type I diabetes is the type where you need to get insulin injections multiple times a day. 

Keep in mind that even if you did catch a "minor" case of COVID, getting COVID vaccine means you are HALF as likely to catch COVID again than without the vaccine. 

Don't be a COVIDiot and deny the seriousness of COVID. You are taking chances with your body with potentially deadly consequences if you don't get the vaccine. 

Just get the COVID vaccine. 

Sports COVIDiocy: SJ Sharks forward Evander Kane Suspended for 21 Games For Turning in a FAKE COVID Vaccination Card

NHL and NHL Player's Association agreed on September 1st 2021 that all players should be vaccinated, and are required to submit proof of vaccination. 

Evander Kane, a forward for the San Jose Sharks NHL team, was suspended for 21 games, UNPAID, for violating the rules. He will not return until November 30th in the game against the New Jersey Devils. He already missed training camp, pre-season games, and the season opener.  

He has issued an apology to the teammates, team, the fans, and more. 

While a high-scorer on the ice and leading the Sharks in scoring last year on the ice, Kane was embroiled in controversy when his estranged wife accused him of domestic violence and betting on the games earlier this year while in the midst of a bitter divorce. NHL is conducting multiple investigations on Kane, and cleared him on some allegations. But this one was so obvious it's not even funny. 

Don't be a COVIDiot like Kane. 

Karma COVIDiocy: Fake News Spreader / MAGA Trump Lover Learned Fake News Have Consequences

A MAGA / Trump lover beanie-wearing Jody Pendleton claimed earlier this week on Tiktok that in order to defy the Federal vaccine mandate, he fired all 46 vaccinated workers across the 4-restaurant chain so he can bring the headcount under 100, thus no longer bound by vaccine mandate. 

MAGA Qnuts loved the guy's cleverness, while the rest of the public snorted in disgust. 

Turns out, Jody's a F***ing liar. 

According to @thatdaneshguy, also on Tiktok, Jody was actually the district manager, and has no firing authority. He basically impersonated his boss. 

Second, the real owner apparently let Jody go when confronted about this issue.

Don't be a COVIDiot like Jody. 

COVIDiocy Mythbuster: Why Do Celebrities Believe Themselves Above Science and Reason?

There are plenty of celebrity goofs about COVID. We've seen Nicki Minaj's COVID debacle and the rise of "My cousin's friend" meme. Trinidad's health minister even spent a full day trying to track down the person... There was no such case. 

But when an NBA star publicly announce that he believes he has natural immunity and refused to get the vaccine, antivaxxers rallied behind him because "freedom!" when his team barred him from practice for refusing the shot. In fact, Kyrie Irving will lose about half of his salary, because Brooklyn Nets have to follow the city mandate of any pro athlete at a public venue needs to be vaccinated, and half of the games are "home" games played in New York. 

And guess what Kyrie said about his decision? 

"It's just about the freedom of what I want to do."

He said he wants to play, but he's not willing to get the shot in order to play. His "freedom" to NOT get the shot is more important to him than playing or helping the team. 

The fact that NBA has so far refused to issue a league-wide player vaccine mandate has left teams confused, as so far, only 3 cities (SF, LA, and NYC) have vaccine mandates that apply to their 5 NBA home teams. And some NBA players have voiced vocal opposition to getting vaxxed... a small minority. According to ESPN, only 10% of players are holding out, and all NBA officials and staff that work with players are required to be vaccinated. 

At least one NBA player in San Francisco has finally gotten vaxxed... because Andrew Wiggins wanted to play more than he wants to hold out over this issue. 

And even Lebron James has gotten the COVID vaccine, after initially refusing. 

NBA so far has only posted that the teams don't have to pay the players who hold out and thus ineligible for playtime, probably afraid of antagonizing the player's union, but that's beyond the scope of this blog post. 

Instead, I'd like to address a different topic...  Andrew Wiggins claimed he already had a bout of minor COVID earlier in the year, and his family is so healthy he doesn't even take OTC medication, which is why he's refusing COVID shots unless he's forced to. In fact, most of the vocal holdouts in NBA claim either they have natural immunity from prior COVID infections, or they question WHY get the vaccine if you can still be infected. 

Let's address both here. 

Is natural immunity a good substitute for vaccine immunity? 

First, let's be accurate. This is not natural immunity. This is disease-derived immunity or post-infection immunity. The person survived the COVID, a disease that kills 1 in 63 infected.So basically, if you chose not to vaccinate, you are risking 1/63 chance of dying outright. 

Second, you can still get COVID, albeit milder symptoms, due to delta and other variants, even after you get vaccinated. This is, in jargon terms, called "breakthrough infection". 

Three, there are three things you don't know about post-infection immunity:

a) more than 1/3rd of COVID cases resulted in NO protective antibodies created. In other words, surviving COVID may not give you ANY immunity at all. 

b) post-infection immunity fades quickly, esp. with mild COVID cases, when compared to vaccine-derived immunity. If it's been months since you last suffered COVID, you may have little to no protection against the delta or later COVID variants. 

c) reinfection rate is HALVED after vaccination for those who survived COVID. That's right, having the jab, even if you survived COVID, makes you HALF as likely of catching COVID again versus without the jab.  

Yet "natural immunity" has been an antivaxxer talking point for decades, as a natural extension of naturalistic fallacy, i.e. "natural is better" (never mind the science). In fact, some antivaxxers started referring themselves as #pureblood after a Tiktok meme gone viral. Never mind the Harry Potter and Nazi Germany references. 

Getting the COVID vaccine has multiple advantages, according to science:

* You don't have to suffer through the illness
* You won't face the 1/63 chance of death
* You get longer-lasting protection 

Yet there are antivaxxer COVIDiots who continue to hold out for no other reason than "freedom!" (from mandates) 

Don't be a COVIDiot who refuse to see reason. 

Also read: Science Based Medicine: Natural Immunity versus the vaccine for COVID-19

COVIDiocy Mythbuster: Why do COVIDiots say things like "0.04% chance of you die from COVID"?

Some antivaxxers and COVID-deniers claimed that death rate from COVID was 0.04%, though in 2021 it was revised to 0.4%. The original number was from a SINGLE study that was never peer-reviewed in the earliest days of COVID pandemic (March or April 2020). Reuters did a whole article on this showing the number is completely bogus. 

But what exactly *is* death rate? What is the denominator? The entire population of the US? Or those that had been infected with COVID? Or somewhere in between? 

Given that US has documented since the beginning of 2020 44.8M cases of COVID, with 723K deaths, the death rate among those infected was roughly 1.61% or about 1 in 62. Keep in mind that seasonal flu has a death rate of 0.1%. (Feel free to verify the numbers via Google search) Dr. Fauci was actually slightly understating the case when he said COVID is ten times more deadly than the seasonal flu. 

And that's for the ENTIRE US of A. In places where ICU was already full and hospitals are rationing care, death rate is expected to hit 2-3%, perhaps higher. Indeed, that's what happened to Wuhan, China before a total shutdown of the city got things under control. 

And just imagine the massive cost of transporting COVID patients hundreds of miles for an ICU bed. 

Or the collateral damage to patients who originally just need quick treatments, but instead, was forced to wait and their situation got worse... or died, because all local hospitals are full of COVID patients, who are unvaxxed. Remember, COVID vaccines reduce or even eliminate hospitalization, even if they failed to prevent infection. 

Actually, you don't need to imagine such. They have already happened in the areas with the highest antivax sentiments. You've already seen stories like "man turned down by 43 hospitals". 

Don't be a COVIDiot. Get vaxxed. It's your civic duty. 

Crazy COVIDiocy: How Ivermectin Became Popular Among Qnuts

It was interesting that Qnuts, followers of Qanon, would rather take drugs that do NOT treat COVID for treating COVID, they would also build elaborate conspiracy theories to explain their anti-reality. So how did it all start? 

It all started in 2020, when the entire world is looking for SOMETHING to fight COVID. Then someone published a paper, claiming Ivermectin, an existing antiparasite drug, seems to affect RNA virus as well, and COVID virus is an RNA virus. And their study shows that it seems to work on COVID virus... in a petri dish. 

So, we should do animal testing, right? 

Wrong. The study was flawed. The concentration given was WAY TOO HIGH, far in excess of what's even achievable in a live human without it being toxic / overdose. 

Basically, the petri dishes used achieved a concentration of 2000 to 4000 ng/mL

Even at 10X the maximum dosage currently allowed, which comes out to be about 120 mg of Ivermectin for an adult human, the maximum blood concentration of that is only bout 250 ng/mL, 10% of the concentration as specified in the study. 

In other words, you have to give 100x the concentration of Ivermectin to get the same results in the petri-dish, and that's 10X too much. Ivermectin *is* deadly when overdosed. There was at least one death in New Mexico that is attributed to Ivermectin overdose. 

Here is a very relevant XKCD

XKCD: When you see a claim that a common drug or vitamin
"kills cancer cells in a petri dish," keep in mind: so does a handgun

Okay, what about such claims is 50+ studies "proving" that Ivermectin is effective? 

Still wrong. Twelve of them are not about ivermectin alone, but in combination with something else. Thus, they are NOT proof of ivermectin's effectiveness. 

Others are testing for different things, some about reducing symptoms, some are about reducing death rate, some about prevention. They are all separate data points, and some of them have outright faked data, where data are copied-and-pasted. Or sequence of numbers extremely unlikely to happen in nature... or someone who was already dead when the study allegedly took place. There's also one where there's heavy suspicion of uneven samples, where placebo group has a lot more sicker patients, while the healthier patients appeared in the ivermectin group. 

The Cochrane study, which does meta analysis of existing studies, but only of high quality studies, counted only 20 or so studies, and their conclusion was that there is no evidence to suggest that ivermectin is effective in treating COVID. 

Yet you have someone whose specialty is NOT in epidemiology or drug testing (in fact, her degree is in reproductive science) claiming that NOTHING will convince her that ivermectin does not work. It should not surprise you that Dr. Theresa "Tess" Lawrie is well known in UK for antivax nonsense and misinformation. 

Don't be a COVIDiot and believe random doctors tell you. Not all doctors believe the same thing. Some are kook-ier than others. 

COVIDiocy Consequences: UCLA Doctor Escorted Off Work Premises After Speaking at Anti-vax Rally

Unvaccinated UCLA anesthesiologist Dr. Christopher Rake spoke at an anti-vax rally, wearing his white doctor's coat, back in September: "So they're telling me, 'take the jab or we take your job'. And I am here to say no!"  Then as a plane passed overhead, Rake held his hand and shouts, "Wave for freedom! FREEDOM!"

This is despite the August 5th California executive order that all health care workers MUST be vaccinated against COVID by September 30th. 

On October 4th, Rake showed up for work at the UCLA Medical Center and was promptly escorted out of the building by security, exactly as he wished. 

Of course, he's declaring martyrdom, i.e. they (UCLA) can't tolerate freedom, and he deserves to work even though he won't get vaccinated. 

The fact that an accredited doctor is willing to attend an anti-vax event while wearing his white coat, thus using his credentials and his employment to spread disinformation, is frankly, troublesome. 

As Lee Iacocca said, "Lead, follow, or get the **** out of the way." 

To not only be an obstructionist (attend anti-vax rally) but basically displaying your place of employment and your credentials, shows a serious lack of judgment. 

Do you really want a doctor who prioritizes his "freedom" over that of public health, i.e. YOUR health? 

If vaccine mandate will push the vaccination rate to the point that COVID becomes a non-issue, then do it. Pandemic times require extraordinary measures. 

The unvaccinated is willing to DIE for their "freedom". But you can't have freedom if you're dead. 705K people are already dead. COVID is the most important issue, and vaccine is the simplest way to end COVID. The more diddling we do is more time we give it to mutate, and kill more people, mainly the unvaccinated. 

In a way, it's the unvaccinated cutting off their own noses to spite their faces. They are basically KILLING THEMSELVES for their irrational beliefs. 

There's nothing wrong with believing in freedom, but there's a right time and a wrong time for that. 

And let's not forget that George Washington HIMSELF ordered the entire Continental Army and new recruits to be inoculated for smallpox. The disease is killing more of his men than the British. 

There is nothing unAmerican about a vaccine mandate. 

Don't be a COVIDiot like Rake. 

Sad COVIDiocy: Grieving Mom Implores Antivaxxers to Get Vaccinated After Losing Her 10-Year Old Daughter to COVID

A 10-year old girl in Virginia, US has died of COVID. Her mother implored all who can receive to a vaccine to do so. In the US, the vaccine is only approved for 12 year-olds or older. 

The ten-year old felt a headache on September 22nd. By 26th, she was coughing so hard she was throwing up. Her mom was on the phone with 911 when she stopped breathing. She survived upon resuscitation, but her condition did not improve. The hospital lost her in the ICU a day later when she stopped breathing again and was unable to resuscitate her. 

The mother went to a school board meeting where COVID deniers continue to claim things like "[COVID] doesn't affect healthy people." 

The grieving mom is calling out the antivaxxers / COVID deniers. COVID comes for EVERYONE, and not all will survive it. If everyone get vaccinated, they can protect those who can't receive the vaccine yet. It's not about the freedom, but the social responsibility

Read the full story here:  https://www.comicsands.com/mom-antivaxxers-daughter-10-dies-2655204749.html

Don't be a COVIDiot. 

Classic COVIDiocy: Antivaxxers Refused To Believe Nurse is NOT Dead After Fainting on TV Receiving First COVID Vax

 If you have kept up with COVID news since 2020, you may remember this episode... 

Tiffany Dover is one of the first nurses in the nation to receive the COVID vaccine back in December 2020. She fainted a few minutes after the injection, just as she stood up, to answer reporters' questions, all on TV. 

She was up a few minutes later, explaining that she had an overactive vagus response, i.e. she's prone to fainting spells if overly excited or stimulated. It affects 20% of all people. That part was on TV. 

Fainting spells are a thing. Some people faint at the sight of blood, or even seeing one's toenail pulled under an anesthetic. (There's a video on The Toe Bro's Youtube channel about a mother who fainted when someone else was in the chair getting a nail pulled) 

That's all antivaxxers need to construct a giant conspiracy... That she died. This was bolstered by antivax videos editing out the part with her a few minutes later, very much alive. 

The antivaxxers then started to flood the hospital's phone lines and social media seeking "verification" that Tiffany is alive. Antivaxxers also reached out to anyone linked to Tiffany on social media asking for "proof" that she's alive. An announcement by the hospital is not enough for them. 

It got bad enough after six weeks that the hospital asked her to pose with staff and a signboard with a date and a hashtag as "proof of life". But this is where the conspiracy gone off the rails and claimed an actress was brought in to pose as her and/or wanted ADDITIONAL proof of life. Some trolls even suggested scour the city and stalk her family members. 

When family members posted a rebuttal, they got comments like "why don't you admit she's dead?" "how much did they pay you?" and "Why don't you let her speak for herself?" and so on. 

And this is when claims of a "body double" started. 

The conspirators, usually with a distrust of the medical establishment, need to validate their self-worth by harassing others. And they keep moving the goalpost. 

The hospital learned its lesson and started ignoring such demands. It is a hospital, not a PR agency to satisfy antivaxxer bull****. 

You can read the entire saga here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-vaxxers-wont-stop-harassing-tiffany-dover-nurse-theyre-convinced-is-dead-after-covid-shot

Don't be a COVIDiot antivaxxer who can't handle the truth. 

Crazy COVIDiocy: Antivaxxers Lie About Death to Discredit Vaccine, Enraging Surviving Family

 A 17-year old beautician died in her sleep due to unknown causes on September 14th, in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. The grieving family is horrified that many antivaxxers, desperate to discredit the vaccine any way they can, started to claim that the death was due to the COVID vaccine. 

Maddy Campbel is a beautician with a promising future, but her life was cut short, and a postmortem was unable to establish a definite cause of death. Yet after the limited release of news on Instagram, antivaxxer trolls started to inundate the announcement and the inbox with claims that "COVID vaccine killed her", probably accompanied by "it's a government cover-up". 

What the trolls don't know is that Maddy had NOT received any COVID vaccine. Not even a single dose. So her death has NOTHING to do with the COVID vaccine. 

Her father called out the antivaxxer trolls, "Anybody spreading such rumours should hang their heads in shame." 

Her place of employment also issued a statement: "We are horrified to hear that people are trying to sue Maddy's death as an 'anti vaccine' news story. Maddy would not wish to have her name used to dissuade people against having the vaccine. I would like to confirm that Maddy had neither doses of the COVID vaccine, her unexpected death was in no way linked."

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Unfortunately, this sort of vaccine-blaming happens QUITE OFTEN online. Any time there's a death, antivaxxers assess the death, and see if it can be blamed on vaccines somehow. Baby deaths are most often blamed, because a lot of children receive vaccines when they are young. Some grieving families are harassed into quitting social media, then the antivaxxers claim "cover-up". 

For example, Ashley Spivey, one-time contestant on The Bachelor back in about 2010 or so, suffered a stillbirth, at 30 weeks. It appears that the cord has twisted around the fetus's neck. Such things happen. What Ashley did NOT expect, however, are the antivaxxers who insisted that the flu shot she got a week earlier was what killed her fetus. And given that Ashley had announced that she's getting her flu shot to protect the herself and the baby, the antivaxxers claimed they "tried to warn you [Ashley]". 

It's a bit perverse when a mom's story about the death of a child/fetus, or even the struggles of her child with a medical condition was targeted by the antivaxxers for harassment. And Ashley is hardly alone in that. 

Don't be a COVIDiot or antivaxxers. Don't join a group so eager to prove a falsehood they are willing to harass grieving mothers and families. 

COVIDIocy Misinformation: How People Use Statistics To Mislead

NOTE: This post is also available at amlmskeptic.blogspot.com as it illustrates an important misinformation tactic: presenting a scary statistic, without verifying it, and without context or base rate (aka background rate). 

Recently, experts warned that pregnant women are being deliberately targeted with COVID vaccine misinformation. Some claimed that vaccine can affect fertility, while another claimed vaccines cause stillbirths. One even cited a study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine titled "Preliminary Findings of mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine Safety in Pregnant Persons" to claim the vaccine is unsafe for pregnant persons. But the study actually shows the opposite of it. So how do you spot such misinformation? By always looking for the context. If a statistic is presented WITHOUT context, you cannot trust it. 

Feel free to read the abstract of the summary above, but I'll include a relevant highlight from the Pubmed link above:

... 13.9% resulted in a pregnancy loss...

While the 13.9% pregnancy loss sounds alarming in itself, you cannot say whether the vaccine is bad or good without knowing the context of such a number. What you should be asking here is "so what is the normal pregnancy loss, i.e. pregnancy loss rate without COVID vaccine?" Or to use a statistics term, what is the base rate or background rate, so we can have a proper comparison? 

Turns out, the answer is not that simple, because in the US, there are actually TWO terms for pregnancy loss: miscarriage (for fetus before 20 weeks), and stillbirth (fetus at 20 weeks or older), and separate statistics are kept. 

For miscarriage, the answer is between 10-20%, according to the Mayo Clinic, but that's reported cases. The actual rate is higher due to unrecognized pregnancies. As high as 33% according to some estimates. 

"About 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage."

Once past 20 weeks, the fetal death rate falls off significantly, down to 1 in 100 to 160 pregnancies, according to CDC. 

As the study used the term "pregnancy loss", which encompasses BOTH stillbirth and miscarriage, and 10-20% vastly overshadows the 1/160 rate, 10-20% is the right number to use as a base rate. 

Thus, the 13.9% number is actually somewhat BELOW the known rate, if we take the median, which is about 15%. And the difference is so small it is probably within statistical error margins. 

Thus, there is no known risk to pregnancy by the mRNA COVID vaccine, since the rate of vaccinated pregnancy loss is almost indistinguishable from the unvaccinated pregnancy loss rate. 

But you wouldn't know that if you ONLY heard the 13.9% figure. It sounds scary. And that's what the people who presented those statistics WANT you to feel: FEAR through propaganda, manipulating your thoughts through misinformation and disinformation. 

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A similar thing happened with the earlier CDC vaccine reaction tracking that there seems to be a few cases of myocarditis among people who got vaccinated, that they temporarily halted the use of one COVID vaccine for a few weeks, out of an abundance of caution, while the study was re-checked and more data was gathered. Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscles. CDC later put the odds of such at about 4.8 per million.  

As expected, anti-vaxxers started touting this as "COVID vaccines are unsafe". They even got a study that supposedly proves that myocarditis increased after COVID vaccines were added. But again, should you check the studies, what is the base rate, and what are the alternatives? 

Turns out, Reuters had published a full fact-check article on this. The study that was touted by the anti-vaxxers made a huge error. The original study was done by The University of Ottawa Heart Institute. It stated that odds are 1 in 1000 of developing a heart problem after COVID vaccination. It was put on preview on September 16th, before it was peer-reviewed. Turns out, they used the wrong figure in "doses administered". They used a figure of 32379 over the study period of 2 months. It should be about 25X larger at 845930. Instead of 1/1000, the figure is more like 3.78/100000. The paper was withdrawn from preview on September 24th, and the Heart Institute itself had issued an apology. 

So the evidence is not there. There are also TWO MORE factors to consider... 

a) What is the base rate of myocarditis? i.e. what is the possibility of catching it without the vaccine?  

According to Wikipedia, it's about 22 per 100K people per year. And 20% will die in the first year. 

However, this is the overall rate. The rate is much lower for younger people, about 5 per 100K people. 

b) What is the possibility of COVID-induced myocarditis, if you caught COVID instead of vaccinating, but recovered? 

Existing myocarditis data from 2019 (pre-COVID) was compared to 2020 data (during COVID) and the signs are having had COVID suggests you are "15.7 times more likely" to have a myocarditis event. 

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Another study involving records of 2 million patients from 40 different hospitals specifically looked for incidents in individuals who had received the COVID vaccine. Guess how many cases they found? Twenty, out of Two Million. 1 per 100000. That's lower than the background rate / base rate. It is of no factor. 

But now you have mothers screaming on Twitter that "my teenager caught myocarditis from the vaccine". 

Except, again, there's no proof from temporal association, i.e. correlation is not causation. It's an anecdote, not data. 

CDC has the data, and it's sharing in the full report from June 2021:

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2021-06/05-COVID-Wallace-508.pdf

The results now show more children are getting infected and dying because the vaccine isn't available for them until VERY recently, and the unvaccinated are clogging up the hospital beds so people who need normal hospitalization can't get in, and either transfer to a different state... or die. 

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When the antivaxxers tell you "do your own research", what they actually mean is "please read our propaganda (where we scare you into supporting us and distrust the doctors)" 

What you should do instead, is REALLY do your research... by spotting other people's propaganda for what it is... intention to manipulate you. 

And yes, I am trying to manipulate you... into REALLY thinking for yourself, not just looking up stuff to confirm your own beliefs. 

COVIDiocy Collateral Damage: Heartbreaking Story from Summer Brennan on Twitter

 You can read the original tweets here: https://twitter.com/summerbrennan/status/1442806675325476867?s=20

But I will just summarize it for you. 

Her father, in his 80's, is living fine in rural New Mexico, alone, healthy, and active. And yes, he is vaccinated against COVID. 

Then he fell, and had to be hospitalized for about a week, in the physical rehab area, not ICU. 

But during the stay, he picked up viral pneumonia that wasn't noticed by the staff, who were too busy treating the unvaxxed folks, now infected with COVID, in the ICU. 

He fell in his room and was not found for six hours, and almost died. He had to be put on a ventilator... and put in a storage room, because there is no room in ICU. 

He woke up in 24 hours... But the hospital had to put him on ventilator AGAIN, because they don't have the staff to check up on him, give him tests, or get consulting pulmonologists or cardiologists. Again, full of unvaxxed COVID patients. And there, his condition deteriorated. 

And the hospital did not even try to transfer him to a larger hospital because ALL nearby hospitals are full. In fact, the entire state's ICUs are full. And the doctor said they also tried ICUs in Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Utah, and California. No luck. 

In short, her father will DIE without a cardiac ICU bed, maybe within 24 hours. Confirmed by both nurse and doctor. So she got on the phone and called basically EVERY hospital in a few hundred miles, for FIVE HOURS continuously. And she finally found a cardiac ICU bed in Albuquerque, still within the state. 

And the transfer is made. And according to the doctor there, it was a VERY close call. But her father is now stable. Her father spent 10 days there, slowly healing his heart, but he was on ventilator all the time. They tried to wean him off of it, but his lungs are too weak. 

They have to perform a tracheostomy, to open a hole in his windpipe, and give his lungs a chance to heal. 

And it was VERY VERY CLEAR that if the hospitals were NOT clogged up by the "vaccine-hesitant" he would have NEVER gotten this bad. 

But he seems to be recovering for now. 

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Her father was collateral damage to all the vaccine hesitants' decisions to NOT vaccinate for COVID. 

To the vaccine-hesitant... your actions have far-reaching consequences than your own body. We've already seen sad story about a man turned away by 43 hospitals, and so on. 

Don't be a vaccine-hesitant entitled selfish COVIDiot. 

COVIDiocy Regret: Virginia Dad Barely Survived COVID, Recorded Regret from Hospital Bed

Travis Campbell of Bristol Virginia barely survived COVID. He was diagnosed of COVID on July 22nd, and went into the hospital two days later. Doctors told him any later and he may not have made it, as his lungs were being damaged, and he was admitted to pulmonary ICU right away. In early August, he was telling his wife and his Facebook viewers that he "truly regrets not getting the vaccine", and were making final arrangement just in case. 

But we're happy to say he has recovered sufficiently to go home after battling COVID for three weeks. 

Travis blames what he saw on social media for his misfortune. He is now pro-vaccine. 

Do NOT be like Travis WAS. Get vaccinated ASAP. 

Sad COVIDiocy: 20-year Old Man Believed Himself Immune from COVID. He died.

An family is mourning the loss of a young 20-year old man who resisted getting the COVID vaccine for months. 

Tyler Gilreath told his mother Tamra Demello that he's healthy, and he has no pre-existing conditions, therefore he does not need the COVID vaccine, despite frequent reminders by his mother. Finally, he agreed that he will get the vaccine by August 30th, which is his mom's birthday. He would never get the chance. Not long after arrival at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where Tyler was about the start his sophomore year, he was diagnosed with COVID on August 20th. He seems to have recovered initially but picked up a sinus infection and a staph infection by mid-September. The infection entered his brain and caused swelling that started to destroy his brain. He was admitted to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain, but his condition worsened. The doctors determined there was no hope on 25th... and took him off life support on 27th. 

His mother had no doubt that had he gotten vaccinated, he would not have died. 

Don't be a COVIDiot like Tyler. Do NOT delay in getting the vaccine. You may catch it BEFORE you have a chance to vaccinate. 

Sad COVIOdiocy: Antivax Nurse who Told Family Not to Vaccinate Has Died from COVID

An Idaho registered nurse with special-needs twins has died from COVID. Normally this is just sad news, but this is extra sad because she actually told her own family NOT to vaccinate, while her own mother was in the hospital in a coma from COVID. 

Idaho was a hotbed for antivax misinformation, so much so only 40.8% of residents are fully vaccinated in Idaho, compared to 54.7% in the whole US. 

And Natalie Rise fell for the misinformation so hard, she actually told her family that there were no studies done on the vaccine, even though the vaccine went through trials on thousands of people, and then was administered to millions of people with minimal side effects. Apparently, her own professional education cannot defeat misinformation. 

Her family members have no doubt that she was killed by those bloggers and Youtubers peddling misinformation. 

And it is these unvaxxed Idahoans that are clogging up hospitals and ICUs in Idaho, that Idaho has started rationing care to only the most essential and those that can be saved. 

In fact, Rise was transferred to nearby Spokane, Washington for ICU treatment, and died there. And the flood of the Idaho COVID cases is filling up ICUs in nearby Spokane, Washington as well. One hospital director said that they normally accept 90% of transfers, but in the past two weeks, they have to turn away HALF of requested transfers. They are trying to expand ICU, but they fear they will be forced to ration care soon like Idaho. 

Her brother Daryl got the shot the day after she died. He had to quit his job to take care of the twins she left behind. 

COVIDiocy Conspiracy: Ivermectin Doctors are Making Big Bucks Off Antivaxxers

The Intercept, a sort of journalistic Wikileaks, has obtained data that shows right-wing doctors are making big bucks out of the right-wingers who were fed anti-vax disinformation. 

According to The Intercept, the group known as AFLDS (America's Frontline Doctors), best known for COVID-19 disinformation since the summer of 2020, referred many people to SpeakWithAnMD.com, a telemed platform based on Cadence Health. Each consultation is $90 for a call, where doctors "trained by AFLDS" prescribe non-sense meds like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, and if they got a prescription, they are delivered by Ravkoo. However, many patients paid but never got a callback. 

The data from Cadence Health and Ravkoo was obtained by an anonymous hacker who gave the data to the Intercept. 

The Intercept contacted Cadence Health, and it shut down quickly, claiming unwillingness to be profiting off COVID "quackery". 

It is worth noting that the head of AFLDS, Dr. Simone Gold, was arrested and charged for the January 6th Capitol Insurrection. Gold was well known for stating that COVID is not very deadly, and the COVID vaccine is more dangerous than the disease. Given that over 700000 Americans have DIED from COVID, and unvaccinated are 99% of the recent deaths, this is clearly wrong. 

According to the hacked data given to The Intercept, about 281K people paid 6.7 MILLION dollars in TWO MONTHS (between July and September 2021) for consultations with SpeakWithAnMD.com's "AFLDS trained doctors", and when shown this data, Cadence Health's CEO was flabbergasted, and terminated the contract with SpeakWithAnMD.com immediately. 

The same data also indicated that 340000 prescriptions were filled by Ravkoo between November 2020 and September 2021, worth about 8.5 MILLION dollars. Out of that, 46% were for ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine. NEITHER are valid treatments for COVID, as both are antiparasitic, not antiviral. Another 30% are for zinc or azithromycin, neither of which have an effect on COVID. That's more than 3/4 of all orders. When shown this data, Ravkoo CEO claimed he stopped doing business with AFLDS and SpeakwithAnMD.com at the end of August. When shown data that there are prescriptions from AFLDS in September, the Ravkoo CEO surmised that they are probably refills. 

The Intercept goes into details on the origins of AFLDS (it's funded by pro-Trump ultra-right Tea Party Patriots Foundation to counter FDA's cautious response to COVID), and into more details about how both AFLDS and SpeakWithAnMD's parent company reacted to the leak (by gathering a team of over a dozen lawyers). 

You can read the whole Intercept article here: https://theintercept.com/2021/09/28/covid-telehealth-hydroxychloroquine-ivermectin-hacked/

My thoughts: I was wondering WHY would AFLDS, and its fellow misinformers like FLCCC and BIRD misinform people like that. Turns out, there is a FINANCIAL incentive after all. 

I first encountered FLCCC when one of their doctors prescribed ivermectin to a COVID patient in an Ohio hospital OVER THE PHONE, where he doesn't even have privileges. The hospital refused to fill it, and the patient's wife sued, and a judge actually gave the wife a win, until another judge blocked it. 

What's interesting is FLCCC is NOT willing to stand behind its recommendations. Look at their own disclaimer:

Disclaimer can be summarized as you can't
blame FLCCC if you got sick and/or died

And AFLDS was reported by Time of taking the money and not even giving consultations, in an investigation that predated the hack given to Intercept. 

These people are essentially selling snake oil to fearful people, and using a doctor's white coat to do it. 

Don't be a COVIDiot and get swindled by these crooked quacks. 

Get vaxxed. It's that simple.