More Flori-DUH: DeSantis Threatens to fine Special Olympics $27.5M If Vaccine Requirements Kept

Apparently, the rights of some unnamed (and uncounted) "antivax Special Olympians" are more important than keeping everyone safe, according to DeSantis. 

SCOOP: The State of Florida threatened the Special Olympics with $27.5 MILLION in fines because the organization had a vaccine requirement at its games in Orlando this weekend.

Late yesterday, the Special Olympics pulled the requirement. 1/3

— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) June 3, 2022

DeSantis is a COVID denier in all but name and has persistently tried to downplay death rates. Even his state surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, has no experience managing epidemics or in public health, and is a signer of GBD, calling COVID preparations "COVID mania".  

Combined with his "don't say gay" bill, a kick in the Tampa Bay Ray's shins on their quest for a new stadium just because Ray's expressed support for a bit more gun safety, and other political theater to appeal to conservatives, it's pretty clear he, like Abbott in Texas, is just setting himself up as a Trump successor in two years by abusing the power of his office. 

Dumb COVIDiocy: Podcaster Self-Pwns With Idiotic Tweet Comparing Self to Dog

Before today, I have never heard of Cari Kelemen. She was apparently some podcaster and media "star". Unfortunately, her tweet demonstrated that her scientific education is severely lacking, and in comparing herself to a dog, probably should have thought about it first... But here's the tweet:

You may think this does sound kinda odd, but there are a couple assumptions that you failed to question. 

1) Are medicine treated same as vaccines in dogs? She's assuming they do.

2) Do dogs get different vaccine dosage based on their weight? After all, a dog could vary from a tiny chihuahua or a small terrier to a huge 100+ pound mastiff. She's assuming yes from 1). 

3) Should you treat a human the way you treat a dog? Of course not...

I am a skeptic, and let's answer these questions:

Do dogs get different vaccine dosage based on their weight? 

No they do NOT. They all get the same vaccine dose (about 1cc). Bodyweight is irrelevant when it comes to vaccines. Skepvet answered this in 2016:

There’s a common misconception out there about vaccines that small animals should have lower “doses” of a vaccine than larger animals. This is a natural assumption stemming, most likely, from our familiarity with how medicines are dosed. However, while there are some differences in the amount of a vaccine given in different species, it is far less of a difference than would be expected if vaccines worked like drugs.

Basically, a vaccine only needs to be enough to trigger an immune response from the immune system. And immune system response threshold is NOT volume- or weight-based. Once the response is initiated, the immune system itself will generate the antibodies and the rest to populate the entire body. If you use a lower dose, you may not trigger the immune response. 

Medicine works differently. Medicine has to get into the body and travel throughout the body via the circulatory system. So the dosage is affected by how big the body is. The body is not triggered by it to help out. Got that? 

So medicine in dogs is NOT the same as vaccine in dogs. 

Guess that blows Q1 and Q2 out of the water. 

 

Do we really need to cover Q3? Why would she compare herself to her dog anyway? 

Don't be a COVIDiot like her. 

Twitter COVIDiocy: Spamming is not Winning

A while back, someone made a remark "I don't know of anyone with vaccine injury" on Twitter.

I replied that "ever notice it's usually antivaxxer's friends or family that have those alleged vaccine injuries?"

Then an antivaxxer dropped a Snopes-verified bogus entry "Pfizer victim" and claim "people don't start antivax, we start because we saw our loved ones suffer"

You saw a BOGUS suffering that NO ONE can verify, eh? 

So I pointed out his bogosity and linked to Snopes debunking the one he linked. 

Guess what he did next? 

He spammed 20+ more other alleged vaccine injuries, while claiming "only fully vaxxed have problems". 

Edit: Make that 37. 

The only treatment you'll get is "mute". I'm not going to debate you and waste my time when you don't give a **** about evidence and science, by leading off with a bogus vaccine death. 

Leading off with a snopes-verified bogus entry. Really smart you are (not), antivaxxer. 

Oh, AND you're getting reported. 

Normalcy COVIDiocy: Who is "Urgency of Normal" and Why Are They In So Much Hurry to Repeal Pandemic Protective Measures?

In the past two or three months, you may have seen a new hashtag online #urgencyofnormal. They are a vocal minority group of doctors and scientists calling for repeal of as many pandemic protective measures as soon as possible, preferably immediately. Their reasoning is the measures are doing more harm than the pandemic itself. They are going as far as claiming that existing measures are just "panic porn". One such spokesperson for this group is Dr. Lucy McBride. 

Dr. Lucy McBride, on CNN, "Doctor says 'panic porn' is hurting her patients"

Are they making any sense? Is the attempt to contain COVID, i.e. masks and vaccines and boosters (there's no lockdown now) doing more harm than good? 

What exactly is the "harm" of these protective measures? 

According to urgencyofnormal.com/our-statement, pandemic and/or its protective measures have caused "youth depression, suspected suicide attempts, drug overdose deaths, and obesity". In their "toolkit", they have also cited polls as evidence of these increases, and dropping grades in 2020 vs 2019. 

What I find interesting is they can only cite an increase in suicide attempts in girls... so boys are not affected?

UrgencyOfNormal Toolkit claims pandemic and/or protective measures have caused harm... to girls? 

Also, just how do you separate harm from the pandemic itself vs. the protective measures designed to combat the pandemic? 

You can't. 

Yet their solution is to stop all the protective measures for children! No masking! Vax or not just go back to school! Pretend there is no pandemic! 

Maintain in-person learning regardless of case counts and vaccination rates. 

So why are they against masking in schools? First they told us that masking is NOT proven to work (i.e. any benefits are not statistically significant). But does it really?

Does the Georgia study really say mask use was not statistically significant? Yes, but... 

They helpfully included a link to the study in the footnotes, and this is where the cracks started to show in their "logic". I will quote from the study's page 5

The 21% lower incidence in schools that required mask use among students was not statistically significant compared with schools where mask use was optional. This finding might be attributed to higher effectiveness of masks among adults, who are at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection but might also result from differences in mask-wearing behavior among students in schools with optional requirements. Mask use requirements were limited in this sample; 65.1% of schools required teacher and staff member mask use and approximately one half (51.5%) required student mask use. Because universal and correct use of masks can reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission (6) and is a relatively low-cost and easily implemented strategy, findings in this report suggest universal and correct mask use is an important COVID-19 prevention strategy in schools as part of a multicomponent approach

(bold and italics added by me)

The UrgencyOfNormal folks took one sentence they liked, and ignored the REAL finding of the study. What the study said was they have no data from the mask "optional" schools. They have no idea what percentage of people are actually wearing or NOT wearing the masks. So it cannot act as a proper control group against "mask required". 

But the UrgencyofNormal folks read it as if it said "masks did not do anything". 

I have not checked the rest of the other studies they cited, but it would not surprise me if they used similar leaps in logic and cherry-picking. 

And based on this, UrgencyOfNormal is calling for an end to ALL school masking. 

But there are a couple other problems with their suppositions... They are basing their numbers on Delta, and omicron, while supposedly milder, is FAR more contagious. 

UrgencyOfNormal claims are based on Delta numbers. Omicron turned out to be FAR FAR WORSE

Let's look at some REAL numbers... CDC mortality of 0-17 year olds as of now, which is over 2 years. Remember to divide by 25.7 (1.7 months into 2022) then times 12 for rough yearly numbers. 

One also wonders where did they get their flu numbers, which seems to be a bit... exaggerated. 

According to CDC, 2019-20 flu season had 188 pediatric flu death (0-17 yrs of age), which tied the record set during 2017-18. So why does their graph show death in the 500's? Can they be... massaging the numbers? Oh, but also look at the 2012-2013 bar... over 1200 deaths? Why does the CDC say only 170 pediatric deaths? Where did they even find these numbers? 

Flu does NOT kill at the rate of two dozen PER WEEK non-stop. 

Another 23 children died from Covid last week according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Parents need to understand that Covid can be quite serious and children can be safely protected through vaccination. #VaccinesSaveLives pic.twitter.com/cwBXiSC8vL

— EMK (@eveamk) February 22, 2022

Oh, and they also claimed that children don't get long COVID. You did read that on the slide, right? The latest results say something very different... AT LEAST 10% of all kids infected with COVID get long COVID. The number can be as high as 20%. And these numbers are based on PRE-OMICRON numbers. The current numbers could be worse, FAR WORSE, and we won't see the results for at least a MONTH after the infection. 

By now, it's clear that UrgencyOfNormal is not based on data as they claimed, but potentially deliberate misinterpretation and/or outright fabrication of data. 

The harm they claimed is based on polls, not science. The comparisons they made are unscientific and based on inflated and possibly fabricated numbers, and out-of-date numbers. And their anti-mask justification is based on deliberate cherry-picking of study results. They also claim the danger is minimal, by minimizing numbers, using outdated numbers, or outright FABRICATING pediatric flu deaths in prior years. 

But let us be absolutely clear:

What UrgencyOfNormal proposed is to get our children back into school without ANY protection, and roll the odds, ASSUMING the vast majority of them will survive, instead of doing EVERYTHING we can to make sure they do.

That is not epidemiology. 

That's playing roulette with someone else's children. 

That's COVIDiot thinking. 

Child COVIDiocy: Latest Data Shows 10% of CHILDREN with COVID become "Long Haulers" (i.e. "long COVID")

One of the most common refrains from antivaxxers about vaccinating children is "children don't need COVID jabs, because they don't get very sick even if they caught COVID". Take a look at JuliaHB1's tweet here just last week. She's a pretty famous talk show host in the UK. 

Children don't need Covid jabs, let alone boosters. And there's not a single study showing mask wearing in the real world has any effect at all. You used to be a journalist who looked at facts rather than virtue signalling to get approval. What happened to you?

— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) February 12, 2022

But latest round of science shows very worrying prospects for children who was infected with COVID: 10% of them became sufferers of "long COVID" that lasts months, even years, with symptoms such as rashes, heart palpitations, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, memory struggles, headaches... and more. And the numbers may be conservative. Numbers from Israel indicate 11.2%, and numbers from UK range from 12% to 15% depending on age group. Some doctors are estimating up to 20% of children infected by COVID may be suffering long COVID. 

The worst part about this is the long COVID symptoms typically start 30-days to 6 weeks AFTER the child recovers from mild COVID symptoms. And this data is PRE-OMICRON. We simply don't have enough data on how Omicron is affecting kids... other than hospitalization... and omicron in children accounted for 22% of all COVID hospitalizations in the US for the week ending Feb 10th. 

There is also the question of MIS-C, which is another rare but very serious post-COVID condition, with almost 7000 cases reported in the US, and killed 59, but so far we have not seen a corresponding increase due to omicron. 

CDC had also warned that post-COVID child is more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, based on pre-Omicron data. 

While symptoms seem worse in older children, experts warn that younger children lack the ability to express nuanced distress or comfort. 

And you have "conservative" hosts denying that children need COVID vaccinations because symptoms are "mild". As a parent, would you not want your children to have EVERY layer of protection you can get, including vaccinations and masks? 

Don't be a COVIDiot. 

Medical COVIDiocy: Surrendering to COVID Risks Heart Problems for Up to a Year

 Among some so-called health commentators, some of them with a peripherally relevant medical degree, are calling for "return to normalcy", which basically means "we should cut any mandates as early as possible", which includes both vaccine AND mask mandates, for ANY age group. This is sheer madness. 

Denmark has voted to cut ALL COVID restrictions as of Feb 11, 2022, despite surging COVID cases since last November. Denmark has a COVID vaccination rate of about 80% and booster rate of about 75%. 

(Some antivaxxers will use this to argue "vaccination didn't work". Vaccination did work... it just did not work well enough. And it's well known that simple two doses were not enough to protect against omicron.)

It is obvious that vaccinations alone will not stop omicron. Not even boosters. It's vaccinations AND boosters AND masks that will slow omicron, and hopefully, nothing more deadly or virulent comes along, like how Omicron usurped Delta. 

Yet here are these health commentators claiming "we just need to live with COVID, it's becoming endemic like the flu". 

Except flu did not kill a million Americans in 2 years, or a thousand children. 

THEN there's the problem of long COVID... even for those with only mild COVID symptoms. Lingering blood clots can exacerbate all sorts of conditions as well as increase irregular heart rhythms, such as myocarditis, once thought to be a danger of COVID vaccines. Turns out, NOT getting the vaccine is MORE dangerous. 

Yes, you MAY still catch COVID even if you are vaxed and boosted. That's why you also wear an N95 mask. So you don't get infected in the first place. Why take chances when you can layer protection? 

And whoever wants to end all that because it's "inconvenient" is basically advocating for more COVID death and COVID suffering. 

Don't be a COVIDiot and argue for normalcy. We are still in pandemic times. Ignoring the problem does not make the problem go away. It only KILLS people. 

Qanon COVIDiocy: How Qanon Carried On Without Trump by Merging with the Antivax Movement

Qanon started as some nameless droppers of info promising new revealing information about a conspiracy... and somehow Trump was battling some sort of "deep state" conspiracy full of child traffickers led by notable Democrats such as former first lady Hilary Clinton. Enough of them stuck around for the January 6th insurrection, and enough of them remain to discredit and undermine the Biden government now. And one of the most obvious targets was the vaccine and mask mandates. 

Before January 2022 came about, there were plenty of doomsday predictions from Qanon fodders claiming that when 5G activates all you COVID vaccine lovers will be turned into mind-controlled zombies. They don't realize they've been repeating an old debunked story when someone uploaded a guitar effect pedal circuit diagram and claimed it's a "5G mind control chip" embedded into COVID vaccine nanotech. 

Then of course Bill Gates gets dragged into it because he's rich. And fearmonger mockumentaries such as Plandemic II made false claims about Bill Gates, among many other egregious factual problems. 

Then there are Qanon fodders who decided to martyr themselves for news. Cirsten Weldon was known for sprouting Qanon beliefs on YT, Facebook, Telegram, and Telegram, still refers to Trump as president, and claiming arrests of enemies are already happening. She also called people who got COVID vaccines "idiots". In December she fell sick of COVID, but chose to use the term "bacterial pneumonia", a common term among Qanon fodder as a euphemism for COVID. In hospital she refused antiviral treatment, and died in January 2022. Apparently her followers harassed the staff of the hospital, some even called for death of hospital staff for contributing to Weldom's death. 

But the weirdest and craziest Qanon fodders actually killed people. Troy Burke killed his wife Jessica after being told by Qanon members that his wife is a transgender offspring of President Biden and is working for the CIA as a child trafficker. So he shot her in the head 3 times. 

And he's not the only one. Another Qanon fodder lighted a pipe bomb and blew up his RV killing himself and injuring 3 others. Another tried to kill his family ahead of Biden's inauguration day because he was convinced the "great revelation" will be horrible. Another tried to kill his own children with a spear gun because he believed they had DNA from lizard people and would "grow up to be monsters". They all are Qanon fodder egged on by other Qanon to do evil. 

Burke was declared not guilty by reason of insanity and will likely spend his life in an institution. 

If you are antivax or on the fence, consider the strange bedfellows you're keeping, They may be insane, or they are egging on unstable people to actually go insane. 

Maybe they are egging you on... 

Foreign Influence COVIDiocy: Foreign Agitators Started the Occupy LA Movement

The Occupy Canada convoy shows no signs of ending, and their boldness has encouraged foreign agitators to stir up similar movement in the US, and the antivaxxers have swallowed the bait. 

Facebook has confirmed that foreign actors are controlling several trucker convoy Facebook groups. Various groups are being run by IP addresses traced to Romania, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and other countries. Many of them used to be MAGA or Trump-related Facebook groups. Facebook have removed several that are confirmed to be run by foreign IPs, but the astroturfing has caught American attention, and even RFKjr's website has settled on a March 5th "convoy" targeting Los Angeles. 

Some have tried to organize groups to disrupt the traffic in Los Angeles to target the Superbowl this weekend, but they simply did not have enough time. 

It's clear that antivaxxers no longer cared if they've been led through the nose by foreign actors. They are willing to gather in tight quarters because they prefer to care about themselves and their "freedom" to spread COVID rather than care about keeping everyone safe. 

Vaccines prevent hospitalization, and masks prevent infection. That is the science of COVID. 

Such a "convoy" will pull in agitators of every sort, from Jan 6 insurrectionists to antivaxxers to free-dumbers to Maga dreamers who still believe the election was stolen from Trump even though all evidence shows Trump tried to steal the election, not to mention anarchists who just want to see some chaos, and whichever foreign actors with their own agendas. 

I hope CHP, LAPD, and Governor Newsome have contingency plans. If they don't start making some now. This can get VERY ugly. 

And if you join up, you're a COVIDiot sheeple who don't care if you've been used by foreign actors. 

Sad COVIDiocy: Antivax Mom of Three, vowing to live without fear, died of COVID at 29

Bridget Jackson is a mother of three in Port Huron, Michigan, and both anti-mask and anti-vaccine. She claimed in one post that she "understands the risks" but does not "prioritize fear over life", and "your fear (because you wear masks) is your issue". She had shared many different posts about God did not make you to be afraid of COVID. 

Jackson came down with COVID in November, and passed away on December 21st, 2021, at the age of 29, leaving behind a fiancee and three children under age of 10. 

Like many antivaxxers, Ms. Jackson made the mistake of confusing respect and taking precautions with being afraid. 

I respect the potential harm of COVID, so I took every reasonable precaution such as buying N95 masks and wearing them when I go out, getting both of my Pfizer shots plus the booster shot, and I limit my outdoor excursions. Am I afraid of COVID? No. 

The people who vow to "live free" whether from fear or from mandate, are prioritizing some ideals ABOVE their survival. 

And Ms. Jackson found that COVID will take her anyway. 

Please don't be Ms. Jackson. Get vaxxed. Stick around and enjoy your life. 

God did not create us for us to throw away our lives on a dare. 

Common COVIDiocy: Is Vaccine Hesitancy Due to Lack of Education? New Studies Sheds Light on Why

According to Edzard Ernst, citing a study by the Austrian Science Ministry, anti-vaxxers are across all age groups, gender, and so on. There is only one consistent characteristic: the vaccination rate is strongly related to the level of education. 

The other interesting thing to point out is that people who were formerly from Romania or Russia are the least likely to vaccinate, and such low rates are not observed among the other immigrant groups. The hesitancy may be attributed somewhat to the lack of trust in the government, despite living in a new jurisdiction. 

Is the problem as simple as simply educating the folks though? Is it as simple as using a slogan: "Those who know nothing must believe everything"?  

(Sounds like a variation on "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything" but I digress)

Which reminded me of an antivaxxer I met in real life. My job and my social circle don't tend to intersect with antivaxxers, except for one thing... 

A few years ago (before COVID), I took Lyft to work almost daily, and as a result, I met a lot of drivers with a lot of different views. One day, I met a black antivaxxer as my driver. He was listening to a radio talk show about anti-vaccine views, and they kept bringing up Tuskegee Study. 

(If you didn't know, the doctors back in 1932 chose NOT to treat syphilis in some black men without telling them, just to observe how far the disease can go. This was unethical and later the US government made formal apologies as well as created compensation funds and provided health coverage to the participant survivors, their spouses, and their children. )

So I asked him how much does he believe in this stuff. Turns out he's pretty far in, laced with a dose of black power, Illuminati (of old white men), and so on. I basically just listened, and try not to react because much of it really make no sense to me.  

I have no idea what his education level was, but somehow, reading that education level corresponds strongly with vaccination rate and that fear of government just brought back that little incident. 

I hope you are doing well, bro. And you did eventually got your COVID vax, both doses plus booster. 

AntiScience COVIDiocy: How to Pretend to Care About Science While Spewing Anti-Science Misinformation

One of the ways antivaxxers catch the attention of sheeple is pretending to care, and one of the ways they pretend to care is by portraying their antivax attitude as "concerns about vaccine safety". Indeed, if you ask RFK jr, he would say he's not antivax, he's pro vax safety. 

And one of the most frequent sources antivaxxers like to cite is VAERS, or Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. They love to "dumpster dive" into VAERS data and claim VAERS numbers are proof that vaccine caused injuries or even deaths, even though VAERS itself CLEARLY states that VAERS does NOT establish "cause-and-effect" relationship between the vaccine and the reported adverse event. 

Here's an example of an adverse event reported to VAERS. Patient had Pfizer COVID shot on Jan 9, 2021. Patient had a single car accident on Jan 23rd, 2021. She spun out into a snowbank. She was transported to ER, treated, and released. She was found unresponsive on Feb 1, 2021 and pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed she had a brain bleed. 

Yes, that's a genuine VAERS entry, 1004811-1, of which a screenshot is included below. I can't link it because VAERS doesn't allow direct linking. You will have to zoom in the see the details. 

The death and the vaccination are clearly unrelated, but as per proper procedure, it's included in VAERS, and the report was submitted on Feb 5th, 2021. In fact, CDC instructions to health care providers were to include the data in VAERS, "regardless if the reporter thinks the vaccine caused the AE (adverse event)". The reason is simple: CDC needs a way to know if there's a side effect they never considered or expected, and the only way to know is to report EVERYTHING, so the data can be mined later for commonalities. 

So if you search for "COVID vaccine" and "death", you would probably end up counting this one, and probably dozens, hundreds, perhaps thousands like it, where if you look at the details, there's just no way they could be linked. 

Not that it stopped antivaxxers and pundits like Tucker Carlson from claiming "vaccines killed thousands" when the data they cited does NOT indicate such a thing, and organizations across the country had to put out FAQs debunking such fearmongering. 

When confronted, most antivaxxers will reply with "but I just want a safe vaccine" or variations thereof, often with emphasis "but even one adverse event is one too many". 

Some antivaxxers will then trot out the "COVID isn't that dangerous" trope, esp. with the "children tend to have milder symptoms" bit. 

So you remind them "so you are comparing a KNOWN risk of COVID such as death, long COVID, and MIS-C, vs a POTENTIAL unknown risk of vaccine adverse reaction that has so far not been observed?"

Some may be smart enough to admit defeat, but some will segue into VAERS dumpster diving. 

That's when you remind them that they're processing garbage data and drawing bogus conclusions, as we had discussed above. 

And what's when they block you because they can't beat you with the truth. 

Sad COVIDiocy: Triple World Champion Kickboxer Frederick "The Undertaker" Sinistra, and antivaxxer, has died from COVID

We are sad but not surprised to report that Frederick Sinistra has died of COVID. He was 41. 

Triple World Champion Kick Boxer Frederick Sinistra, Anti-Science, Anti-Mask, Anti-Vax, dead from Covidiot infection. pic.twitter.com/AVKrvCE3qp

— John O'Connell (@jdpoc) December 21, 2021

What's tragic was Fred was in TOTAL denial over COVID. Months ago he discharged himself from the hospital, claiming to be treating the disease himself at home. He called COVID "the hair flu" and railed against the Belgian government's attempt to control it. Belgium has a 90+% vaccination rate. 

In November, when he got worse, his coach finally got him to go back to the hospital. Fred posted the picture included in the Tweet above, with him hooked up to oxygen. But he posted on social media that "little virus" will not stop him. 

He apparently went home later and was posted as late as December 13th that he's doing fine at home. 

The three-time world champion died on December 15th, before the government added the latest lockdown procedure in order to slow the spread of omicron variant. 

It is a common misconception of antivaxxers who believe their "natural immunity" will save them. But as we have seen many times before, including triathlete John Ayers, when COVID comes for you, it does not care who you are or how fit you are. The best chance of NOT catching COVID is with the COVID vaccines, now supplemented by boosters. 

Don't be a COVIDiot. 

Common COVIDiocy: Data Proves that COVID Deaths are PRIMARILY among the Unvaxxed

AP did an article back in June about May 2021 data from CDC, and shows that virtually ALL reported deaths of COVID are from the unvaxxed. 

Only 150 of the 18000 COVID deaths in May are fully vaccinated. 0.8%

And the number of COVID hospitalizations that are fully vaccinated: 107K, or 1.1%. 

Do keep in mind that not all states record breakthrough infections or sought accurate reports, so the numbers are likely underreported, but unlike to sway the numbers by a large quantity.

And the numbers are going to be even WORSE for the unvaxxed soon, with omicron variant, because several of the monoclonal antibody treatment such as Regeneron shows little to no effect on omicron. So far, in lab tests only 3 antibodies treatment are effective against omicron, and only one of the three is based in the US. 

Given that Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine are placebos at best, the only thing they WOULD accept and are actually effective are these monoclonal antibodies. And now that most of them are worthless against omicron, the unvaxxed basically has little to no choice: get vaxxed now, or wait for COVID to catch them and pray it doesn't kill them, while clogging up ICU beds and whatnot. All in the name of "freedom". 

Congressional COVIDiocy: MTG is wondering why are we lamenting over COVID deaths when cancer kills 600K a year...

Rep Majorie Taylor Greene, one of the looniest people in congress, is tweeting her craziness trying to justify her views via cherry-picking evidence. This is her most recent:

MTG: 600K people die from cancer every year,
but no shutdown. No school closing. 

Uh, because cancer is not contagious, you ignorant congresswoman! COVID is contagious! If you think the two are comparable, you are out of your mind! 

And the death rate for COVID is much higher than cancer! According to John Hopkins University, US death rate for COVID is 240 per 100000. According to National Cancer Institute (cancer.gov), US death rate for all cancer is 158 per 100000. COVID is 52% more lethal than cancer!

And that's DESPITE all we have done to control it, because people keep thinking they have the right to do whatever they want, and the public can go **** themselves. 

Oh, but wait, MTG has a couple more dumb points she wants to make I'm not going to screen cap everything, just the text highlights. 

MTG Tweet 2
More died from COVID in 2021 than in 2020
in spite of vaccines and masking

MTG Tweet 3
It is time to change the approach
COVID targets obese and older people
Shutdown, masks and vaccines are not stopping COVID
Ivermectin, monoclonal antibodies and treatments are saving lives

It's clear where MTG gets her alternative facts from: not our reality. 

Ivermectin does not work. It's proven by science over and over, but she doesn't care. 

The antibodies cost like a grand per infusion, and you need like eight of them, but it does seem to work. But why get sick? Why not get vaccinated and minimize the chance of getting sick in the first place? 

As for "COVID targets obese and older people", that's bull****. COVID targets UNVACCINATED people, first, THEN obese and elderly. Now that those people have gotten their vaccinations, it's the young and younger unvaccinated that are getting sick. This is outdated information from 2020. 

But wait, it gets crazier. 

MTG Tweet 4
Our response to COVID should be about ending obesity
promote COVID treatment that's proven to work
and stop the politically driven mass hysteria
and allow people to choose natural immunity or vaccines

Does MTG know what's an optimal weight loss plan, and how long it takes to work? Does she have a plan to reverse aging too? Since Ivermectin is proven NOT to work (except in MTG's head), what do people do in the meanwhile? Die?  

Oh, but there's one more.

MTG Tweet 5

The Gov #COVID19 response hasn’t stopped covid & isn’t about saving lives,
it’s about control. If the hypocrites in charge wanted to save lives,
they would destroy all Gov funded bio weapons &
fund covid treatments like Ivermectin.

Again the ivermectin. It doesn't work. At best it's placebo. And why talk about bioweapons and whatnot? It's just a distracting point. 

Then she cheekily included a link to Cancer.gov about viruses that causes cancer as "FYI". 

Oh, but wait, we have a vaccine for that! 

MTG is clearly not attached to our reality, and if she really believes everything she tweeted, she's only getting information from her own reality bubble. 

The reason this country continues to see COVID death is due to people not vaccinating. Most of the deaths now are from unvaccinated. And most of the unvaccinated are Republicans because antivaxxers decided to court conservative Republicans to get their message out. And seasoned political operatives are choosing to make the government attempt to control the disease a wedge issue between Republicans and democrats, all for short term votes, but as a result, killing Republicans in the long-run. 

If you elected MTG to congress, you may want to reconsider whether that's REALLY who you want representing you. Or perhaps you share her reality bubble? That you're more worried about government control than saving yourselves? 

If you didn't, did you vote for someone like her, such as Boebert? 

MAGA COVIDiocy: Pro-Trump Counties Have Far Higher COVID Death Rates

New NPR analysis shows that since May 2021, counties that voted for Trump have a COVID death rate TWICE AS HIGH as counties that voted for Biden on the average. The "most red" counties have a death rate 5.5 times higher than the "most blue" counties. This was a reversal from a year ago, before we have the vaccine, that Democratic counties were hit harder. 

The data is irrefutable: in 2021, Republicans are killing themselves because they rather have "freedom" than treat COVID seriously. 

The trend is also interesting. Early in the pandemic, certain demographics such as African Americans, rural Americans, and younger Americans are vaccine-hesitant, but as the pandemic continued, those groups have started to vaccinate, while Republicans that vaccinate have stalled. According to Kaiser Foundation, 91% of Democrats have been vaccinated against COVID, compared to 59% of Republicans. The polls also revealed that Republicans STILL believe that COVID seriousness was exaggerated, vaccination should be a personal choice, and are NOT worried about getting sick from COVID.

Indeed, antivaxxers are getting DIRECT support from Republican well-knowns... such as Eric Trump, one of Donny's sons, who spoke at such a convention in October. The convention also featured speakers who claimed drinking one's own urine is just as good as a COVID vaccine. Another claimed COVID vaccine will put "another kind of nervous system inside you" and turn you into a cyborg. No, I'm not making this up. It's looney bin stuff. 

Then there are grifters such as Del Bigtree, one of the current top antivaxxers, who find the Dems unreceptive to his antiscience, so he courted the Republicans instead, by his own admission, "Clearly I was shocked as a lifelong liberal progressive that I was hugging and hanging out and having a great time with a bunch of extremely conservative mothers and grandmothers." 

Then there are political manipulators like Roger Stone, convicted felon of lying to Congress about 2016 Trump's campaign contacts with Russia. Stone had been working for Republican candidates for decades, having worked with the Nixon campaign back in 1972. Stone was pardoned by Trump. Stone ALSO spoke at the antivax conference, using the vaccine mandate as a wedge issue, trying to motivate the conservatives to vote in the midterm elections. 

Public health, something to the benefit of all public, is now a political decision to a good portion of the population, who decided not to participate, and this is a truly huge monkeywrench for public health officials who now needs to protect the public from a good portion of the public. 

To put it more succinctly, Republicans are so desperate to win, they are politicizing mask and vaccine mandate, killing their own side by the thousands daily, AND slowing the country's recovery, just to gain some political ground in the short term. 

And even lifelong Republicans are getting alarmed. How did something that benefits all Americans got turned into a Red vs Blue polarization issue? 

The answer is simple: Short-sightedness compounded by grifters and political manipulators who only care about the next election and their own gains. 

There is a real risk that this unholy alliance will DESTROY the Republican party down the road. 

But the antivaxxers will go on. They'll just find some other group to ally with.  

Sad COVIDiocy: The story of John Eyers, Triathlete, Fitness Fanatic, COVID casualty

John Eyers was the epitome of fitness. He ran triathlons. He is a bodybuilder and a mountain climber. He's got a six-pack and much more. But not even his family can change his mind about "no COVID vaccine for me". And he died of COVID in July 2021. 

In June 2021 he met with his family to celebrate his nephew's 10th birthday (son of his twin sister Jenny McCann) and he started spouting some nonsense about "people are getting COVID jab to get free McDonald's" or "it's got formaldehyde". Naturally, his family fact-checked him, but he won't change his mind. He kept saying "I won't be a guinea pig."  The subject was eventually dropped. Later they went to a health club, and John refused to put his mask on, but eventually did. And the weekend ended with no other incident. 

It was to be the last time they ever see each other. 

John tested positive for COVID on June 29th. By July 3rd he's so sick his girlfriend had to force him to call for paramedics to transport him to the hospital. Next day, he was vomiting blood. A week later he's on a ventilator, unable to breath himself. COVID first attacked his lungs, causing blood clots, as his body's immune system started attacking the lung tissues AND COVID. Doctors tried to put him on ventilator and use steroids to control the immune response, but that caused other illnesses to take hold, such as a lung infection, which cascaded to other organs. Doctors helped with dialysis, but lungs are not recovering. His body used all its reserves, fighting the virus and the complications. It was not enough. 

On July 27th, he lost the battle with COVID before his family can don PPE to spend the final moments with him. He was 42, in prime physical condition before COVID got him. 

John told the doctors before he was put on the ventilator, that he regretted not getting the vaccine. 

John's funeral was August 16, 2021. His family chose to share his story... John was a COVIDiot, and they don't want anyone else to share John's fate... or their fate of losing one of their own to something that could have been easily prevented. 

Don't be a COVIDiot like John, or one of the dozens all over the world like John. COVID can come for you no matter how healthy you are. And if you are not doing everything to prevent it, such as masks and vaccines, you are a part of the problem.  

Crazy COVIDiocy: People organizing "COVID Parties" to build immunity, died instead

According to Newsweek, an Austrian man,has died of COVID, after attending a "COVID party" in Italy to build resistance to COVID. Many countries in Europe are suffering from antivax COVIDiocy, with people deliberately trying to catch COVID, surviving it, and thus, gaining the "green pass" and be able to move around without being vaccinated. 

In Italy (and most of Europe), Green Pass can be obtained if you are vaccinated, or have recovered from COVID within the past 6 months. 

The idea of a COVID party is utter lunacy with a disease that kills 1 in 62, well over 1 percent in the US, and probably more worldwide. But the idea itself is not new. It came from "pox party", organized by parents who believe childhood diseases are inevitable, and it is better that all the children in the neighborhood suffer together with mutual support. So they encouraged children to party with a sick child so "they can get it over with". It originally started with chickenpox, but later was also done with measles and flu, until childhood vaccines became available. 

However, antivaxxers continued the practice, believing the vaccines to be more harmful than the disease. (Vaccines are proven safe, not that antivaxxers care about science or proof.)

And now the lunacy is repeating with COVID, which in the US killed 1 in 62 cases. 

Keep in mind that childhood diseases like chickenpox are rarely fatal, even before vaccines. According to CDC, before chicken pox vaccine, varicella (chicken pox) kills over 100 and hospitalize over 10000 every year. Fatality can vary from 1 in 100000 to 21 per 100000 depending on age group (adults are more vulnerable).  Let's say 10 per 100000, or 1 in 10000 is the "average" fatality (it's probably a lot less). 

Compare that to 1 in 62 as the death rate of COVID. 

All that just to avoid the shot. 

WTF...  It's no COVIDiocy... It's sheer lunacy. 

Remember, it's the unvaccinated that's creating all these scary variants, that's forcing us back into lockdown due to another surge. 

It's the unvaccinated prolonging the crisis. They would rather be dead than admit they were wrong. 

And who knows how many victims will they drag along in their quest to prolong the crisis. 

Don't be a COVIDiot like them. 

Ironic COVIDiocy: Seven Antivax Doctors Contracted COVID after Attending Antivax Event in Florida

Seven antivax doctors attended an Ocala, Florida "summit" about alternative treatments for COVID, and caught COVID there, yet the organizer denied that the event was a superspreader event, according to The Guardian. 

One of those was Dr. Bruce Boros, 71. He claimed to be taking and prescribing Ivermectin for 16 months, and condemned his own 97-year-old father for getting vaccinated, as well as calling Dr. Fauci a fraud. When interviewed, he claimed he just wanted to help people. 

Remember, folks. Ivermectin is a weak nerve toxin to kill parasites. It has an extremely weak effect on COVID virus. If you take enough to affect the COVID virus, you'd die of IMV overdose first. 

No idea where did these doctors get the idea that Ivermectin is "working all around the world". The only study that showed definite results was withdrawn after people spotted falsified data. 

Don't be a COVIDiot. Just get vaccinated. 

COVIDiocy Turnaround: Vaccine Skeptic's Near-Death COVID Experience Turned Him Into a Vaccine Believer

Howard Breidenbach of Oregon survived his COVID, but spent 102 days in the hospital, often near death, only kept alive by ventilators. He thought he was a healthy trucker, but with COVID he had lost everything. At the time of the interview with the local TV station, he is still on oxygen and is often coughing, and it may never go away. But at least he's alive. 

His advice to others? 

"I agree with them (the vaccine hesitant), they should have their choice.

"But at the same time, what freedom do you have in the grave, besides to be worm food?"

Remember, a shot of COVID vaccine is, at most, $20 in the US, and generally free. 

His 102-day stint in the ICU is about 250K total. 

Even monoclonal antibodies treatment is like $1250 per dose, and you need like 8 of them. 

Yes, he's vaccinated now. And he urged EVERYBODY to get vaccinated. 

Good for you, sir. A little late, but still, good for you. 

Sad COVIDiocy: Anti-Masker and Anti-vaxxer Naturopath Christopher Foley died of COVID

Christopher Foley, a doctor in Minnesota, who also got credentials as a naturopath and homeopath, has died of complications of COVID, according to his son. The 71-year old doctor was famously anti-mask and anti-vaccine, claiming masks are "downright dangerous" if worn for extended periods of time, and called vaccine "a human experiment". 

According to his obituary, he died back in Mid-October. He had promoted taking Ivermectin, carrageenan, and vitamin D for treating COVID, and believed COVID was a Chinese bio-weapon. 

A reminder that Ivermectin is NOT an approved treatment for COVID and has no demonstratable effect except in a petri-dish at way too high a concentration. Carrageenan is believed to potentially cause gut tumors and ulcers, and is banned in Europe.