The COVID-19 conversation continues on, and so does the misinformation from all fronts. We have no shortage if Twittiots out there, namely one wanna-be politician who claims that nobody has died from COVID-19, to a member of the Green Party in my own state who insists that lockdowns are worse than the virus. Of course, I don’t know what universe he lives in because here in Massachusetts, at least, we haven’t seen a real lockdown. He must be gearing up to run again, if he can even get on the ticket.
For the record, here in the U.S. there are 33.4 cases with 599,781 deaths as of yesterday. People have indeed died here in the U.S. no matter what the crackheads tell you, and 3.7 million have died all over the world. Of course, experts tell us that these worldwide numbers are grossly undercounted because many countries are not always forthcoming about this information. Experts crunching the numbers say the total dead could be closer to 9 million. There is an excellent article here that you should take the time to read when you get a chance. That’s if you’re actually interested in facts as opposed to the bullshit being spread on toxic social media.
The bottom line is, as you will see, that the numbers are going down here in the U.S., mostly due to the availability of vaccines. We’ve given out about 299 million shots, resulting in about 51% of the population being fully vaccinated (these are two-shot vaccines, remember). However, this is not the case in the rest of the world where the poorer countries are still struggling to even get vaccines. People continue to die at alarming rates in India and Nepal, for example. It is estimated that many more in the poorer countries of the world will continue to get sick and die as this virus continues on. No, despite the fact that mask mandates are being dropped here, the end is not near. The Corona virus will continue to mutate into more dangerous variants as time goes on. This is also explained in the same article.
In another article, Dr. Larry Brilliant is interviewed, and begs to differ with the rose-colored glass vision most Americans have that we’re almost past COVID-19. In fact, Brilliant points out that domestic deaths will surpass the number from the influenza virus of a century ago before this is over, if it ever is over. In the event that you don’t know who this man is, he worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) to eradicate smallpox. I know. He’s a scientist, and Americans don’t have much respect for science anymore. They’d rather believe in right-wing politicians who specialize in eye surgery talk about “natural immunity.” (By the way, if you’ve contracted COVID-19, you have about 90 days of natural immunity, then it’s game over. But hey, don’t tell Rand Paul that.)
Personally, I never listen to Rand Paul. If I were you, I’d read this interview and see what Brilliant has to say about the fact that we will probably not be able to even reach herd immunity with this virus:
“Boy, I wish we could reach herd immunity. But there’s a number of reasons why we can’t. First and foremost, a virus that infects multiple species, animals and humans, and a virus that has multiple new variants, each one having the potential to reinfect people, is sort of disqualified from being a candidate to be eradicated. Because in both cases, the denominator keeps changing, of how many people could be exposed to the disease. If you’re exposed to or get vaccinated against the disease and then a new variant comes in that can still infect you, the concept of herd immunity no longer really applies. And if animals—and we’ve got 12 different species who’ve been infected with COVID-19, usually from humans—if they can harbor it, and then infect humans, then you can’t eradicate the disease like we’ve been unable to eradicate yellow fever, because monkeys get it and they just don’t like to put their arms out to get vaccinated, and it’s really tough to get them to stand in line.”
All I can tell you is that I had COVID-19. I was diagnosed in February of this year just before my birthday. I didn’t feel well enough to go back to work until May. I am completely vaccinated. However, I continue to wear a mask at my job because I think public health on the trust system in America is a bad idea, given what I’ve seen on social media. To say that i don’t trust my fellow citizens to be honest about not being vaccinated would be an understatement.
Clearing up some social media misinformation
There has been some misinformation swirling around Twitter alleging that Merck has been promoting the use of Ivermectin for COVID-19. I have spent many hours looking through a bunch of information, and I certainly cannot find that anywhere. in fact, Ivermectin has not been approved by the FDA for use in the treatment of COVID-19 and, therefore, no major pharmaceutical company would ever openly promote the use of a drug in that manner. In fact, Merck came out earlier this year and was very clear that Ivermectin should only be used for the applications for which it has been approved, and only in clinical trials for COVID-19. Why? Because there is not enough evidence that it has any beneficial effect and there is not enough information about its safety for use in the treatment of COVID-19. That is why you conduct clinical trials. The World Health Organization has stated that ivermectin should only be used in clinical trials.
In a subsequent post, we’re going to deal with the bullshit surrounding hydrochloroquine and wormwood, neither of which should be used in the treatment of COVID-19, no matter what the social media “experts” are telling you.
Revolutionary Radar 
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