Vaughn, what team is he actually on?
A second opinion on the politics of the pandemic healthcare landscape.
I have questions about this doctor. Here are some answers I’ve found. What do you think?
What is Jordan Vaughn’s background?
Jordan Vaughn, the son of a doctor, in May 2023, tells Youtuber Gez Medinger that Jordan Vaughn’s father started their practice the year he was born, and, in this interview he said of their practice: “kind of always done our own thing which is whatever we thought was best for the patient and uh really you know kind of separating ourselves from kind of the I guess big academic Medical Center or big kind of hospital system and especially in the last three years that’s been really beneficial to be able to help people because sometimes the answers aren’t necessarily coming from some, you know, bureaucrat in the central government.”[1] Not sure what he means by “central government” exactly.
Is Jordan Vaughn anti-mask?
In the summer of 2021, during the Delta surge in the state of Alabama, and heading into the Omicron wave winter,[2] this Birmingham doctor went on tv warning about potential harm to children from masks, in order to push to unmask kids in school, even though there was NO evidence masks caused any harm.[3] This was before vaccination was available for elementary school aged children a couple months into the school year,[4] and studies had been coming out about the known harm of covid complications like MIS-C in otherwise healthy children with no “underlying conditions” — yet having life-threatening neurological complications.[5] And covid was found to be a leading cause of death in children in 2021[6] — (not masks). Jordan Vaughn had joined in with people at a school board meeting demanding that covid mitigation like masks be rescinded in favour of “normal” opening of school at that time. Jordan Vaughn’s argument to the school board was that the known harms of covid were less of a threat than what he himself considered just potential harm from masking — saying there was “insufficient evidence” masking harmed or didn’t harm. Jordan Vaughn also ridiculed people being “fearful” of covid beyond the first months of the pandemic, and appeared to assume that covid prevention measures were based on non-legitimate “fear” that he felt everyone should’ve been over with by August 2021.[7]
It’s reasonable to conclude he believed, against evidence, that covid wasn’t harmful. I was unable to find any walkback of his minimizing covid as something nobody should legitimately fear, or admitting that, in light of the Long Covid issue, that mitigations should have been continued, nor any reversal on his views on masks, and no promotion of masks as a preventative. Even after it being noted on the MedHelp Clinic website the “growing need” from Long Covid patients in his dedicated Long Covid clinic business[8] which is of course a result of the often unmitigated spread of the virus.
It seems there aren’t many to be found, if any, who pushed unwarranted fears about masks and remote schooling, who ever walked that back even after it aged poorly and was debunked, including in Forbes[9] and by Brookings.[10] We all know very well that prevention was very politicized early in the pandemic. Loudly refusing to wear a mask, or melodramatically taking it off,[11] became generally understood as virtue signaling MAGA cred, or possibly even loyalty to Trumpism.[12]
Is Jordan Vaughn anti-vax?
In August 2022, Jordan Vaughn appeared on a conservative talk show with “vaccine corruption” in the title, Before they brought Vaughn on for the interview, they intro’d the segment with a clip from Tucker Carlson ranting about false “alarming evidence” about covid vaccines from a Lancet study that turned out to be misrepresentation, and debunked.[13] Then a show host introduces Jordan Vaughn as someone doing “early outpatient treatment […] since the appearance of Sars-Cov-2”. And the first thing in this interview, Jordan Vaughn was asked specifically for his medical opinion referencing Tucker Carlson’s claims, about if there are signs the vaccine suppresses the immune system, and Jordan Vaughn answered, “Yeah, there’s no question about that.”
Then Vaughn brings up the topic of “therapeutics” — saying that usually therapeutics are around longer before they’re given to “healthy” people.[14] Though therapeutic vaccines could be a thing — vaccines are typically prophylactic — reducing transmission to one degree or another, or sometimes just reducing disease severity — true of a polio vaccine too.[15] The flu shot has the effect of stemming infections of the chosen strains, and reducing severity of other strains, and it’s updated yearly.[16] That a vaccine is not “one and done” is inconvenient and unfortunate, but not evidence of the vaccines not being prophylactic. It’s disappointing, but actually many of us who knew about this stuff expected it, and were actually relieved to have any vaccine.[17] Referring to the vaccines as therapeutics, or making an innuendo that the vaccines are therapeutics rather than vaccines, also sounds unfortunately like evoking the “gene therapy” conspiracy theory that took off after Robert Malone had made some comments, as AP reports: “a clip of Dr. Robert Malone — a vocal critic of the COVID-19 vaccines who did early research on mRNA technology — speaking about the shots during a roundtable event hosted by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in early December. In the clip, Malone is asked whether the vaccines are actually a form of gene therapy.”[18] That really made the rounds in the Qanon and wellness influencer circuit[19] for awhile.[20] But the vaccines are not altering genetics,[21] and they’re not “experimental” — they completed clinical trials.[22]
Also in the CrossPolitics Facebook Live event interview in August 2022 Jordan Vaughn claims people were lied to and told that the vaccine was made quickly.[23] But in December 2020 there was an article in the Washington Post telling the history of the mRNA vaccines saying: “Even before the coronavirus emerged, the technology had reached a tipping point where it seemed a matter of time before it would begin to have an impact on medicine.”[24] The trajectory and length of time wasn’t hidden, it was reported in major media. Jordan Vaughn also goes on to talk about the spike protein being the part of the virus that does the damage and the need to inactivate it in a vaccine and seems to be claiming that the part in the vaccine is doing damage or can do damage.[25] But the mRNA doesn’t work that way: “the extent and duration of the encoded protein expression can be closely controlled because mRNAs have shorter half lives and, unlike other vectors, do not replicate” is how it is explained in a paper from back in 2008.[26]
According to a report by 1819 News out of the doctor’s home state of Alabama in February 2023, Dr. Jordan Vaughn “recommends people stop getting the vaccine.”[27] In the article he’s referring to covid boosters, and I don’t know what he’s said about other vaccines, if anything.
Of course a lot of people claim they’re not really anti-vax, just someone who is “taking covid vaccine injury seriously” or just trying to sympathize with people who’ve had rare adverse effects. But often later they mention they think vaccination shouldn’t be promoted or even think it should be banned, and make claims that adverse effects are more widespread, without any evidence of that. Walker Bragman recently reported on RFK Jr.’s VP pick, Nicole Shanahan, having claimed exactly that about herself and RFK Jr., that they are just concerned about people who’ve had rare side-effects, but then she later said outright: “it is not a safe vaccine and must be recalled immediately” referencing the Moderna mRNA vaccine.[28]
Jordan Vaugh’s colleague, fellow FLCCC doctor, Pierre Kory, wasn’t being subtle at all on Christmas Eve back in December 2022, and made clear his sentiments are by no means even confined to covid vaccines or just the mRNA technology since he said: “Hotez & the WHO are doubling down, trying to bury the fact that, from the smallpox vaccine myth to the polio vaccine myth to now, it is actually “pro-vaccine activism” that is the major killing force globally.”[29] He also claimed the WHO is “literally run by” Bill Gates and the vaccine industry and “our lives depend on” stopping vaccination.[30]
Propaganda resisting public health dates back a long time, and during the polio vaccine campaign, which started even before the vaccine was available,[31] there were detractors — some anti-vaxxers back then even blamed kids with polio paralysis on Americans making poor dietary choices, claiming it wasn’t polio.[32] But people at the time made sure we countered that and had a proper vaccine drive — there was indeed resistance to the polio elimination campaign, and it was overcome, and polio became a thing of the past.
What is the FLCCC about?
Pierre Kory’s FLCCC (Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance), which has promoted ivermectin for covid, and questions the safety of mRNA vaccines, is reported to have gotten $55k from the Brownstone Institute.[33] The Brownstone Institute is well-known for their association and support for the Great Barrington Declaration anti-mitigation folks Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff,[34] and infamous for the leaked emails revealing that the Brownstone Institute founder Jeffrey Tucker views child labor and underage smoking favorably.[35] Described on Who What Why, The Great Barrington Declaration was the “widely rebuked open letter recommending governments reject broad public health measures in the face of COVID-19”[36] — it was an actual proposal, with a right-wing think tank behind it, fueled by fossil fuel money.[37]
Sharyl Atkisson posted a video on Youtube April 7, 2024 where she goes to the FLCCC conference in Phoenix Arizona.[38] Atkisson is described on Going Deep with Russ Baker as someone who used to work for CBS, writes for The Epoch Times, now works with the RFK Jr. presidential campaign, promotes anti-vax views, Trump lies, and has given attention to Qanon influencers in the past. And also has promoted dubious accusatory talking points against the physician Allison Neitzel.[39] And in fact, at the end of this April 7th 2024 video about the conference, Sharyl Attkisson mentioned Alison Neitzel apologized to Pierre Kory, but didn’t mention it was probably because of some threat of lawsuit over use of “intemperate” speech.[40]
One of the presentations at the FLCCC Winter 2024 conference was a “Shedding is Real” lecture.[41] People are NOT having “viral shedding” after covid vaccinations.[42] The spike protein is not produced indefinitely after vaccination,[43] it degrades.[44] The vaccines don’t alter DNA, and mRNA has a very short lifespan.[45] The only way viral shedding from a vaccine is theoretically possible is with a live virus vaccine, and the mRNA covid vaccines don’t contain live virus. Even the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines, which contain live adenovirus, do not contain the coronavirus, and the adenovirus can’t replicate. And the spike protein can’t itself shed.[46] The Novavax vaccine also doesn’t contain live or inactivated virus.[47]
Sharyl Attkisson interviews Pierre Kory and Jordan Vaughn together at the FLCCC conference in Phoenix Arizona in April 2024. In the interview Pierre Kory mentions ivermectin and says it has “20 positive mechanisms of action”. Yet ivermectin was shown to be ineffective as a covid treatment and linked to MAGA politics.[48] David Gorski criticized FLCCC as a group formed during the pandemic with ideological motivations for “covid protocols” in their opposition to public health measures, and referred to FLCCC’s “now repurposing ivermectin for cancer” as quackery.[49]
Kory also goes on to say, in the Full Measure interview: “What Jordan and I specialize in is what we call long vax. same thing as long covid, only real difference is long vax is on average sicker than long covid. um, I also will say that that long vax is far more prevalent.” Kory also suggested “spikeography” should be a new medical field of research. There is no evidence that the vaccine causes more problems than covid infections[50] and actual long covid following infection is far more prevalent.[51]
What is the “hashtag #TeamClots” diagnostics and treatment about?
Jordan Vaughn’s Long Covid clinic website offers a range of test ordering including genetic testing and “microscopic blood evaluations” which the website says: “Our team has been trained in the use of a state-of-the-art immunofluorescent microscope to evaluate your blood plasma for microclots”[52]
On the website is a link labeled “Triple Anticoagulant Therapy” — the link goes to a preprint from March 2023 describing anticoagulant therapy for the treatment of Long Covid symptoms.[53] This is NOT the triple therapy treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection[54] and not the triple therapy treatment for heart failure either,[55] and it’s not even the triple therapy for immunocompromised patients with prolonged or relapsed covid.[56] The preprint referenced is about a study of 91 patients with Long Covid in South Africa, and the paper is coauthored by Gert Jacobus (Jaco) Laubscher, M Asad Khan, Chantelle Venter, Jan H Pretorius, Douglas B Kell, Etheresia (Resia) Pretorius. A year before that, in January 2022, The Hill reported that Resia Pretorius had written in an op-ed that her lab revealed “significant microclot formation” in covid and long covid patients.[57] Resia Pretorius tweeted out that Jordan Vaughn had been running blood samples at his long covid clinic, and tagged Putrino Lab and Akiko Iwasaki as “analysing samples” and said “Hopefully more publications soon!” in February 2023.[58] A glowing review of Resia Pretorius and Douglas Kell from a ME/CFS non-profit in April 2023 references the “triple therapy” and says: “Pretorius, in particular, has been finding microclots in all sorts of diseases for a decade.”[59] In September 2023, NPR reported that Pretorius was sharing not yet peer-reviewed data from a study that was not a clinical trial, of an experimental treatment that showed some risks including reported nosebleeds and a gastrointestinal bleed.[60] In late December 2023, Pretorius laments that the establishment hasn’t been convinced of the “diagnostic methods and treatments available” and tags radiologist Graham Lloyd-Jones, respiratory physician David Joffe, and Dr. Jordan F Vaughn.[61] The March 2023 preprint is still listed as a preprint in May 2024.[62]
In the interview with Gez Medinger in May 2023, Jordan Vaughn says “Jaco is really kind of my um you know in many ways mentor on this therapy” and says “for the most part my triple therapy or triple treatment is basically straight off what Jaco is doing” — referring apparently to Gert Jacobus (Jaco) Laubscher, the first listed co-author on the “Triple Anticoagulant Therapy” study preprint, and he mentioned planning to publish with Doug Kell soon, also a co-author on that preprint.[63]
Someone on Reddit, who posted favourably of Doug Kell and claimed they had talked to him personally, said that Kell recommended Jordan Vaughn. The redditor also claimed that Doug Kell suggested using nattokinase.[64] There was an in vitro study, a preliminary research into nattokinase for covid,[65] but it’s also known to be a hyped up supplement for cardiovascular wellness, with lots of promising mechanisms for action, but with far less than compelling studies.[66] Nevertheless, Peter McCullough has been promoting it for “covid vaccine detox” — something that isn’t a thing, but an idea became popular in late 2021, with people pointing to the preliminary in-vitro study which was about acute covid and doesn’t mention covid vaccines at all.[67]
I came across posts from someone on Reddit seeking treatment from Long Covid, and they describe driving from Pennsylvania to Alabama to get treatment from Jordan Vaughn’s long covid clinic, and their experiences essentially experimenting with treatments over the course of several months.[68] In a post in October 2023, the person lists out the prescription, OTC, and supplements they say they were recommended under the care of his clinic,[69] which included what they listed in their spreadsheet table as “triple therapy” — Plavix, Eliquis, Aspirin. They also reported being on nattokinase, which Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center warns comes with a risk of bleeding when used with blood-thinning drugs.[70] The redditor also mentions 2 OTC antihistamines, and a prescription for Valtrex. An article from January 2024 says Valtrex is in the preliminary stages of study as a potential covid treatment.[71] And the person reports having a prescription for “Low Dose Naltrexone”, which has been promoted as a wonder medication for many years for various conditions,[72] and is prescribed off-label, but is currently being put in a clinical trial in 2024 for treatment of long covid.[73]
The same redditor later reports getting referred for hyperbaric chamber therapy by another long covid clinic at Penn Medicine.[74] In looking to see if HBOT is a common treatment for anything other than “The Bends” (decompression sickness),[75] I found a thread by Nick Mark from June 2022, where hyperbaric chamber therapy is described as having “long been hyped by quacks as a miraculous cure for cancer & other illnesses” in a thread that happens to be about FLCCC and what Nick Mark described as their “snake oil cures” — listing out ivermectin , hydroxychloroquine , fluvoxamine , chronic steroids , and naltrexone.[76]
In the report by 1819 News in February 2023, Jordan Vaughn says he thinks the origins of the virus have been “hidden” and complains about regulations about how to treat patients, stating “As the virus changes, the molecules that we might use might change”[77] without elaborating on what he means by that.
It is true that there were monoclonals that were found to no longer hold up and were discontinued.[78] But the virus hasn’t actually morphed into something else. Masks for example, protect against all the variants. While vaccination effects wane over time,[79] it’s still better to have had a past vaccination than none at all.[80] The fact that people perceive the virus to be more mild supposedly, compared to the beginning of the pandemic, is thanks to the vaccines reducing severity in the vaccinated,[81] and sadly also survivorship bias[82] — in that people who already died previously can’t die again in 2024.[83]
Is rogue treatment of covid part of a conservative political platform?
Complaints about “suppressing” drug treatments during the pandemic has been something of a PR project for many Republican politicians, right-wing pundits, and conservative doctors. Yet there was a study of insurance claims and reimbursements that found $130 million or more may have been paid out in 2021 for unproven ivermectin prescribed for covid.[84] Trump advisor Peter Navarro (of “The Green Bay Sweep” fame[85]) was arguing for hydroxychloroquine as recently as September 2023.[86] Steve Kirsch was on the Tucker Carlson show in February 2024 — Kirsch also appeared in the right-wing film “Died Suddenly”, and according to another Who What Why article: “Kirsch — whose pre-pandemic career is most notable for the development of an optical mouse — ran the Elon Musk-funded COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF), is the founder of COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF) and Vaccine Safety Research Foundation (VSRF) and was quoted for Pierre Kory’s book released in June 2023”[87] — Kory’s book has a title that appears to claim that Ivermectin saved millions and could’ve stopped covid. Kory previously had a published paper retracted in 2021, that had claimed a hospital covid treatment protocol “radically reduced deaths from the infection” involving methylprednisolone, ascorbic acid, thiamine, heparin, and later added ivermectin,[88] a drug that has been shown to be ineffective for covid, and “arguably harmful” according to a review of an analysis by Scott Gavura on Science-Based Medicine.[89] On the Amazon page for Kory’s book, Steve Kirsch is quoted as having said “I have the utmost respect for Dr. Kory” in his review.
Bret Weinstein also gave a positive review of Pierre Kory’s ivermectin book.[90] Bret Weinstein recently went on Joe Rogan to spread AIDS denialism.[91] He first made a name for himself while causing rifts in atheist & skeptics communities in 2017 when he became embroiled in controversy over a campus demonstration by non-white students and when someone suggested white people might participate in solidarity, he rejected that suggestion in a letter that became public.[92] This led to the whole “Intellectual Dark Web”[93] thing and the origins of a lot of “cancel culture” talk.[94] The Intellectual Dark Web is a term associated with a lot of people who then went on to be criticized for promoting racism (Sam Harris),[95] promoting anti-vax misinformation (Joe Rogan),[96] promoting covid contrarianism (Jordan Peterson),[97] and climate denial (Michael Shellenberger),[98] or promoting unsubstantiated China “lab leak” conspiracy theories (Glenn Greenwald).[99] Bret Weinstein himself went on to become prominent as a covid contrarian when the pandemic began, in a podcast with his wife, which is so right-wing that they were actually featured in two episodes of the white supremacist focused podcast, I Don’t Speak German — in July 2020,[100] and again in July 2021.[101] Bret Weinstein’s brother is also famous, used to work for Peter Thiel (a billionaire with a libertarian vision[102]), and like Bret, the brother also has a podcast.[103] BIRD, which has been described as the UK version of FLCCC, was founded by Tess Lawrie,[104] and Lawrie promotes Bret Weinstein.[105] Bret Weinstein has gone further than promoting ivermectin as a treatment, he’s inappropriately and without evidence called it “a near-perfect covid prophylactic” in an interview with Tucker Carlson, according to a report in Mother Jones in December 2022 about Bret Weinstein being appointed to a panel of scientists and physicians, assembled by Florida Governor Ron Desantis, who were to serve under the Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo to evaluate federal public health advice to make sure it’s “tailored” to Florida, and “almost all of DeSantis’ committee members have worked with or contributed to the Brownstone Institute”[106] The panel included Jay Bhattacharya who’s been at Stanford in California since he was 17,[107] Martin Kulldorff who was at Harvard in Boston Massachusetts in 2022,[108] and Tracy Beth Høeg whose LinkedIn profile page appears to show her employment in California at least since 2020.[109]
Joseph Ladapo is the Florida Surgeon General who has become notorious especially since 2022 for a unwarranted assertion that there was a study that backed up anti-vax claims of risk to young men from covid vaccines, and some months later it was revealed that the original eight-page study, provided by the Florida Department of Health, “initially stated that there was no significant risk associated with the Covid-19 vaccines for young men” and that it was Ladapo who did edits to replace that language to claim there was.[110] Joseph Ladapo in 2024, was still being reported by CBS as using his platform as Florida’s State Surgeon General to call “for doctors to stop recommending mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, citing alleged health risks promoted by anti-vaccine activists that federal health officials have already refuted as “implausible” and “misleading.”[111] In February 2024, Ladapo refrained from recommending measles vaccination or even isolation, during a measles outbreak in Florida, which Axios reported: “Not only does Ladapo’s recommendation run counter to federal guidelines, it also appears to be in discord with Florida statutes.”[112] Joseph Ladapo also had gone on the podcast of Steve Bannon, saying that the vaccines are ‘the Antichrist of all products’ associating them with the devil, and saying the vaccines are “showing “disrespect” to the human genome”[113] — which seems to be an evocation of the “gene altering” conspiracy theories promoted by anti-vaxxers, but which have no basis.[114] Steve Bannon is the former Trump administration official and political strategist who defied a subpoena to appear at the Jan. 6 committee.[115]
Joseph Ladapo also was named by the U.S. Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis as having been invited by Dr. Scott Atlas “to speak with the President and the Vice President” and other Administration officials about the pandemic response” in August 2020 along with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Dr. Martin Kulldorff, and Dr. Cody Meissner.[116] They were backing Scott Atlas who supported a strategy of “facilitating disease-acquired herd immunity” and the anti-mask policy he was advocating for was found by the Select Subcommittee to be consistent with the pursuit of that aim.[117] Dr. Scott Atlas already had a partisan right-wing history pre-pandemic, going back to at least March 2012 in an op-ed in Politico, where he called for striking down, and urgent opposition to, the Affordable Care Act — based on partisanship — stating that Republicans were opposed to it and claiming only Democrats supported it.[118] Although in 2017, a revered conservative Republican Senator, the late John McCain, gave a very famous thumbs down on an attempt to repeal Obamacare.[119]
Anti-vax seems to be routine as a Republican platform nowadays, as Walker Bragman said on Status Coup News in March 2024: “This is the Heritage Foundation. They are one of the most influential right-wing think tanks in the country. And they’re out there making anti-vax covid misinformation like that’s part of their thing now, it’s just part of right-wing orthodoxy.”[120] The Heritage Foundation put out a “180-day Transition Playbook”[121] and inside the 900+ page Project 2025 document, they refer to the covid vaccines by putting “vaccine” in scare quotes on page 156,[122] which is typically, according to Merriam-Webster, a way to express “skepticism or derision concerning the use of the enclosed word or phrase”.[123] Cody Meissner who is on the FDA VRBPAC committee that makes judgements on vaccine approvals, was a signer of the Great Barrington Declaration[124] and he continued to suggest natural infection was perhaps “desirable” at a VRBPAC meeting in 2023.[125]
The mainstream conservative political plan for society appears to be: preventing individuals from seeking protection from covid infections in the first place, forcing the general public nakedly into disease trial by fire without modern interventions or proven treatments, barring strategies proven throughout civilization’s history for infection control, and inhibiting by law any public health response to disease threats, then letting the chips fall where they may. And there seems to be something akin to an army of wellness influencers and social media trolls with testimonials and products for sale[126] that cajole people into complacency and acceptance of the Let It Rip scheme.
In my opinion, I question the dedication to people suffering the effects of covid, by anyone who isn’t pro-precaution and supportive of prevention efforts. The more covid spread is tamped down reducing variant production, the longer covid research is relevant,[127] and the longer treatments for covid remain effective, stopping the waning and outdating of things like preventative pharmaceuticals[128] and vaccines.[129] Reinfections are not beneficial for people already suffering post-covid conditions.[130]
References:
[1] The Genetic Link to Abnormal Clotting in Long Covid | With Dr Jordan Vaughn — Gez Medinger — May 30, 2023 Jordan Vaughn: “kind of always done our own thing which is whatever we thought was best for the patient and uh really you know kind of separating ourselves from kind of the I guess big academic Medical Center or big kind of hospital system and especially in the last three years that’s been really um beneficial to be able to help people uh because sometimes the answers aren’t necessarily uh coming from some you know bureaucrat in the central government”
[2] The New York Times — Track Covid-19 in Alabama
[3] WVTM 13 — Birmingham doctor says masks are no longer needed in schools for students Updated: 11:59 AM CDT Aug 17, 2021 Vaughn said he isn’t the only physician who’s concerned about children continuing the use of masks. “I’ll have 25 physicians that agree with me — that the harm being caused to our children outweighs the benefits of the mask,” he said. “Scientific studies have shown that mask-wearing has no significant adverse health effects for wearers,” the Alabama Department of Public Health said. “We strongly recommend that anyone age 2 and older wear a face mask anytime you are around other people in indoor settings.”
[5] Medical University of South Carolina — New study finds kids with COVID-19 or MIS-C have surprisingly high rates of neurological symptoms Ryan Barrs August 18, 2021 It’s unclear why some children developed serious neurological involvement from COVID-19 and MIS-C and others didn’t. Most of the patients with life-threatening neurological complications did not have any major underlying conditions. “For whatever reason, in some kids the immune system goes wild in response to prior COVID infection,” said Mack. MIS-C is an emerging disease and is still poorly understood. Consequently, its diagnosis is often missed. “We’re learning a new disease,” said Mack.
[6] University of Oxford — COVID-19 is a leading cause of death in children and young people in the US PUBLISHED 31 JAN 2023 A new study led by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Computer Science has found that, between 2021 and 2022, COVID-19 was a leading cause of death in children and young people in the United States, ranking eighth overall. The results demonstrate that pharmaceutical and public health interventions should continue to be applied to limit the spread of the coronavirus and protect again severe disease in this age group.\
[7] Alabama Political Reporter — Masking policy hotly debated before Mountain Brook Board of Education Parents and doctors debated mandatory masking of school children before the Mountain Brooks Board of Education. By Brandon Moseley Published on August 19, 2021 There were doctors on both sides of the debate. Dr. Jordan Vaughn spoke at length about his opposition to the mask mandate and how there is, in his opinion, insufficient research into the long term effects of masking school children for anyone to mandate that children be masked 9 hours a day, five days a week for potentially an entire school year. “As a frontline physician, a researcher, a business owner, a mid-size employer and most importantly a father I am concerned with the decision this school system is making by mandating our children be masked during their education,” Vaughn told the board. “Our public health establishment has failed this country, this state, and the physicians that are tasked with treating and informing patients and most egregiously failed our most precious asset, our children. It was understandable a few months into this to be reticent and fearful, but now more than 18 months later continuing to rule with fear is inexcusable; especially in our supposed leaders.”
[8] (Internet Archive Wayback Machine archive Jan 2023) MedHelp — Long COVID Clinic In response to the growing need for compassionate, research-based long COVID treatment, we are now offering long COVID treatment options for local patients as well as patients who live outside the state of Alabama.
[9] Forbes: Learning Loss: Urgent Crisis Or Harmful Myth? Natalie Wexler Aug 12, 2021,12:08 pm EDT At the same time, some vocal educators have challenged the very concept of learning loss, warning that it could label an entire generation of students as “broken.” The most radical form of this critique maintains that students haven’t missed out on any learning at all; they’ve just learned different, and possibly more valuable, things. Rachel Gabriel, an associate professor of literacy education, has suggested assuming that students “learned immeasurable and previously unknowable things,” like “how to reset the rhythms and patterns of their days.” Perhaps, she says, they’ve learned more than previous cohorts of students, “because of what they have lived through and lived without.” Those sentiments have been echoed by others, most recently in a New York Times article. A Seattle teacher and writer named Jesse Hagopian was quoted as saying that students have learned “how racism is used to divide” and “about the failure of the government to respond to the pandemic.”
[10] Brookings — Three myths about the impact of COVID-19 on public education — Douglas N. Harris — August 29, 2023 Students may have worried about the pandemic generally and the health of their parents and grandparents, or they may have had to chip in more to support their families during the economic downturn initially triggered by the pandemic. To chalk this all up to instructional mode is to ignore that children lived through an unprecedented social, economic, and health calamity. It’s no wonder public schools stayed remote longer. They serve students who were at higher risk during the pandemic. Public schools also involve more complex staffing arrangements which were more brittle during the pandemic. Of course, we all could have done better in retrospect. Hindsight is 20:20, and with a once-in-a-century pandemic, foresight approaches blindness. But, no, we can’t blame the public school system and union leaders for student learning loss.
[13] Health Feedback — COVID-19 vaccines don’t weaken the immune system; Lancet study misrepresented in Virology Journal comment — Published on: 28 Jul 2022 | Editor: Flora Teoh Misrepresents source: The Lancet study cited in the video examined how COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness wanes over time. The study didn’t examine immunity to infectious diseases in general nor did it find that COVID-19 vaccines weaken the immune system. Misleading: The review article by Seneff et al. provided no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines weaken the immune system.
[15] Americans are highly vaccinated against polio. Here’s why it could still spread By Brenda Goodman, CNN Published 6:09 PM EDT, Tue August 23, 2022 The injected vaccine, which uses the killed virus, can’t change back into a harmful form. While the oral vaccine is relatively safe, the injected vaccine is even safer. In 2000, public health officials decided the US should only use shots, which contain the inactivated virus, to vaccinate against polio. There is a drawback to using the injected vaccine, however. While it prevents paralysis, it doesn’t necessarily prevent infection. Because of this, young adults and children vaccinated since the switch can still be infected with poliovirus in their intestines and shed the virus in their stool. “They’re protected against a paralytic disease, but they can still harbor the virus and spread it to others. And that’s the circumstance we have now in New York,” Schaffner says. “So you could get essentially the entire community carrying this virus in their intestines, but they don’t even know it’s there.”
[16] The Flu Vaccine Works — In a Way Most People Don’t Appreciate The CDC is emphasizing how the flu vaccine can turn the virus from “Wild to Mild” — By Meghan Bartels on October 9, 2023 “There’s a very widely held perception that the flu vaccine doesn’t work,” she says. “People think that if they get vaccinated, and then they get sick, the vaccine has failed.” But that’s not an accurate view of what public health experts expect the flu vaccine to accomplish, Schaffner says, adding that he’s been encouraging the messaging pivot for years now. Mild influenza occurs mostly in the respiratory tract, where vaccine-induced defenses aren’t as effective because they can’t reach the surface of the mucus membranes in, for example, your nose, he says. That’s where the virus might first enter your body and cause flu’s mild symptoms, such as a runny nose — so vaccination doesn’t do much against these infections. Instead the vaccine produces defenses that are active deeper in the body — in the heart, liver and kidney, for example — and can stop the virus from sneaking into organs, where it can cause a severe to possibly life-threatening infection.
[17] The Guardian — Why we might not get a coronavirus vaccine Politicians have become more cautious about immunisation prospects. They are right to be — Ian Sample — Fri 22 May 2020 11.23 BST The fastest vaccine ever developed was for mumps. It took four years. Scientists have worked on coronavirus vaccines before, so are not starting from scratch. Two coronaviruses have caused lethal outbreaks before, namely Sars and Mers, and vaccine research went ahead for both. But none have been licensed, partly because Sars fizzled out and Mers is regional to the Middle East. The lessons learned will help scientists create a vaccine for Sars-CoV-2, but there is still an awful lot to learn about the virus. A chief concern is that coronaviruses do not tend to trigger long-lasting immunity.
[18] No, COVID-19 vaccines aren’t gene therapy By ANGELO FICHERA Published 5:07 PM EDT, December 23, 2022 AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The COVID-19 vaccines do not change a person’s genes, as gene therapy does, experts say. The shots from Pfizer and Moderna use messenger RNA, or mRNA, to instruct the body to create a protein from the coronavirus. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, meanwhile, uses a modified adenovirus to trigger an immune response. THE FACTS: False claims that the vaccines alter humans’ DNA have circulated since before their debut in late 2020. In recent days, social media posts have shared a claim that the vaccines are “gene therapy” — which involves modifying a person’s genes to treat or cure a disease, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The posts point to a clip of Dr. Robert Malone — a vocal critic of the COVID-19 vaccines who did early research on mRNA technology — speaking about the shots during a roundtable event hosted by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in early December. In the clip, Malone is asked whether the vaccines are actually a form of gene therapy. “As I’ve said repeatedly, it came out of a gene therapy research program,” Malone responds. “These and the adenoviral vectors are absolutely gene therapy technology applied for the purpose of eliciting an immune response.” A tweet sharing the clip, which was also posted on Instagram, claimed: “The shots are a gene therapy, NOT a vaccine.” Experts say that’s false.
[19] Conspirituality Podcast — Brief: Flood the Zone (w/Dr Dan Wilson) — 2/28/23
[21] Fact check: COVID-19 vaccines won’t alter recipient DNA; frontline workers have suffered directly from the virus By Reuters December 18, 2020 Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has further information (here). It says: “mRNA isn’t the same as DNA, and it can’t combine with our DNA to change our genetic code”.
[22] NHS Wales — Myth 1: The vaccines are experimental Fact: All vaccines completed clinical trials and were deemed safe. But the safety monitoring of these vaccines continues, which is what normally happens with new vaccines.
[23] CrossPolitic Studios — Vaccine Corruption — The Collapse is Medical Ethics w/ Dr. Jordan Vaughn — Facebook Live Event August 22, 2022 Jordan Vaughn: “The reality the technology that’s used in this vaccine from the Vaccine Research Foundation which is part of the NIH the actual spike protein stabilization technology which we just licensed to the rest of the world about 3 months ago, was patented in 2016 so when they say “this was new we did it really quick” they’re just lying to you they’ve been messing with the spike protein since 2003 and then when MERS came along they again messed with the spike protein and they found a way to stabilize it in a confirmation pattern that allowed it to be harder for the body to break down and that’s really where you got your immune response.
[24] The Washington Post — A gamble pays off in ‘spectacular success’: How the leading coronavirus vaccines made it to the finish line- The astonishing, 11-month sprint harnessed new technology that will pave the way for other vaccines and breakthrough medical treatments By Carolyn Y. Johnson December 6, 2020 Even before the coronavirus emerged, the technology had reached a tipping point where it seemed a matter of time before it would begin to have an impact on medicine. “It’s new to you,” Fuller said. “But for basic researchers, it’s been long enough. . . . Even before covid, everyone was talking: RNA, RNA, RNA.” All vaccines are based on the same underlying idea: training the immune system to block a virus. Old-fashioned vaccines do this work by injecting dead or weakened viruses. Newer vaccines use distinctive bits of the virus, such as proteins on their surface, to teach the lesson. The latest genetic techniques, like messenger RNA, don’t take as long to develop because those virus bits don’t have to be generated in a lab. Instead, the vaccine delivers a genetic code that instructs cells to build those characteristic proteins themselves.
[25] CrossPolitic Studios — Vaccine Corruption — The Collapse is Medical Ethics w/ Dr. Jordan Vaughn — Facebook Live Event August 22, 2022 Jordan Vaughn: “When we’re talking about classic vaccinology. The word inactivate, and the word inactivating a viral vaccine would mean you would take the part off of it that causes the damage. So the first thing I usually tell people is, well, what makes COVID-19 or SARS-COV-2 unique, what causes it to be so you know cause significant morbidity and mortality? Meaning what does it cause people to go to the hospital for? Unlike any other virus okay? and the answer to that is and most honest physicians will tell you this, oh it’s the spike protein. Okay, so but what do you think the vaccine makes you make? [Spike protein.] Exactly so that should have been your first clue that the very thing that makes the virus pathogenic they are giving you the instructions to. And unfortunately what we’ve learned and you know treating a lot of people that have vaccine injury from people that have had serious covid. Especially what we would call persistent covid or long covid. Um it is the spike protein pathology.”
[26] Karikó K, Muramatsu H, Welsh FA, Ludwig J, Kato H, Akira S, Weissman D. Incorporation of pseudouridine into mRNA yields superior nonimmunogenic vector with increased translational capacity and biological stability. Mol Ther. 2008 Nov;16(11):1833–40. doi: 10.1038/mt.2008.200. Epub 2008 Sep 16. PMID: 18797453; PMCID: PMC2775451. The potential therapeutic advantages of using mRNA, especially Ψ-containing mRNA, over plasmid and viral vectors for delivering genetic material are numerous: (i) improved safety, because RNA is inherently incapable of integrating into the genome, thus preventing deleterious side effects that have stalled other vectors;2 (ii) lack of inflammatory response to Ψ-containing mRNA, thereby avoiding devastating systemic inflammation that can be fatal with a viral vector;15 (iii) efficient transduction of primary cells, unlike DNA, RNA does not require cell proliferation for expression of the encoded protein; (iv) rapid protein expression, mRNAs are translated within minutes following entry into the cytoplasm, whereas plasmids require time-consuming nuclear import and transcription; (v) virtually no size limit for the encoded proteins, because long mRNAs (we have generated 12-kb long mRNAs) can be easily obtained, unlike viral vectors that possess limited packaging capacities; (vi) the extent and duration of the encoded protein expression can be closely controlled because mRNAs have shorter half lives and, unlike other vectors, do not replicate; and (vii) manufacturing of mRNA is much simpler than producing viral or plasmid vectors, one DNA template can be transcribed many (~100) times and, by immobilizing the template, the process is adaptable for large scale continuous production in bioreactors.16 Overall, these beneficial characteristics make Ψ-containing mRNA an excellent tool not only for in vivo expression of therapeutic proteins but also for vaccination.
[28] Important Context Kennedy VP Pick Goes Mask-Off Anti-Vax Nicole Shanahan suggested the Moderna mRNA COVID vaccine should be recalled. WALKER BRAGMAN APR 17, 2024 Several, including Important Context, noted that she had rejected the antivax label while expressing concern for vaccine injury. In an interview with Newsweek, for example, she had defended Kennedy, arguing that “he’s not an anti-vaxxer; he’s just someone who takes vaccine injuries seriously.” But Shanahan has now put that speculation to rest. On Tuesday, in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Shanahan shared of herself next to her boyfriend, Jacob Strumwasser, vice president of the Bitcoin-related company Lightning Labs, who was wearing a shirt that read, “At least my tin foil hat won’t give me myocarditis” — a reference to a rare but negative side effect of the mRNA COVID vaccines. The jabs are less likely to cause myocarditis than COVID infection, and the instances are generally less severe. “One of us took 3 doses of the Moderna mRNA vaccine, and the other did not. Guess who?” The post read. “Here is the devastating reality: it is not a safe vaccine, and must be recalled immediately. Many people are suffering who took it.”
[29] Pierre Kory, MD MPA @PierreKory 8:53 PM · Dec 24, 2022 Hotez & the WHO are doubling down, trying to bury the fact that, from the smallpox vaccine myth to the polio vaccine myth to now, it is actually “pro-vaccine activism” that is the major killing force globally. Immense data supports my conclusion.
[30] Pierre Kory, MD MPA @PierreKory 8:53 PM · Dec 24, 2022 Hotez is an indescribably dangerous man. The WHO is literally run by Gates & the vaccination industry (same thing). They must be stopped. Our health & our lives depend on it.
[31] NPR Can’t Help Falling In Love With A Vaccine: How Polio Campaign Beat Vaccine Hesitancy. May 3, 2021 By Susan Brink An army of volunteers for the March of Dimes, largely mothers, went door to door, distributing the latest information about polio and the effort to stop it; they also asked for donations. As little as a dime would help, they said. And the dimes and dollars poured in, Oshinsky says, handed to the volunteers, or inserted into cardboard displays at store checkout counters or placed in envelopes sent directly to the White House. Cases of polio may have peaked in the U.S. in 1952 with nearly 60,000 children infected. More than 3,000 died. (By comparison, roughly a year’s worth of comparable statistics for the COVID-19 pandemic reveal more than 32 million reported cases in the U.S. so far and more than 573,000 deaths.) The years-long campaign of information and donations to the polio eradication effort made anxious Americans feel they were invested in a solution, Stewart says.
[32] Slate — The Loneliest Anti-Vaxxer. Even the popular polio shot had its haters. By Nick Keppler, Nov 26, 2021 Under the banner of his organization, Polio Prevention Inc., Miller distributed hair-raising mailers with claims like “Thousands of little white coffins will be used to bury victims of Salk’s heinous and fraudulent vaccine.” A self-made shampoo magnate, he was one of the few malcontents who publicly campaigned against the polio vaccine. His crusade shows that even during a public embrace of the polio shot that many people frustrated at COVID anti-vaxxers have held up as the ideal reaction to a new lifesaving vaccine, there was dissent, some of it as vitriolic as that you find in the corners of Twitter that swap anti-Fauci memes and Bill Gates rants — and just as weird. To Miller, “polio” was not an infectious disease. It was a state of malnutrition caused by midcentury American diets, particularly soft drinks — his mortal enemy. “Disease and malfunction do not ‘strike’ us; we build them within ourselves,” he wrote in one of his two-sided handbills.
[33] Important Context — Who is Funding the Brownstone Institute? New tax filings provide some clarity about the funders of the prolific COVID-19 conspiracy outfit. WALKER BRAGMAN JUL 24, 2023 For example, Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a group that promotes quack COVID treatments like ivermectin and hypes up concerns about the safety of the mRNA vaccines, got $55,000. Last week, the group’s founder, critical care physician Dr. Pierre Kory, invited his Twitter followers to join him in celebrating “the millions of lives saved by ivermectin in Covid,” calling it “an uplifting story as well as a tragic one due to one of History’s most massive global Disinformation campaigns.”
[34] Important Context — Elon Musk’s New Twitter Files Reporter Has Ties to Great Barrington Declaration — The writer at the center of Musk’s latest dump promoted a controversial herd immunity document — Walker Bragman — Jan 02, 2023 Bhattacharya’s and Kulldorff’s anti-mitigation advocacy has netted them fellowships and scholar positions at right-wing institutions like the Koch-funded Hillsdale College or Jeffrey Tucker’s new Brownstone Institute. They have even gotten free legal representation.
[36] Who What Why: The Loudest Voice: Who Is GOP COVID-19 Expert Jay Bhattacharya by Walker Bragman 03/29/23 The Stanford University professor and co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration (GBD) — a widely rebuked open letter recommending governments reject broad public health measures in the face of COVID-19 — was a star GOP expert witness at the February 28 hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. He and his fellow GOP experts are all members of the so-called Norfolk Group, an offshoot of the Brownstone Institute, a dark money group that has become a hub for COVID-19 misinformation. Predictably, they spent the hour-long hearing lamenting public health mandates, and claiming to be part of a “censored” opposition to the mainstream narrative. “Public health bureaucrats operated more like dictators than scientists during the pandemic, sealing themselves off from credible outside criticism,” Bhattacharya said. Bhattacharya, who is currently suing the Biden administration over its alleged role in his censorship, should be a familiar name to anyone who read the previous House reports on the Trump administration’s COVID-19 response. He is featured prominently as one of the people whose contrarian and often disastrously wrong takes helped inform one of the world’s worst responses to the pandemic. Readers may also recognize Bhattacharya for his work with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), his Wall Street Journal and Newsweek op-eds, his various speaking engagements, and his frequent Fox News appearances.
[37] DeSmog — A Right-Wing Think Tank Is Behind the Controversial Great Barrington Declaration Calling for COVID-19 Herd Immunity By Dana Drugmandon — Oct 26, 2020 Known as the Great Barrington Declaration, this statement advocating for herd immunity was introduced in early October at an event hosted by the American Institute for Economic Research, a conservative free-market think tank located in the western Massachusetts town of Great Barrington. This think tank, funded in part through a corporate investment firm with holdings in major oil and petrochemical companies, operates a network for the international business community that partners with other institutions backed by Koch and fossil fuel cash.
[38] Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson April 7, 2024 — COVID Concerns
[39] Going Deep with Russ Baker — But Wait, Folks, There’s More: Anti-Vaxxers and Snake Oilers Are a Team — Are you buying what the team’s selling? You could pay for it in more ways than one. APR 14, 2024 One such example is from a former CBS journalist, Sharyl Attkisson, who now works with the RFK Jr. campaign, and writes for The Epoch Times, a far-right publication that promotes anti-vaxxer views, Trump’s lies about the election, and other dangerous agenda-driven nonsense. (Attkisson also appeared eager to give ink and credence to QAnon.) After amplifying the original erroneous charge against Neitzel, she then hawks her book
[40] Going Deep with Russ Baker Contrived Anti-Vaxxer “Exposé” on WhoWhatWhy Writer Reveals Movement Strategy I could see right away that it was some kind of hit piece APR 07, 2024 Perhaps most relevant to those that insinuate she is somehow a tool of Big Medicine or Big Pharma, is the reality that, in her work, Neitzel has no financial or institutional stake whatsoever. She is about as far from a shill for Big Pharma or Big Medicine as one could get. But in her anger at those who promoted and politicized what the majority of leading scientists considered faux cures for COVID-19, she used intemperate language. (Her apology appears below as an addendum.) Two doctors promoting the counter-scenario aggressively pursued her, and a process server even gained access to her apartment building to dramatically serve her at her door. And — on advice of counsel to avoid a long, drawn-out litigation (though they were certain she would win) — she agreed to a very measured apology of sorts in return for their dropping their action. The apology relates to minor mistakes or transgressions — trivial in their impact compared to the consequences of the allegedly bad science that Neitzel was calling out.
[41] Internet Archive Wayback Machine — Courses FLCCC Winter 2024 Conference Shedding is Real Lecture abstract: In “Shedding is Real,” Dr. Pierre Kory and Scott Marsland explore the phenomenon of vaccine shedding, specifically the transmission of gene therapy residues like spike proteins from mRNA vaccines between individuals
[42] Doctors Manitoba — Do vaccinated people shed spike proteins or the virus could be harmful to others? The short answer: no. The COVID-19 vaccines approved for use do not contain live virus, and thus it is not possible for any “viral shedding” to occur. Viral shedding is theoretically possible only for vaccines that contain a weakened live virus, though it is extremely rare for this to infect someone else with that virus. COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any live virus, and thus the vaccine cannot result in anything being shed that could infect or harm others.
[43] How long does spike protein last after vaccination? Not long! — Debunk the Funk with Dr. Wilson Sep 5, 2023 for this one so this claim is really stupid anti-vaxxers are using this new paper to claim that the MRNA from the covid vaccine is producing Spike protein indefinitely not only does it not show that but we have known for years that the spike protein degrades like any protein does and the MRNA also degrades like any mRNA does
[44] Nebraska Medicine — Advancing Health — How long do mRNA and spike proteins last in the body? November 1, 2022 The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines work by introducing mRNA (messenger RNA) into your muscle cells. The cells make copies of the spike protein and the mRNA is quickly degraded (within a few days). The cell breaks the mRNA up into small harmless pieces. mRNA is very fragile; that’s one reason why mRNA vaccines must be so carefully preserved at very low temperatures. How long do spike proteins last in the body? The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) estimates that the spike proteins that were generated by COVID-19 vaccines last up to a few weeks, like other proteins made by the body. The immune system quickly identifies, attacks and destroys the spike proteins because it recognizes them as not part of you. This “learning the enemy” process is how the immune system figures out how to defeat the real coronavirus. It remembers what it saw and when you are exposed to coronavirus in the future it can rapidly mount an effective immune response. The Novavax vaccine introduces the actual protein into your body to produce an immune response similar to many other vaccines currently in use.
[45] What Stops Body from Continuing to Produce the COVID-19 Spike Protein after Getting an mRNA Vaccine? The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Mar 16, 2021 Dr. Hank Bernstein: “The body’s immune system recognizes the spike protein shouldn’t be there, the protection against it. Our B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes, both types of white cells, remember how to fight the virus that causes COVID-19 if we’re ever infected in the future. Fortunately, mRNA has a very short life span. It stays in the cytoplasm, attaches to the ribosome, passes on its message, and then gets destroyed. It doesn’t enter the nucleus of the cell and it does not alter DNA. Since our cells are continuously producing proteins, mRNA is broken down fairly quickly by normal body processes.The cell breaks down the mRNA into harmless pieces and gets rid of it.”
[46] Nebraska Medicine — Advancing Health — COVID-19 vaccines, irregular periods and spike protein shedding — April 24, 2021 The vaccines can’t give you COVID-19. Vaccines do not contain SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. And the spike protein itself can’t shed. “Spike protein is primarily made locally in muscle where the vaccine is administered and may possibly be seen in low levels in the blood,” says Dr. Lawler. “But it should not be shed in significant quantity in respiratory or other secretions.” If someone has tested positive for COVID-19, though, they are shedding virus, including the spike protein, and contagious. “We know that people with COVID-19 shed large amounts of virus from respiratory secretions,” says Dr. Lawler. Shedding can’t happen without a live vaccine. The mRNA vaccines — Pfizer and Moderna — are not live vaccines and do not replicate. The Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines are considered live vaccines because they both contain adenovirus. (Again, they do NOT contain the coronavirus.) But the adenovirus in both the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines can’t replicate, so there’s no way they can shed.
[47] Nebraska Medicine — Advancing Health — Moths and tree bark: How the Novavax vaccine works — July 21, 2022 “Unlike mRNA vaccines, the spike protein is already premade in the Novavax vaccine. It’s a shortcut,” explains Dr. Florescu. “All the synthesis happens outside the body and we just give the end product: the spike protein.” Like other COVID-19 vaccines, Novavax does not cause COVID-19 infection. It can’t get you sick. This vaccine doesn’t contain either live or inactivated virus.
[48] Who What Why — Ivermectin: Dr. Pierre Kory and the Wonder Drug That Wasn’t — Ivermectin has fused with MAGA politics. — Karam Bales 03/17/24 In a room rented on the parliamentary campus, Kory and a small group of fringe US physicians who have been involved with right-wing politics spread shoddy data, blatant disinformation, and fear over vaccine safety — while congratulating each other on being the truth-tellers of the pandemic. Despite Kory’s bravado on the global stage, his ivermectin crusade has not fared well back home. A lawsuit against a Wisconsin hospital system, brought by the nephew of a patient who was denied ivermectin before dying of COVID-19, was shot down by the state’s Supreme Court last spring. The American Medical Association and Wisconsin Medical Society had filed an amicus brief on behalf of the hospital system being sued, noting that the plaintiff had largely relied on Kory’s “opinion testimony” and that “the studies on which his opinion is based — including his own — have been thoroughly discredited.” They further highlighted that: “Additional research determined that meta-analyses touting ivermectin’s effectiveness, including Dr. Kory’s, had surveyed “largely poor-quality studies.” Indeed, one of the studies on which Dr. Kory relied was “potentially fraudulent” and included duplicated data. The journal that published Dr. Kory’s survey subsequently issued an expression of concern, which questioned Dr. Kory’s conclusions about ivermectin.”
[49] Science-Based Medicine — COVID-19 antivax quacks are now “repurposing” ivermectin for cancer — A year ago, I noticed that COVID-19 quacks were touting the “repurposing” of ivermectin to treat cancer. Now, familiar COVID-19 antivaxxers — cough, cough, FLCCC — have turbocharged this quackery. David Gorski on February 5, 2024 The bottom line. The FLCCC Alliance is a group of quacks that arose in the era of the pandemic mainly for ideological reasons, specifically opposition to the public health measures instituted to try to mitigate the damage done by COVID-19 before there was a vaccine. Once there was a vaccine, they pivoted effortlessly to being antivaccine. Through it all, they’ve promoted ivermectin and the “repurposing” of their other drugs as part of their “COVID protocols,” because if there are inexpensive and safe treatments for COVID-19, then public health interventions would be unnecessary, as would vaccines. Unfortunately, I’ve observed that it seems to be a general principle that embracing one form of quackery almost always leads doctors down the path to embracing other forms of quackery and becoming just general quacks. This “study” examining the “repurposing” of ivermectin to treat cancer is just the latest example of how the FLCCC Alliance has gone down that path.
[50] FactCheck.org A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania — Study Largely Confirms Known, Rare COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects By Kate Yandell Posted on February 27, 2024 COVID-19 vaccines — like all vaccines and other medical products — come with side effects, including serious side effects in rare cases. The vaccines were rolled out to protect people from a novel virus that has killed millions of people globally and would likely have killed millions more without the arrival of the vaccines. There is a broad consensus from experts and governmental health agencies that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the risks. Researchers have scrutinized the COVID-19 vaccines’ safety and continue to do so.
[51] KFF — As Recommendations for Isolation End, How Common is Long COVID? Alice Burns Published: Apr 09, 2024 An estimated 17 million adults currently have long COVID. There are roughly 250 million adults in the U.S. population, 43 million of whom report ever having had long COVID and 27 million of whom report having had it in the past but not having it currently. Those numbers are on par with the number of people who have cancer (17 million in 2020) and almost as many as the number with coronary artery disease (over 20 million in 2023).
[52] Internet Archive Wayback Machine, saved January 2024 — MedHelp Clinics — Long Covid Clinic Our Long COVID Treatment Protocol includes: Testing: We utilize diverse testing and diagnostic tools to provide our team with a clear, up-to-date assessment of your body’s systems. Your testing may include chest X-rays, EKGs, laboratory testing, and genetic testing. Other testing may be required. Microscopic blood evaluations: Our team has been trained in the use of a state-of-the-art immunofluorescent microscope to evaluate your blood plasma for microclots, which are a known cause of long COVID symptoms. Individualized treatment plan: Long COVID-19 is a systemic illness that impacts every patient differently. Your provider will design a treatment plan grounded in research and targeted at your symptoms. This treatment plan may include prescribed pharmaceuticals, natural supplements, and vitamins. Close monitoring and follow-up plan: Every patient will be carefully monitored for the duration of their treatment.
[57] The Hill — South African scientist thinks she may have solved the mystery of long COVID-19, which afflicts 100M people By Brooke Migdon | Jan. 5, 2022 | Jan. 05, 2022 “A recent study in my lab revealed that there is significant microclot formation in the blood of both acute COVID-19 and long COVID patients,” Resia Pretorius, head of the science department at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, wrote Wednesday in an op-ed.
[58] Resia Pretorius @resiapretorius 11:24 AM · Feb 13, 2023 from South Africa· 742 Views — Dr Jordan Vaughn has been running blood samples in his US LongCOVID clinic, and Dr @BeateJaegerMD too. Both @PutrinoLab and @VirusesImmunity are already analysing samples and many more labs are starting to analyse samples. Hopefully more publications soon!
[59] Health RisingTriple Coagulation Therapy Scores in Long COVID: Implications for ME/CFS, FM and POTS by Cort Johnson | Apr 4, 2023 Talk about being pioneering. Resa Pretorius and Douglas Kell have basically carved out a new field — microclots — for themselves. Their findings have gotten a lot of attention in long COVID, but Pretorius, in particular, has been finding microclots in all sorts of diseases for a decade.
[60] NPR — Unraveling long COVID: Here’s what scientists who study the illness want to find out September 9, 2023 By Will Stone In Santa Fe, Pretorius shared preliminary data from her team showing that so-called “triple therapy” — a combination of three medications — targeting clotting and platelet hyperactivation could benefit some long COVID patients. The preprint showed that this regime resolved symptoms in the majority of the 91 patients who were followed, although the results are not yet peer-reviewed and the study was not a clinical trial. The approach is not without risk; many patients reported bruising, some had nosebleeds and one reported a gastrointestinal bleed.
[61] Resia Pretorius @resiapretorius 5:41 AM · Dec 30, 2023 One fine day @cstroeckw, one fine day. May researchers convince the establishment that there are diagnostic methods and treatments available. We cannot cling to old theories taught in med school. We need clinicians like @DrGrahamLJ @jfvaughnmd09 @DavidJoffe64
[62] Gert J Laubscher, M Asad Khan, Chantelle Venter et al. Treatment of Long COVID symptoms with triple anticoagulant therapy, 21 March 2023, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square [https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2697680/v1]
[63] The Genetic Link to Abnormal Clotting in Long Covid | With Dr Jordan Vaughn — Gez Medinger — May 30, 2023 Jaco is really kind of my um you know in many ways mentor on this therapy I mean this I I looked at Jaco as somebody who was brilliant and not only that took a chance and said let’s try this and his his you know what he’s done is really helping lots of people because for the most part my triple therapy or triple treatment is basically straight off what Jaco is doing um a couple things that I’ve added uh are related to what I’ve kind of found and I’m hopefully going to publish with Doug Kell pretty soon that there’s a subset of people uh that and it’s a fairly common genetic subset that have issues with fibrin breakdown to begin with
[64] Reddit — r/covidlonghaulers • Dr. Jordan Vaughn explains the microclot theory! Dream_Imagination_58 • May 31, 2023 Hm. I looked through it, including how it linked to a previous screenshot of Doug Kell’s website, I didn’t really find the “gotcha” points the author was trying to make. Doug Kell talked to me for about half an hour for free after I messaged him on Twitter. He spent a lot of time telling me about over the counter enzymes like Nattokinase that I could use on my own. Never asked me for money, although he did recommend working with Dr. Vaughn. People also get herx reactions from taking the enzymes, it’s not only team clots saying this.
[66] McGill — Office for Science and Society — Separating Sense from Nonsense — Nattokinase’s Clot-Busting Promises Sway Scientists Who Should Know Better — It comes from the slime of a fermented food and is thought to do wonders for the cardiovascular system, but its benefits may just be spin and hype — Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. | 4 Aug 2023 There hasn’t been that much research into nattokinase, with most being done in rats or in Petri dishes (often using much higher doses than are recommended for human consumption). Many of the clinical studies, involving actual human participants, lack rigour or their negative results are subject to spin by the authors. A 2015 paper boldly asserts in its title that a single dose of nattokinase helps with clot busting. The study was done in 12 men and all the changes seen were actually “within the normal range.” This is what we could call a creative interpretation of results. Nattokinase is also said to help break down the plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease… at least in laboratory glassware. Whether this can be reproduced inside the human body remains to be seen. Meanwhile, a 2018 review article points out a strange inconsistency. A study published five years prior had found that the amount of nattokinase in the blood of someone who ingested it was at its greatest 13 hours after consumption. This should be when its clot-busting action is at its peak… except that a study measuring this specifically found that the peak was two to four hours after ingestion, not 13.
[67] Health Feedback — No scientific evidence for the claim that nattokinase can treat long COVID or “detox” COVID-19 vaccines Published on: 24 Mar 2023 | Editor: Flora Teoh McCullough’s claim presupposes that “detoxification” is necessary after COVID-19 vaccination because spike protein stays in the body and causes vaccine injury. This idea of COVID-19 vaccine “detoxes” became popular in late 2021, but medical experts pointed out that such “detoxes” are unnecessary and can even be harmful. In the nattokinase study cited by McCullough, Tanikawa et al. performed their experiments entirely in cells in the lab; no trials in humans were conducted. The authors reported that nattokinase could break down spike protein, and hypothesized that nattokinase could be used to block infection by SARS-CoV-2, since the virus uses the spike protein to gain entry into cells to begin infection. The authors suggested that nattokinase could potentially be used to complement COVID-19 vaccination in the fight against the virus. The study didn’t mention using it to “detox” COVID-19 vaccines.
[68] A “Long Hauler” Redditor June 2023 to April 2024 — A review of a long hauler’s self-reported story across 9+ months of reddit posts. On October 16, 2023, Hi_its_GOD posted another thread with all the things they say they’re taking, saying: “I am currently working with Dr. Jordan Vaghn since May 2023 (5 Months) and he has me on this current regimen.” And then they list them out.
[70] Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center — Nattokinase To prevent blood clots prevent deep vein thrombosis. To reduce high blood pressure Preliminary studies suggest nattokinase may lower blood pressure. Alzheimer’s disease Although animal models suggest nattokinase may degrade amyloid plaques, human studies have not been conducted. Cancer treatment Although nattokinase is promoted as an alternative cancer treatment, clinical data of its effectiveness are lacking. May increase the risk of bleeding when used with blood-thinning drugs Case reports Shortness of breath, mild chest pain, and blood clot: Causing a patient to undergo a repeat valve replacement after self-substituting nattokinase for warfarin for a long period of time. Internal bleeding that led to death: In an elderly woman who took over-the-counter nattokinase for irregular rapid heartbeat, and was not taking other blood thinners. Allergic reactions: Some severe, in patients who were allergic to nattō (fermented soybeans). Arm amputation: Due to tissue death resulting from injection of an oral enzyme supplement containing serrapeptase and nattokinase in an attempt to self-treat curvature of the penis. Patient Warnings: Theoretically, nattokinase can cause an existing clot to dislodge, resulting in a stroke or embolus at a distant location. Patients with a history of deep vein thrombosis should avoid of use nattokinase. Do Not Take if: You have coagulation disorders or are currently using an anticoagulant drug. You take aspirin daily: Nattokinase may increase its effects and lead to excessive bleeding.
[71] Life Medical Lab — January 25, 2024 Can Valtrex Be an Effective Treatment for COVID-19 during the Pandemic? As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact communities around the world, researchers and healthcare providers are exploring a variety of potential treatments to help combat the virus. One medication that has garnered attention in recent months is Valtrex, an antiviral drug commonly used to treat herpes infections. Further research is essential to ascertain the full potential of Valtrex as a treatment option for COVID-19. However, preliminary studies indicate that this widely used antiviral medication may hold promise in the fight against the virus.
[72] Science-Based Medicine — Low Dose Naltrexone — Bogus or Cutting Edge Science? Steven Novella on May 5, 2010 This type of medical pseudoscience is particularly challenging to deal with, because there is a scientific paper trail that seems to support many of the claims of proponents. The claims themselves may have significant plausibility, and parts of the claims may in fact be true. Efforts to educate the public about such treatments are frustrated by the mainstream media’s lazy tendency to discuss every study as if it were the definitive last word on a topic, and to site individual experts as if they represent the consensus of scientific opinion. Recent claims made for low dose naltrexone (LDN) fit nicely into this model — a medical intervention with interesting research, but in a preliminary phase that does not justify clinical use. And yet proponents talk about it as if it is a medical revolution.
[74] Reddit — r/covidlonghaulers • February 22, 2024 Hi_its_GOD Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) 1 week-in Hey just finished my 4th of 40 sessions of HBOT and my first impressions is that this is the best I’ve felt since spring 2021. I’ve tried the slew of supplements, acyclovir, and been on triple therapy since May 2023 all to no avail. I did try LDN and titrated from a very low dose (.25 mg) but had very bad fatigue and had to stop. My symptoms include dysotomia, persistent head pressure, dizziness, very bad brain fog, fatigue and balance issues. I tested for fibrin microclots and classified as a 3.5/4 with Dr. Vaughn at Medhelp. I am fortunate enough to still be able to work, though albeit at a very diminished level then I previously could. This is the first time I’ve felt likey old self again. I mostly feel rejuvenated right after the session but with every session this new sense of normalcy feels like it is extending and fortifying. I am quite fatigued though. My only issue so far is some pretty acute left ear pain so seeing an ear nose and throat doctor next week to make sure I dont blow out an ear drum. Apparently they can insert a tube in the ear to help equalize the pressure. Dropped $8800 ($220 a session) and have to drive 3 hours a day to get to the facility but if this raises baseline it’s all worth it. I have read you can get a soft shell unit at home, though not as effective as the commercial grade (can only get to 1.3ish atm vs 2.0), it can help with maintaining elevated baseline. Initially got a script from Penn Medicine long COVID clinic to try and get it done closer to home but local hospital network refused treatment because it’s so novel and off label. Will try and update with results as I go.
[75] Decompression sickness From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[76] The Internet Archive threadreader save of twitter.com thread Nick Mark MD @nickmmark 10:32 AM · Jun 1, 2022 What about the “I-RECOVER” protocol itself? It calls for 6 prescription medications, a dozen OTC meds/vitamins/supplements, various behavioral interventions, and hyperbaric oxygen! Yikes! The prescription meds are the typical FLCCC snake oil cures: — ivermectin — hydroxychloroquine — fluvoxamine — chronic steroids — naltrexone I’ve reviewed the evidence & debunked most of these COVID treatments before. […] Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a worrisome new direction for COVID misinformation. HBOT has legitimate uses: decompression, CO poisoning, etc But like vitC, HBOT has long been hyped by quacks as a miraculous cure for cancer & other illnesses. https://fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-get-facts There’s a long history of HBOT pseudoscience. Most impressive was this 5 story, spherical hospital built in 1928. It’s creator was initially a reputable doctor but made millions selling HBOT as a miracle cure. Some parallels worth considering https://onepagericu.com/blog/spherical-sanitarium-what-can-a-900-ton-steel-sphere-teach-us-about-medicine HBOT has minimal evidence of efficacy in long COVID & nothing in this make-believe ill defined post vax syndrome. I found one medical hypothesis paper proposing HBOT in long COVID & one n=10 clinical trial. Not compelling https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7456590/ https://rcpjournals.org/content/clinmedicine/21/6/e629 Fortunately HBOT is relatively safe, at least when performed by docs who know how to use it. (Needless to say many of the quacks prescribing HBOT aren’t boarded in hyperbaric medicine. There are some risks, especially with untrained staff. https://fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-get-facts
[77] 1819 News — MedHelp CEO Dr. Jordan Vaughn urges people to stop getting COVID-19 boosters in ‘Rick & Bubba University’ appearance Erica Thomas | 02.12.23 As different versions of the virus began to develop, doctors were pushed by Washington and the CDC to stick with the same vaccine and treatments and were threatened with their medical licenses when they tried anything else. “As the virus changes, the molecules that we might use might change,” said Vaughn. “And again, to pick one thing and say, ‘This will never work is kind of, again, a very elementary view of what we do in medicine.
[78] VeryWell Health — FDA Revokes Authorization for the Only Remaining COVID-19 Monoclonal Antibody Treatment By Claire Bugos Published on December 05, 2022 The last remaining COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment, bebtelovimab, is no longer authorized for emergency use in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration announced last week. Bebtelovimab does not appear to hold up against the Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, which make up more than 60% of COVID-19 cases nationally1 and are likely to continue gaining prevalence, the FDA said.
[79] Image slide from a presentation by Ruth Link-Gelles, at the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting in September 2022, a graph showing vaccine effectiveness (VE) against symptomatic infection, waning for all age groups to around zero by 8 months, with profound waning at 6 months. Image source is a CDC program, Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT): VE analysis for symptomatic infection.
[80] MedPage Today — How Often Should Immunocompromised People Get a COVID Booster? — Experts say about every 6 months, but that should be individualized by Katherine Kahn, Staff Writer, MedPage Today March 18, 2024 “We know that immunity drifts down, wanes over time,” said Camille Kotton, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “So it seems like a good idea to keep boosting [every 6 months] and keep immunity as high as possible. Unfortunately, vaccines are still not as protective against severe disease as we would like in the immunocompromised, but it’s certainly much better to be vaccinated than not.”
[81] COVID-19 Hospitalizations and Deaths by Vaccination Status in Washington State Washington State Department of Health December 12, 2023 Although COVID-19 vaccines work well to protect against severe infections, being hospitalized, and dying from COVID-19, some people who are vaccinated with the primary series or who have received a booster dose will still get COVID-19 if they are exposed to the virus. As more individuals become vaccinated it is natural to see more vaccinated individuals get COVID-19, and even be hospitalized or die from COVID-19. However, because people who have completed the primary series and received at least one booster dose are much less likely to be hospitalized or die compared to those who are unvaccinated, increasing vaccination rates remains important to protect Washingtonians from severe COVID-19 infections and save lives.
[82] Forbes — Look For What’s Missing: How To Avoid Survivorship Bias In Data Science — Feb 23, 2022 — Pawel Rzeszucinski Well, there’s the catch: analyzing only the planes that made it back home in spite of the adversities of combat. The planes that didn’t make it back home were not telling their side of the story. After looking at the data sets displaying the location of bullet holes, the first impulse would be to advise protecting those same damaged spots. But as Wald wisely observed, the best option was actually the exact opposite. The planes they were analyzing only made it through combat because their most crucial parts were spared damage. It would make sense to add more armor to the areas where they weren’t hit.
[83] People’s CDC COVID-19 Weather Report: June 26, 2023 Missteps in CDC’s vaccine recommendation meeting, commentary on data problems and survivorship in COVID death data, an op-ed on multilayered infection control in healthcare, and more All current COVID data, including deaths, are clouded by “survivorship bias.” Survivorship bias can cause us to overlook the fact that there have been changes in characteristics of the population over time due to deaths of groups of people earlier on. Unfortunately, far too many people died earlier in the pandemic, including those who were high risk and immunocompromised, and are no longer part of the susceptible population. Misleading claims that COVID is now “mild” and deaths are “rare” point to analyses that ignore the fact that many people died in earlier waves, and many of the rest of us have drastically changed our lives to add layers of protection and avoid exposure. In this context, even “low” levels of continued preventable deaths due to COVID signify ineffective public health responses rather than inherent properties of viral variants.
[84] Who What Why — But Wait, Folks, There’s More: Anti-Vaxxers and Snake Oilers Are a Team = Russ Baker 04/16/24 From supplements we go to all the money being made off the COVID-era elixirs. A network of right-wing health care companies has been collecting millions from people around the US by promoting, prescribing, and selling unproven and ineffective medications for COVID-19 — primarily ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. One study of insurance claims and reimbursements data found that payments towards ivermectin for COVID-19, plugged by right-wing media despite its unproven efficacy, may have topped $130 million in 2021.
[86] Who What Why — How Musk Sold MAGA on HCQ — and Opened the COVID-19 Disinformation Floodgates — Karam Bales 01/08/24 In a sign of just how politicized science was getting, Trump adviser Peter Navarro — who, to this day, is still arguing for HCQ on Twitter/X and blaming the Food and Drug Administration for its “suppression” — co-authored a lengthy pro-HCQ document that attempted to undermine the results out of Minnesota that stood at odds with the president’s lofty claims.
[87] Who What Why — Tech Mogul, ‘Misinformation Superspreader’ Breaks Law for Anti-Vax Movement — Karam Bales 03/25/24 Kirsch — who appeared in Died Suddenly — recently made an appearance on propagandist Tucker Carlson’s X show to discuss this “epidemic” of COVID-19 vaccine deaths oddly seen only by those in far-right circles. Boasting about his Carlson appearance, Kirsch posted on his substack, “People thought it was EXCELLENT with over 100K likes and 6.6M views.” — Making a Misinformation Superspreader — Kirsch — whose pre-pandemic career is most notable for the development of an optical mouse — ran the Elon Musk-funded COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF), which sought to find a cure for COVID-19 through repurposing of drugs including hydroxychloroquine. Unfortunately, the CETF failed to find a silver bullet in the existing pharmacopeia — and Kirsch failed to cope with this reality. Eventually, his entire CETF board walked out on him, citing his increasingly erratic behavior, and Kirsch turned hard against the treatment that did work to lessen transmission and severity of COVID-19 illness — the vaccines.
[88] Retraction Watch — Bad MATH+? Covid treatment paper by Pierre Kory retracted for flawed results — November 9, 2021 — Author Adam Marcus Kory’s group reported that patients treated with the MATH+ protocol — about which he testified to the U.S. Senate in May 2020 — were roughly 75% less likely to die of their infection than those who received other forms of care. (Medscape reported that Kory said the regimen was amended to include ivermectin after the researchers submitted their paper to the JICM.) Those conclusions met with skepticism, as Medscape reported, less about the potential for effectiveness than the aggressiveness of the authors’ claims.
[89] Misinformation, Trust, and Non-Evidence-Based COVID-19 Treatments Misinformation drove 1 in 20 Americans to use useless therapies like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 infections. Scott Gavura on October 12, 2023 Early in the pandemic, and in the absence of any convincing evidence, hydroxychloroquine and later ivermectin were promoted as potential cures for COVID-19 infections. Despite multiple statements from FDA and other organizations, there was a significant increase in the demand for these products and also their prescription rates. A drug which is clinically ineffective, but has side effects, is arguably harmful, and both ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine met these conditions. Their use consequently contributed to worse outcomes and unnecessary expense for users.
[90] Internet Archive of Amazon listing — War on Ivermectin: The Medicine that Saved Millions and Could Have Ended the Pandemic Hardcover — June 6, 2023 by Pierre Kory Dr. (Author), Jenna McCarthy (Author), Del Bigtree (Foreword) — “I have the utmost respect for Dr. Kory, and I’m sure you will too after you read his story.” — Steve Kirsch, founder of COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF) and Vaccine Safety Research Foundation (VSRF)
[91] Joe Rogan Spreads AIDS Denialism To Spotify’s Massive Audience — The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder Feb 22, 2024 Transcript: 9:20 “it’s not just conspiracism because I’m prone to a little bit that myself it won’t ever be any type of conspiracism that doesn’t also align with say a libertarian billionaire’s priorities in public health right like with the AIDS thing it’s look at these gay people doing this inappropriate stuff that is getting them in trouble and we all have to act like it’s it’s our problem when it’s really just their problem same thing with Covid it’s just fat people and we also we shouldn’t have shut down businesses it’s I will be shocked if Bret Weinstein ever comes to a conspiracy that suggests that the government should provide healthcare to everybody as a public good”
[92] Bret Weinstein — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In March 2017, Weinstein wrote a letter to Evergreen faculty in which he objected to a suggestion pertaining to the college’s decades-old tradition of observing a “Day of Absence”, during which ethnic minority students and faculty would voluntarily stay away from campus to highlight their contributions to the college. An administrator had suggested that for that year white participants stay off campus, and were invited to attend an off-campus program on race issues.[14] Weinstein wrote that the change established a dangerous precedent
[93] The Daily Beast — Is Bari Weiss Embarrassed by the Intellectual Dark Web? A 2018 New York Times profile gave a cadre of anti-woke commentators a mainstream signal boost. But many of them now appear to be completely nuts. Matt Johnson Published May 04, 2024 11:14 PM EDT Here are a few of Weinstein’s fascinating insights today: He suspects that the United States is involved in a plot with China and the WHO to create a “turnkey totalitarian planet.” He claims that a “credible estimate” of the number of deaths caused by mRNA vaccines is 17 million. He suggests that China is financing infrastructure in Central America to launch an “undeclared invasion” with a covert army of “military age” men. He’s a big fan of RFK, Jr., who compared public health measures during the pandemic to Nazism and the Holocaust.
[94] Intellectual dark web — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[95] Vox — Sam Harris, Charles Murray, and the allure of race science — This is not “forbidden knowledge.” It is America’s most ancient justification for bigotry and racial inequality. — By Ezra Klein Mar 27, 2018 Here is my view: Research shows measurable consequences on IQ and a host of other outcomes from the kind of violence and discrimination America inflicted for centuries against African Americans. In a vicious cycle, the consequences of that violence have pushed forward the underlying attitudes that allow discriminatory policies to flourish and justify the racially unequal world we’ve built. To put this simply: You cannot discuss this topic without discussing its toxic past and the way that shapes our present. The conversation between Murray and Harris, one not unique to them, is particularly important right now because it shows how longstanding, deeply harmful tropes are being rehabilitated across the right as a brave stand against political correctness, and as a justification for cutting social programs and giving up on efforts to foster racial equality.
[96] The Guardian — Joe Rogan’s Covid claims: what does the science actually say? — Podcaster has made numerous disputed claims about virus, vaccines and lockdowns — Linda Geddes Science correspondent Mon 31 Jan 2022 13.51 EST Rogan has claimed he isn’t anti-vaccine, but during a 23 April 2021 episode of his podcast he said: “If you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I’ll go, no.” Although it’s true that older people are at greater risk of severe disease and death, younger people can and do die from Covid-19. According to the latest UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) figures, there have been 39 deaths in 20- to 29-year-olds with laboratory-confirmed Covid in England since January 2021. Among those aged 30–39, there have been 185 deaths during the same period. That’s lower than the 18,931 deaths in people aged 80+, but not insignificant. “Young people still get severe illness from Covid-19, and the benefits, directly to the young person, purely in terms of their risk of serious illness are much greater than any risks from vaccination,” said Dr Richard Tedder, a member of the UK Clinical Virology Network.
[97] A Reply to Jordan Peterson’s Pandemic Demands — The famously opinionated psychologist told Canada to open up or else. Andrew Nikiforuk’s response includes some reading advice. — Andrew Nikiforuk 17 Jan 2022 — TheTyee.ca And then you wrote this: “We are pushing the complex systems upon which we depend and which are miraculously effective and efficient in their often thankless operation to their breaking point.” You then argued that, “We’re compromising them seriously with this unending and unpredictable stream of restrictions, lockdowns, regulations and curfews.” You even echoed a provocative line used by former president Donald Trump and claimed the cure “has become worse than the disease.” You followed by observing there are no riskless paths in life and we should “all pick our poison” and get on with things. “There is only one risk or another.”
[98] Earthbeat, A Project of National Catholic Reporter — Climate science denial rife at launch of Jordan Peterson’s ARC project — November 8, 2023 — Adam Barnett Shellenberger went on to call climate change a “secular religion” adopted to replace belief in god and urged his audience to “love humanity, that is something our opponents in the Malthusian anti-human left are unable to do.” The conference also broadcast a speech via video link from U.S. scientist Steve Koonin, who has questioned the extent of human influence on the climate. At the ARC event he reportedly said there is no climate crisis, and claimed that not funding fossil fuel projects in the developing world is “immoral.”
[99] World Socialist Website — Promoters of “Wuhan lab” conspiracy theory fume as their claims fall apart — Andre Damon — 8 December 2021 Greenwald has for months promoted the conspiracy theory on Twitter, sharing talking points with fascists such as Steve Bannon, Raheem Kassam and the right-wing Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. But Greenwald is only one of the many figures previously associated with opposition to the Iraq war who have embraced the “lab leak” conspiracy theory that is central to US war drive against China. “Stop with the … logic,” raved comedian Jon Stewart in June, as he proclaimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was “caused by science.” Bill Maher, the former Iraq war critic, has likewise promoted the conspiracy theory. But just as these figures have been drawn to the US government’s right-wing campaign against China, they have been equally taken aback as the lies they embraced have fallen apart amid major new scientific discoveries and the determination by scientists to resist a right-wing campaign to scapegoat them for the pandemic.
[100] I Don’t Speak German — podcast — 60: Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying Jul 31, 2020
[101] I Don’t Speak German — podcast — 90: Bret & Heather’s Crunchy Covid Jul 23, 2021
[102] The New Republic — Peter Thiel Has No Clue What Makes America Great — The tech billionaire and his GOP minions J.D. Vance and Blake Masters have America to thank for their riches. So why do they portray it as a stagnant, doomed hellhole? Firmin DeBrabander / November 7, 2022 Thiel and his allies fail to see it this way. He believes that “the broader education of the body politic has become a fool’s errand,” and he “no longer believe[s] that freedom and democracy are compatible.” So he dreams of a libertarian utopia, where government recedes into the background, the animal spirits of capitalism are let loose, and people are liberated to soar — or crash, but there will be no oppressive bureaucratic safety net to save them. It’s a suicidal vision.
[103] Eric Weinstein — Wikipedia Eric Ross Weinstein (/ˈwaɪnstaɪn/; born October 26, 1965)[2] is an American podcast host.[a] He was a managing director for Thiel Capital (an American hedge fund) from 2013 until 2022.
[104] Neitzel vs The World (of cranks and conspiracy theorists) She finished med school, took on combating disinformation, made a few small mistakes on the way, and then they tried to silence her. COUNTER DISINFORMATION PROJECT APR 22, 2024 Demonstrating the overlapping links between covid disinformation groups, it was HART and Pandata member Tess Lawrie who founded FLCCC’s UK sister organisation BIRD and then worked on questionable papers with Kory to back up his claims about ivermectin.
[105] Twitter post — Dr Tess Lawrie @lawrie_dr 7:59 AM · Apr 20, 2024 There is a rare opportunity to listen to and engage with @BretWeinstein in person in the UK on April 28, 2024 (Sunday)! Come and join us!
[106] Mother Jones — Meet Ron DeSantis’ New “Public Health Integrity Committee” Seasoned anti-vax, anti-Covid-protections advocates. Kiera Butler DECEMBER 16, 2022 Bret Weinstein is a former professor of biology at Evergreen State University. He distinguished himself during the pandemic with his full-throated support of ivermectin. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, he called it “a near-perfect Covid prophylactic” and touted it as an alternative to vaccines.
[107] Hoover Institution — The Man Who Talked Back: Jay Bhattacharya On the Fight against COVID Lockdowns — Thursday, May 18, 2023 Dr. Jay Bhattacharya came to Stanford University at the age of 17 and has never left.
[108] Martin Kulldorff — From Wikipedia Martin Kulldorff (born 1962) is a Swedish biostatistician. He was a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2003 until his dismissal in 2024.
[109] Linkedin — Tracy Beth Høeg, MD, PhD
[110] Politico — Florida surgeon general altered key findings in study on Covid-19 vaccine safety Joseph Ladapo defended the move, saying revisions are a normal part of assessing such analysis. By Arek Sarkissian 04/24/2023 The newly released draft of the eight-page study, provided by the Florida Department of Health, indicates that it initially stated that there was no significant risk associated with the Covid-19 vaccines for young men. But “Dr. L’s Edits,” as the document is titled, reveal that Ladapo replaced that language to say that men between 18 and 39 years old are at high risk of heart illness from two Covid vaccines that use mRNA technology.
[111] Florida surgeon general wants to halt COVID-19 mRNA vaccines; FDA calls his claims “misleading” healthwatch By Sara Moniuszko Edited By Paula Cohen Updated on: January 4, 2024 / 3:07 PM EST / CBS News Florida’s state surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, is calling for doctors to stop recommending mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, citing alleged health risks promoted by anti-vaccine activists that federal health officials have already refuted as “implausible” and “misleading.”
[112] Axios — Feb 23, 2024 — Politics & Policy Florida surgeon general defies CDC measles guidelines during outbreak — Jacob Knutson Ladapo acknowledged in the letter it’s “normally” advised that unvaccinated children without a prior measles infection stay home for up to 21 days after a case is detected in a school — the CDC’s guidance.The state surgeon general also did not recommend vaccines to prevent measles despite recognizing their effectiveness at preventing illness By the numbers: 90% of unvaccinated people will contract measles if they are exposed. Zoom in: Not only does Ladapo’s recommendation run counter to federal guidelines, it also appears to be in discord with Florida statutes.
[113] Holy hell! Florida Surgeon General goes “Antichrist” on COVID vaccines — Frank Cerabino — Palm Beach Post — Published 12:25 p.m. ET Jan. 11, 2024 | Updated 7:38 a.m. ET Jan. 14, 2024 Rebuffed in the real world of medicine, Ladapo took his act to the fantasyland of Bannon podcast, where fringe medical opinions get a hero’s welcome. And then things got worse. Ladapo was apparently so comfortable as Bannon’s guest that he completely lost all restraint. The Florida doctor didn’t only say that he thought COVID-19 vaccines weren’t a good idea medically. He said they were the work of the Devil. Seriously. Ladapo called COVID vaccines ‘the Antichrist of all products’ and said that they were showing “disrespect” to the human genome, “and that is our connection to God.”
[114] Fact check: COVID-19 vaccines won’t alter recipient DNA; frontline workers have suffered directly from the virus By Reuters December 18, 2020 Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has further information (here). It says: “mRNA isn’t the same as DNA, and it can’t combine with our DNA to change our genetic code”.
[115] PBS NEWS HOUR — Steve Bannon convicted on contempt charges for defying Jan. 6 committee subpoena Politics Updated on Jul 22, 2022 4:13 PM EDT — Published on Jul 22, 2022 3:03 PM EDT The committee sought Bannon’s testimony over his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Bannon had initially argued that his testimony was protected by Trump’s claim of executive privilege. But the House panel and the Justice Department contend such a claim is dubious because Trump had fired Bannon from the White House in 2017 and Bannon was thus a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president in the run-up to the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
[116] Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis — THE ATLAS DOGMA: THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S EMBRACE OF A DANGEROUS AND DISCREDITED HERD IMMUNITY VIA MASS INFECTION STRATEGY STAFF REPORT JUNE 2022 Dr. Atlas’s involvement in the drafting of remarks on this topic, combined with the existence of a pro-herd immunity strategy memorandum, suggests that this approach was gaining currency among senior Administration officials. Within weeks of arriving in the White House, Dr. Atlas set out to arrange a roundtable event in the Oval Office to build support among senior Trump Administration officials for his herd immunity strategy.44 In August 2020, Dr. Atlas invited Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Dr. Martin Kulldorff, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, and Dr. Cody Meissner — all of whom supported this approach — “to speak with the President and the Vice President” and other Administration officials about the pandemic response.45 The initial date selected for the event was canceled because Dr. Birx was scheduled to be out of town, prompting Dr. Atlas and the White House to seek an alternative date to ensure that Dr. Birx could attend.46 Around this time, Dr. Birx sent an email to National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, and Director Redfield, warning of the “Atlas Dogma,” which she said represented “a true threat to a comprehensive and critical response to this pandemic” that would “reverse months of incredibly hard won gains” if it was “allowed to gain traction.”47
[117] Medpage Today: Report Shows Trump Administration Embraced Herd Immunity via Mass Infection — The strategy likely contributed to many preventable deaths, report notes — by Jennifer Henderson, June 22, 2022 “Dr. Atlas’s stated reasoning for his dismissal of masks — that they were purportedly ineffective at mitigating transmission of the coronavirus — appears inconsistent with his pandemic strategy, which was premised on allowing the virus to spread rapidly among lower-risk individuals to facilitate disease-acquired herd immunity,” the subcommittee wrote. “Whatever his rationale, the anti-mask policy advocated by Dr. Atlas would have had — and did have — the same effect as the policies he advocated in connection with his open pursuit of a herd immunity strategy: enabling the virus to infect and kill many more Americans.
[118] Politico — Strike ‘Obamacare’ to reject overreach — By SCOTT ATLAS 03/11/2012 09:03 PM EDT The fact is, only Democrats support “Obamacare” while independents, voters in key swing states and the overwhelming majority of Republicans are opposed. In the event of a Supreme Court decision validating the individual mandate, forcing individuals to purchase a private product whose composition and price are directly regulated under the new law, voters will be sympathetic to a call for urgent action by the opposition. The GOP will point even more to the critical need to defeat the president before a further expansion of government power goes unchecked.
[119] Sen. John McCain’s thumbs-down recalled as a ‘watershed moment’ in U.S. health care. By Stephanie Innes — The Republic | azcentral.com August 30, 2018 McCain’s thumbs-down gesture on the Senate floor in July 2017 — the deciding “no” vote that blocked the repeal of portions of the Affordable Care Act — was a pivotal moment for the U.S. and helped save Arizona’s Medicaid program, said Andy Slavitt, a former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Barack Obama. While the “skinny repeal” amendment he voted against was a scaled-back version of prior attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, McCain’s vote was viewed by many as having a much larger effect — derailing ongoing Republican efforts to undo the Affordable Care Act and creating a major political setback for President Donald J. Trump.
[120] Anti Vaxxers Lobby Supreme Court to Kill Us All — Status Coup News — March 22, 2024 “This is the Heritage Foundation. They are one of the most influential right-wing think tanks in the country. And they’re out there making anti-vax covid misinformation like that’s part of their thing now, it’s just part of right-wing orthodoxy.” — Walker Bragman
[121] Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project The fourth pillar of Project 2025 is our 180-day Transition Playbook and includes a comprehensive, concrete transition plan for each federal agency. Only through the implementation of specific action plans at each agency will the next conservative presidential Administration be successful.
[122] Mandate For Leadership, The Conservative Promise — Project 2025 Presidential Transition Projection — Copyright 2023 by The Heritage Foundation Simultaneously, consistent with the Department of Defense, USCG should also make a serious effort to re-vet any promotions and hiring that occurred on the Biden Administration’s watch while also re-onboarding any USCG personnel who were dismissed from service for refusing to take the COVID-19 “vaccine,” with time in service credited to such returnees.
[123] Merriam-Webster — scare quotes, plural noun quotation marks used to express especially skepticism or derision concerning the use of the enclosed word or phrase
[124] WBUR — Here & Now — Herd Immunity Is ‘Pixie Dust Thinking,’ Infectious Disease Expert Says — October 14, 2020 — by Robin Young Most of the document’s 9,000 signatures are private, but among its public signers are Nobel laureate Michael Levitt from Stanford University; Dr. Cody Meissner, professor of pediatrics, an expert on vaccine development at Tufts Medical Center; and a doctor at Stanford, where Scott Atlas, the president’s current science adviser who believes in herd immunity, studied. Scientists have discredited this theory, especially for coronaviruses.
[125] 178th Meeting of Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee — 1/26/2023 — U.S. Food and Drug Administration Cody Meissner: “And you can certainly make the argument that an asymptomatic infection desirable because it will stimulate both cellular and humoral immunity . It will kind of act like its own boost.”
[126] MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy — Thinker-Fest: Session 1 — Fireside Chat — How to Fix the “Splinternet” Mar 3, 2023 They are really invested in gaining social capital and reputation for participating in these types of industries. And they also have economic models at play. You can buy flat earth sweatshirts, you can buy anti-vax stickers and notebooks, you can pay subscription fees, you can watch videos that are monetized on YouTube. And this is also very much a reputational economy. We also have a factor that I don’t think is talked about a lot which are intentional antagonists otherwise known as trolls. What’s interesting about them from a digital community perspective is that they too are chasing social currency but the reputation that they’re cultivating within their own communities is one where the more chaos they create, the more reputation credibility that they have. And so these three forces are kind of at play when we look at what’s happening from an individual and community’s perspective. The issue is that if you broaden out, you start to see that all of these dynamics can take place because there are very clear revenue models and businesses. People are making money from this. For example I trace what’s called direct benefits. So these are companies that are selling products and services directly related to the idea that’s circulating. So if you are anti-vax, you are selling supplements right, if you are, you’re selling essential oils, you’re selling products that are directly benefiting from the disinformation or misinformation that is circulating.
[127] The Best Approach to COVID Prevention? It’s Not Up Your Nose — Nasal sprays aren’t part of a science-based multilayered COVID-prevention strategy — KAITLIN SUNDLING — APR 29, 2024 Using and advocating for masking and other proven precautions today can reduce development of new variants, allowing COVID research to stay relevant longer, while saving lives and preventing unnecessary disablement.
[128] Further humoral immunity evasion of emerging SARS-CoV-2 BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants Fanchong Jian Yuanling Yu Weiliang Song Ayijiang Yisimayi Lingling Yu Yuxue Gao Na Zhang Yao Wang Fei Shao Xiaohua Hao Yanli Xu Ronghua Jin Youchun Wang Xiaoliang Sunney Xie Yunlong Cao Published: September 27, 2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00642-9 Together, our findings suggest that significant humoral immune evasion, especially against convalescents from BA.4 and BA.5 breakthrough infection, contributes to the emergence and rapid spread of multiple Arg346-mutated BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages. The decreased neutralisation titres of plasma samples from BA.5 breakthrough-infection convalescents indicate worrisome potential reinfection of BA.4.6 after the recovery from BA.4 or BA.5 infection. Importantly, individuals that received Evusheld as long-term prophylaxis, especially those that are immunodeficient or exhibit high-risk comorbidities, are at particular risk of those subvariants.
[129] CDC — COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness updates — 15 June 2023 Effectiveness against the most critical illness (ICU admission and death) more sustained compared to less severe illness VE during XBB predominance may wane more quickly against hospitalization compared to early variant predominant periods
[130] SCIENCE -Solving the puzzle of Long Covid — Long Covid provides an opportunity to understand how acute infections cause chronic disease — ZIYAD AL-ALY AND ERIC TOPOL — 22 Feb 2024 Vol 383, Issue 6685 pp. 830–832 DOI: 10.1126/science.adl0867 Reinfection, which is now the dominant type of SARS-CoV-2 infection, is not inconsequential; it can trigger de novo Long Covid or exacerbate its severity. Each reinfection contributes additional risk of Long Covid: Cumulatively, two infections yield a higher risk of Long Covid than one infection, and three infections yield a higher risk than two infections (8). Whether different SARS-CoV-2 variants alter the risk of developing Long Covid should be investigated. Regardless, efforts to prevent reinfection are important and may reduce the risk of long-term population health loss (8).
