Coronavirus is the first disease to kindle a anti-vaccine flrestorm even before the immunization is publicly available. Surveys show disturbing numbers of Americans will refuse to be vaccinated, despite the endorsement of public health officials. A dishonest media is guilty of swaying public opinion.
Ever since President Trump spearheaded Operation Warp Speed to jumpstart research into developing a vaccine, a politically motivated media has deliberately draped ominous clouds of suspicion over the effort. The scientists are being rushed. Protocols are being skirted to benefit the president, the media insisted.
This insidious effort, aided by Democrats, inflamed an anti-vaccine sentiment even before the results of immunization trials were publicly disclosed. A responsible media should be educating the public about the benefits rather than twisting the vaccine into a partisan or ideological issue. It is disgustingly perverted.
Unfortunately, the unethical media has succeeded. The non-partisan Pew Research Center unveiled a study documenting the propaganda's impact. In May, 72% of Americans surveyed said they would get the vaccine. By September, the percentage plummeted to 51%. That is a precipitous attitudinal shift.
The research discovered that three-quarters of Americans think it is likely that a COVID-19 vaccine will be approved in our country before its safety and effectiveness are fully understood. Another 78% are concerned the approval process is moving too fast. That tracks will the media's coverage of the vaccine.
In this climate, the Federal Food and Drug Administration on December 11 authorized the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech to turn the tide in the battle against the Coronavirus. Vaccine shipments are underway today. It won't matter if Americans don't get the shot.
The media and the incoming administration do not want President Trump to get one iota of credit for delivering a knockout punch to the spread of the virus. They will do whatever is necessary, even deceive the public, to ensure Americans will be skeptical of the Trump-led campaign.
If you doubt the premise, you have not be reading the New York Times, Washington Post or watching the major network news. No opportunity has been wasted to quote scientists, professors, immunologists and health officials, who have what the media terms "grave doubts" about the vaccine.
Here is just one sample from Alison Buttenheim, an associate professor of nursing and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, who referred to the situation as a perfect storm of "justified distrust." "I've heard people say, 'I'll get the European one,'" she said, adding others want Anthony Fauci to get it first.
The naysayers are the grist of the media propaganda mill. But most experts in the field are excited about the prospect of a vaccine to help arrest the surge of Coronavirus cases.
Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2009 to 2017, cites the results of the trials as good news for Americans. "The most obvious is the striking efficacy of the vaccines being produced by Moderna, Inc. and Pfizer and its partner BioNTech. "
He points out that the vaccines are game changers with efficacy levels of 90% or higher. "A 70% uptake (people who voluntarily take the shot) vaccination could end the explosive spread of the virus," he noted in a piece he authored for The Wall Street Journal. Endorsements like this are rare.
The injustice of the media cries of wolf is this: it preys on the increasing public apprehension about all vaccines, including those for children. A study in the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics cited the "parental refusal of vaccines" for children as a reason preventable diseases are more prevalent.
The research included a study that found 77% of parents reported having concerns about one or more childhood vaccinations. Reasons cited are religious beliefs, personal or philosophical reasons, and safety concerns. The report mentions public education as the key factor in gaining parental acceptance and trust.
Adults are just as nervous about vaccinations for themselves. Estimates from the CDC conclude in the last 10 years less than half of American adults received a flu shot. It reached a high of 43.6% in 2014 and a low of 37.1% in 2017. Those are worrisome statistics with the COVID vaccine arriving soon.
As the nation's hospitals, pharmacies and doctors are poised to begin vaccinations, the bureaucrats are still playing politics with Americans' health. New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo has already signaled that racial preferences will be considered in decisions about who gets vaccinated first.
This flies in the face of commitments by Cuomo and other health officials that those in nursing homes would be a top priority, since they have suffered disproportionately from the virus. There are 2.1 million adults in nursing homes, less than 1% of the population, but they represent 40% of all COVID deaths.
In San Antonio and Bexar County, health officials are lobbying to make the vaccine available to teachers in the first wave, despite earlier assurances nursing home staff and patients would get preference. This stunning reversal is nothing more than a blatant political move to placate the teachers union.
It is unconscionable for nursing home staff and their patients not to be prioritized for the vaccine. Shame on those who continue to politicize this virus. The attitude of politicians and cultural elites is that old people are going to die soon anyway, so why waste the vaccine on them? It reeks of a culture of death.
Politicians are not heeding the advice of an independent advisory panel of infectious disease experts, doctors and scientists. The group, known as the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, recommended parcelling out the vaccine to healthcare workers and nursing homes first.
FDA approval lagged behind the United Kingdom and Canada, which green-lighted COVID vaccines two weeks before the U.S. The UK rolled out its vaccination program last week, giving the first injection to a 90-year old woman. However, the U.S. media focused on a single negative to hike fears.
Big media hyperventilated over two Britons who suffered significant allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine. Most overlooked the fact both individuals recovered. Of course, there will be those who endure allergic reactions to the COVID vaccine, as there are with even the most common vaccines.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the odds you will have a severe allergic reaction to a vaccine are about 1 in 760,000. To put that into perspective, your chances of being struck by lightening are a little higher: 1 in 700,000. Don't expect those facts to appear in any American media.
A respectable media would be celebrating the arrival of vaccines that are 90% effective, not unnecessarily raising the specter of health-threatening outcomes. The prediction here is that the media is setting the stage for the Biden Administration to halt vaccinations for more study to guarantee its safety.
It may sound outlandish but the media's unhinged hatred of all things Trump allows for such dire predictions. Democrats cannot abide a Trump triumph. Why else would the media be fostering an environment of distrust for a life-saving vaccine?
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