4th booster f**kers.
Oh, and CVS gave us EIGHT free Covid tests for getting boosted! pic.twitter.com/fG6zHsayKz

— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) March 26, 2022

Big C said:

---

I'm pretty sure the only reason my modest house in the Bay Area is worth a small fortune is Joe Biden's inflation.

---

Zippergate said:

---

Btw, my gene therapied brother-in-law who never smoked a day in his life was just diagnosed with aggressive stage IV lung cancer of the type common to smokers. Was it the vaccine? Who knows.

---

DiabloWags said:

---

Big C said:

---

I'm pretty sure the only reason my modest house in the Bay Area is worth a small fortune is Joe Biden's inflation.

---

You cant be serious.

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

Zippergate said:

---

Btw, my gene therapied brother-in-law who never smoked a day in his life was just diagnosed with aggressive stage IV lung cancer of the type common to smokers. Was it the vaccine? Who knows.

---

This is the type of well-considered conclusion you draw and why I will continue to disregard your ridiculous ramblings. You might as well ask whether your brother in law caught cancer from you reading ZeroHedge. Anything's possible right?

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

Zippergate said:

---

Btw, my gene therapied brother-in-law who never smoked a day in his life was just diagnosed with aggressive stage IV lung cancer of the type common to smokers. Was it the vaccine? Who knows.

---

This is the type of well-considered conclusion you draw and why I will continue to disregard your ridiculous ramblings. You might as well ask whether your brother in law caught cancer from you reading ZeroHedge. Anything's possible right?

---

He didn't state a conclusion. Actually, your conclusion that he stated a conclusion is why people should disregard your biased ramblings.

---

No, he's "just asking questions." Perhaps Novavax bribed you to post anti-mRNA propaganda in support of their vaccine efforts. Who knows. I'm just asking questions.

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

Zippergate said:

---

Btw, my gene therapied brother-in-law who never smoked a day in his life was just diagnosed with aggressive stage IV lung cancer of the type common to smokers. Was it the vaccine? Who knows.

---

This is the type of well-considered conclusion you draw and why I will continue to disregard your ridiculous ramblings. You might as well ask whether your brother in law caught cancer from you reading ZeroHedge. Anything's possible right?

---

He didn't state a conclusion. Actually, your conclusion that he stated a conclusion is why people should disregard your biased ramblings.

---

No, he's "just asking questions." Perhaps Novavax bribed you to post anti-mRNA propaganda in support of their vaccine efforts. Who knows. I'm just asking questions.

---

Do you wonder if Novavax pays me for posting arguments disfavoring mRNA vaccines and big pharma?

---

Perhaps Novavax implanted a mind control device under your skin that makes you constantly post dangerous misinformation on vaccines. I'm not stating a conclusion, just asking questions here. Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the communist party? What do you know about JFK's assassination? Again, I'm just asking questions here so I'm immune to criticism.

---

A robot dog patrols the empty streets of Shanghai in China with a loudspeaker as a reminder of sanitary measures‼️The authorities have introduced containment of the country's economic capital after identifying several thousand cases in recent days☝🤔🙏👇👇 pic.twitter.com/v2gun6SsIG

— Sophia Dahl (@sophiadahl1) March 31, 2022

Unit2Sucks said:

---

Zippergate said:

---

You're worried about misinformation? Oh, that's rich.
Were you worried about misinformation when Fauci was telling the public to wear worthless cloth masks while privately admitting in emails now public thanks to the FOIA that they do nothing?
Were you worried about disinformation when Fauci dismissed any talk of Covid being a man-made virus released from a lab developed with illegal funding from his organization?
Were you worried about misinformation when the health authorities stated with certainty that the vaccines prevent transmission when it was not possible to know that at the time and we now know it was simply untrue?
Were you worried about disinformation when the FDA labeled Ivermectin horse dewormer?
Were you worried about disinformation when Merck, the developer of Ivermectin, which is on WHO's list of essential medicines, has been given to 4 billion people and save millions from unnecessary suffering, warned about the safety of Ivermectin, one of the safest drugs ever developed, while at the same time preparing to launch a patent-protected competing drug?
Were you worried about disinformation when it was decided to allow Pfizer to release documentation of its gene therapy clinical trials over a 75 year period?
Were you worried about misinformation when health authorities completely disregarded their own system for detecting vaccine injury, VAERS, and made no effort to investigate the tens of thousands of entries into that system?
Were you worried about disinformation when they actually changed the dictionary definition of terms like "vaccine" to suit their purposes?
Were you worried about misinformation when Saint Cuomo was killing seniors by sending Covid-infected patients back to care facilities leading to thousands of deaths and later covering this up?
Were you worried about misinformation when the HRC campaign was howling about Russia interference while at the same time illegally using campaign funds to fund a bogus dossier on Trump?
Were you worried about misinformation when 51 intelligence experts called the Hunter Biden laptop Russian disinformation or that the MSM covered up that story a month before the election even though we now know the laptop was indeed genuine, the expert opinion was a lie admitted to by the some of signatories and by the NYT?
Were you worried about misinformation when the MSM sounded the alarm on right wing extremism based on the Whitmer kidnapping plot when the whole thing was financed and planned by the FBI and more than half of the participants were FBI informants?
Were you worried about misinformation when the Biden administration and MSM lie claiming multiple police deaths on January 6th when in fact there were none?
etc etc

I doubt it. Being gaslit is your specialty.

---

Just wanted to quote this for posterity. This is a mix of outright false information and crazy (Ivermectin, gene therapy nonsense), things that have been widely acknowledged (Cuomo - who I have criticized multiple times), twisting of facts (Hunter's laptop, 1/6 police deaths) and a bunch of other garbage.

If you are trying to come off as a dispassionate unbiased observer, you have massively failed to do so.

The fact that you still think Ivermectin (which, despite your failure to acknowledge it, is a fantastic anti-parasitic aka "dewormer") is more effective than COVID vaccines tells us everything we need to know about your judgment. Even the most anti-mRNA vaccine person in this thread (with hundreds of posts to that effect) acknowledges that Ivermectin is unhelpful for COVID. I do think in places where parasites are an issue that Ivermectin can be helpful in reducing the parasitic load that can confound someone also suffering from COVID but otherwise I haven't seen anything indicating that it's something that should be part of a clinical course. I have seen lots of fraudulent studies which you seem to think are legit and which are supported by the garbage websites that you rely on like ZeroHedge and desert review.

But please do go on about how everyone else is gaslit.

---

oski003 said:

---

FDA Shuts Out Its Own Experts in Authorizing Another Vaccine Booster

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-shuts-out-its-own-experts-in-authorizing-another-booster-covid-vaccine-pandemic-science-11649016728?st=h5e27vjd8luvoi7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

---

Quote:

---

We'll Have Herd Immunity by April

Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. Experts should level with the public about the good news.

Amid the dire Covid warnings, one crucial fact has been largely ignored: Cases are down 77% over the past six weeks. If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we'd call it a miracle pill. Why is the number of cases plummeting much faster than experts predicted?

In large part because natural immunity from prior infection is far more common than can be measured by testing. Testing has been capturing only from 10% to 25% of infections, depending on when during the pandemic someone got the virus. Applying a time-weighted case capture average of 1 in 6.5 to the cumulative 28 million confirmed cases would mean about 55% of Americans have natural immunity.

...
In my own conversations with medical experts, I have noticed that they too often dismiss natural immunity, arguing that we don't have data. The data certainly doesn't fit the classic randomized-controlled-trial model of the old-guard medical establishment. There's no control group. But the observational data is compelling.
...

But the consistent and rapid decline in daily cases since Jan. 8 can be explained only by natural immunity. Behavior didn't suddenly improve over the holidays; Americans traveled more over Christmas than they had since March. Vaccines also don't explain the steep decline in January. Vaccination rates were low and they take weeks to kick in.

My prediction that Covid-19 will be mostly gone by April is based on laboratory data, mathematical data, published literature and conversations with experts. But it's also based on direct observation of how hard testing has been to get, especially for the poor. If you live in a wealthy community where worried people are vigilant about getting tested, you might think that most infections are captured by testing. But if you have seen the many barriers to testing for low-income Americans, you might think that very few infections have been captured at testing centers. Keep in mind that most infections are asymptomatic, which still triggers natural immunity.

Many experts, along with politicians and journalists, are afraid to talk about herd immunity. The term has political overtones because some suggested the U.S. simply let Covid rip to achieve herd immunity. That was a reckless idea. But herd immunity is the inevitable result of viral spread and vaccination. When the chain of virus transmission has been broken in multiple places, it's harder for it to spreadand that includes the new strains.

...
Some medical experts privately agreed with my prediction that there may be very little Covid-19 by April but suggested that I not to talk publicly about herd immunity because people might become complacent and fail to take precautions or might decline the vaccine. But scientists shouldn't try to manipulate the
public by hiding the truth.

---

Quote:

---

Herd immunity has been well-documented in the Brazilian city of Manaus, where researchers in the Lancet reported the prevalence of prior Covid-19 infection to be 76%, resulting in a significant slowing of the infection.

---

Quote:

---

But after a peak in late April, Manaus seemed to have gotten past the worst of the pandemic. Some scientists thought that the drop meant Manaus had gained herd immunity.

...
Now three studies offer a sobering history of P.1's meteoric rise in the Amazonian city of Manaus. It most likely arose there in November and then fueled a record-breaking spike of coronavirus cases. It came to dominate the city partly because of an increased contagiousness, the research found.
...
To reduce the risks of P.1 outbreaks and reinfections, Dr. Faria said it was important to double down on every measure we have to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Masks and social distancing can work against P.1. And vaccination can help drive down its transmission and protect those who do get infected from severe disease.

"The ultimate message is that you need to step up all the vaccination efforts as soon as possible," he said. "You need to be one step ahead of the virus."

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

FDA Shuts Out Its Own Experts in Authorizing Another Vaccine Booster

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-shuts-out-its-own-experts-in-authorizing-another-booster-covid-vaccine-pandemic-science-11649016728?st=h5e27vjd8luvoi7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

---

Same Marty Makary who wrote this op ed last year?

Quote:

---

We'll Have Herd Immunity by April

Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. Experts should level with the public about the good news.

Amid the dire Covid warnings, one crucial fact has been largely ignored: Cases are down 77% over the past six weeks. If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we'd call it a miracle pill. Why is the number of cases plummeting much faster than experts predicted?

In large part because natural immunity from prior infection is far more common than can be measured by testing. Testing has been capturing only from 10% to 25% of infections, depending on when during the pandemic someone got the virus. Applying a time-weighted case capture average of 1 in 6.5 to the cumulative 28 million confirmed cases would mean about 55% of Americans have natural immunity.

...
In my own conversations with medical experts, I have noticed that they too often dismiss natural immunity, arguing that we don't have data. The data certainly doesn't fit the classic randomized-controlled-trial model of the old-guard medical establishment. There's no control group. But the observational data is compelling.
...

But the consistent and rapid decline in daily cases since Jan. 8 can be explained only by natural immunity. Behavior didn't suddenly improve over the holidays; Americans traveled more over Christmas than they had since March. Vaccines also don't explain the steep decline in January. Vaccination rates were low and they take weeks to kick in.

My prediction that Covid-19 will be mostly gone by April is based on laboratory data, mathematical data, published literature and conversations with experts. But it's also based on direct observation of how hard testing has been to get, especially for the poor. If you live in a wealthy community where worried people are vigilant about getting tested, you might think that most infections are captured by testing. But if you have seen the many barriers to testing for low-income Americans, you might think that very few infections have been captured at testing centers. Keep in mind that most infections are asymptomatic, which still triggers natural immunity.

Many experts, along with politicians and journalists, are afraid to talk about herd immunity. The term has political overtones because some suggested the U.S. simply let Covid rip to achieve herd immunity. That was a reckless idea. But herd immunity is the inevitable result of viral spread and vaccination. When the chain of virus transmission has been broken in multiple places, it's harder for it to spreadand that includes the new strains.

...
Some medical experts privately agreed with my prediction that there may be very little Covid-19 by April but suggested that I not to talk publicly about herd immunity because people might become complacent and fail to take precautions or might decline the vaccine. But scientists shouldn't try to manipulate the
public by hiding the truth.

---

Really stuck the landing on that one. Can you imagine if COVID didn't disappear by April of last year? Would have been a really bad year right?

He also specifically called out how Manaus had herd immunity.

Quote:

---

Herd immunity has been well-documented in the Brazilian city of Manaus, where researchers in the Lancet reported the prevalence of prior Covid-19 infection to be 76%, resulting in a significant slowing of the infection.

---

A few months later, Manaus was devastated by COVID again.

Quote:

---

But after a peak in late April, Manaus seemed to have gotten past the worst of the pandemic. Some scientists thought that the drop meant Manaus had gained herd immunity.

...
Now three studies offer a sobering history of P.1's meteoric rise in the Amazonian city of Manaus. It most likely arose there in November and then fueled a record-breaking spike of coronavirus cases. It came to dominate the city partly because of an increased contagiousness, the research found.
...
To reduce the risks of P.1 outbreaks and reinfections, Dr. Faria said it was important to double down on every measure we have to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Masks and social distancing can work against P.1. And vaccination can help drive down its transmission and protect those who do get infected from severe disease.

"The ultimate message is that you need to step up all the vaccination efforts as soon as possible," he said. "You need to be one step ahead of the virus."

---

Maybe Makary should learn from his past mistakes and recognize that we are in a continuously evolving landscape and that as a surgical oncologist he may not be the best person to be making definitive suggestions on public health policy.

---

oski003 said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

FDA Shuts Out Its Own Experts in Authorizing Another Vaccine Booster

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-shuts-out-its-own-experts-in-authorizing-another-booster-covid-vaccine-pandemic-science-11649016728?st=h5e27vjd8luvoi7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

---

Same Marty Makary who wrote this op ed last year?

Quote:

---

We'll Have Herd Immunity by April

Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. Experts should level with the public about the good news.

Amid the dire Covid warnings, one crucial fact has been largely ignored: Cases are down 77% over the past six weeks. If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we'd call it a miracle pill. Why is the number of cases plummeting much faster than experts predicted?

In large part because natural immunity from prior infection is far more common than can be measured by testing. Testing has been capturing only from 10% to 25% of infections, depending on when during the pandemic someone got the virus. Applying a time-weighted case capture average of 1 in 6.5 to the cumulative 28 million confirmed cases would mean about 55% of Americans have natural immunity.

...
In my own conversations with medical experts, I have noticed that they too often dismiss natural immunity, arguing that we don't have data. The data certainly doesn't fit the classic randomized-controlled-trial model of the old-guard medical establishment. There's no control group. But the observational data is compelling.
...

But the consistent and rapid decline in daily cases since Jan. 8 can be explained only by natural immunity. Behavior didn't suddenly improve over the holidays; Americans traveled more over Christmas than they had since March. Vaccines also don't explain the steep decline in January. Vaccination rates were low and they take weeks to kick in.

My prediction that Covid-19 will be mostly gone by April is based on laboratory data, mathematical data, published literature and conversations with experts. But it's also based on direct observation of how hard testing has been to get, especially for the poor. If you live in a wealthy community where worried people are vigilant about getting tested, you might think that most infections are captured by testing. But if you have seen the many barriers to testing for low-income Americans, you might think that very few infections have been captured at testing centers. Keep in mind that most infections are asymptomatic, which still triggers natural immunity.

Many experts, along with politicians and journalists, are afraid to talk about herd immunity. The term has political overtones because some suggested the U.S. simply let Covid rip to achieve herd immunity. That was a reckless idea. But herd immunity is the inevitable result of viral spread and vaccination. When the chain of virus transmission has been broken in multiple places, it's harder for it to spreadand that includes the new strains.

...
Some medical experts privately agreed with my prediction that there may be very little Covid-19 by April but suggested that I not to talk publicly about herd immunity because people might become complacent and fail to take precautions or might decline the vaccine. But scientists shouldn't try to manipulate the
public by hiding the truth.

---

Really stuck the landing on that one. Can you imagine if COVID didn't disappear by April of last year? Would have been a really bad year right?

He also specifically called out how Manaus had herd immunity.

Quote:

---

Herd immunity has been well-documented in the Brazilian city of Manaus, where researchers in the Lancet reported the prevalence of prior Covid-19 infection to be 76%, resulting in a significant slowing of the infection.

---

A few months later, Manaus was devastated by COVID again.

Quote:

---

But after a peak in late April, Manaus seemed to have gotten past the worst of the pandemic. Some scientists thought that the drop meant Manaus had gained herd immunity.

...
Now three studies offer a sobering history of P.1's meteoric rise in the Amazonian city of Manaus. It most likely arose there in November and then fueled a record-breaking spike of coronavirus cases. It came to dominate the city partly because of an increased contagiousness, the research found.
...
To reduce the risks of P.1 outbreaks and reinfections, Dr. Faria said it was important to double down on every measure we have to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Masks and social distancing can work against P.1. And vaccination can help drive down its transmission and protect those who do get infected from severe disease.

"The ultimate message is that you need to step up all the vaccination efforts as soon as possible," he said. "You need to be one step ahead of the virus."

---

Maybe Makary should learn from his past mistakes and recognize that we are in a continuously evolving landscape and that as a surgical oncologist he may not be the best person to be making definitive suggestions on public health policy.

---

... He sounds fairly reasonable here. You unfairly paint him as an unqualified nut-job because he is against vaccine mandates and wants the scientific community to recognize natural immunity.

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

FDA Shuts Out Its Own Experts in Authorizing Another Vaccine Booster

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-shuts-out-its-own-experts-in-authorizing-another-booster-covid-vaccine-pandemic-science-11649016728?st=h5e27vjd8luvoi7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

---

Same Marty Makary who wrote this op ed last year?

Quote:

---

We'll Have Herd Immunity by April

Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. Experts should level with the public about the good news.

Amid the dire Covid warnings, one crucial fact has been largely ignored: Cases are down 77% over the past six weeks. If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we'd call it a miracle pill. Why is the number of cases plummeting much faster than experts predicted?

In large part because natural immunity from prior infection is far more common than can be measured by testing. Testing has been capturing only from 10% to 25% of infections, depending on when during the pandemic someone got the virus. Applying a time-weighted case capture average of 1 in 6.5 to the cumulative 28 million confirmed cases would mean about 55% of Americans have natural immunity.

...
In my own conversations with medical experts, I have noticed that they too often dismiss natural immunity, arguing that we don't have data. The data certainly doesn't fit the classic randomized-controlled-trial model of the old-guard medical establishment. There's no control group. But the observational data is compelling.
...

But the consistent and rapid decline in daily cases since Jan. 8 can be explained only by natural immunity. Behavior didn't suddenly improve over the holidays; Americans traveled more over Christmas than they had since March. Vaccines also don't explain the steep decline in January. Vaccination rates were low and they take weeks to kick in.

My prediction that Covid-19 will be mostly gone by April is based on laboratory data, mathematical data, published literature and conversations with experts. But it's also based on direct observation of how hard testing has been to get, especially for the poor. If you live in a wealthy community where worried people are vigilant about getting tested, you might think that most infections are captured by testing. But if you have seen the many barriers to testing for low-income Americans, you might think that very few infections have been captured at testing centers. Keep in mind that most infections are asymptomatic, which still triggers natural immunity.

Many experts, along with politicians and journalists, are afraid to talk about herd immunity. The term has political overtones because some suggested the U.S. simply let Covid rip to achieve herd immunity. That was a reckless idea. But herd immunity is the inevitable result of viral spread and vaccination. When the chain of virus transmission has been broken in multiple places, it's harder for it to spreadand that includes the new strains.

...
Some medical experts privately agreed with my prediction that there may be very little Covid-19 by April but suggested that I not to talk publicly about herd immunity because people might become complacent and fail to take precautions or might decline the vaccine. But scientists shouldn't try to manipulate the
public by hiding the truth.

---

Really stuck the landing on that one. Can you imagine if COVID didn't disappear by April of last year? Would have been a really bad year right?

He also specifically called out how Manaus had herd immunity.

Quote:

---

Herd immunity has been well-documented in the Brazilian city of Manaus, where researchers in the Lancet reported the prevalence of prior Covid-19 infection to be 76%, resulting in a significant slowing of the infection.

---

A few months later, Manaus was devastated by COVID again.

Quote:

---

But after a peak in late April, Manaus seemed to have gotten past the worst of the pandemic. Some scientists thought that the drop meant Manaus had gained herd immunity.

...
Now three studies offer a sobering history of P.1's meteoric rise in the Amazonian city of Manaus. It most likely arose there in November and then fueled a record-breaking spike of coronavirus cases. It came to dominate the city partly because of an increased contagiousness, the research found.
...
To reduce the risks of P.1 outbreaks and reinfections, Dr. Faria said it was important to double down on every measure we have to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Masks and social distancing can work against P.1. And vaccination can help drive down its transmission and protect those who do get infected from severe disease.

"The ultimate message is that you need to step up all the vaccination efforts as soon as possible," he said. "You need to be one step ahead of the virus."

---

Maybe Makary should learn from his past mistakes and recognize that we are in a continuously evolving landscape and that as a surgical oncologist he may not be the best person to be making definitive suggestions on public health policy.

---

... He sounds fairly reasonable here. You unfairly paint him as an unqualified nut-job because he is against vaccine mandates and wants the scientific community to recognize natural immunity.

---

False. This is just your agenda shining through. I haven't painted him as a nut job but just one of many doctors who is stepping outside his primary field to advocate a certain worldview on how we should treat COVID. He is trying to come across as an authority but he's not. He's just a doctor with an opinion that the WSJ and others have given a platform to, for whatever reason.

As I showed above, he's been wildly wrong before. Last year you would have said his position was "reasonable " but in hindsight it was laughably bad.

My point is that I don't see much of any reason to rate his opinion. He doesn't have the credentials or experience to warrant a platform on par with infectious disease experts or epidemiologists. Just as I'm sure he would take the opinions of epidemiologists with a grain of salt when discussing surgical oncology I would do the same here, particularly given his track record.

---

oski003 said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

FDA Shuts Out Its Own Experts in Authorizing Another Vaccine Booster

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-shuts-out-its-own-experts-in-authorizing-another-booster-covid-vaccine-pandemic-science-11649016728?st=h5e27vjd8luvoi7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

---

Same Marty Makary who wrote this op ed last year?

Quote:

---

We'll Have Herd Immunity by April

Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. Experts should level with the public about the good news.

Amid the dire Covid warnings, one crucial fact has been largely ignored: Cases are down 77% over the past six weeks. If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we'd call it a miracle pill. Why is the number of cases plummeting much faster than experts predicted?

In large part because natural immunity from prior infection is far more common than can be measured by testing. Testing has been capturing only from 10% to 25% of infections, depending on when during the pandemic someone got the virus. Applying a time-weighted case capture average of 1 in 6.5 to the cumulative 28 million confirmed cases would mean about 55% of Americans have natural immunity.

...
In my own conversations with medical experts, I have noticed that they too often dismiss natural immunity, arguing that we don't have data. The data certainly doesn't fit the classic randomized-controlled-trial model of the old-guard medical establishment. There's no control group. But the observational data is compelling.
...

But the consistent and rapid decline in daily cases since Jan. 8 can be explained only by natural immunity. Behavior didn't suddenly improve over the holidays; Americans traveled more over Christmas than they had since March. Vaccines also don't explain the steep decline in January. Vaccination rates were low and they take weeks to kick in.

My prediction that Covid-19 will be mostly gone by April is based on laboratory data, mathematical data, published literature and conversations with experts. But it's also based on direct observation of how hard testing has been to get, especially for the poor. If you live in a wealthy community where worried people are vigilant about getting tested, you might think that most infections are captured by testing. But if you have seen the many barriers to testing for low-income Americans, you might think that very few infections have been captured at testing centers. Keep in mind that most infections are asymptomatic, which still triggers natural immunity.

Many experts, along with politicians and journalists, are afraid to talk about herd immunity. The term has political overtones because some suggested the U.S. simply let Covid rip to achieve herd immunity. That was a reckless idea. But herd immunity is the inevitable result of viral spread and vaccination. When the chain of virus transmission has been broken in multiple places, it's harder for it to spreadand that includes the new strains.

...
Some medical experts privately agreed with my prediction that there may be very little Covid-19 by April but suggested that I not to talk publicly about herd immunity because people might become complacent and fail to take precautions or might decline the vaccine. But scientists shouldn't try to manipulate the
public by hiding the truth.

---

Really stuck the landing on that one. Can you imagine if COVID didn't disappear by April of last year? Would have been a really bad year right?

He also specifically called out how Manaus had herd immunity.

Quote:

---

Herd immunity has been well-documented in the Brazilian city of Manaus, where researchers in the Lancet reported the prevalence of prior Covid-19 infection to be 76%, resulting in a significant slowing of the infection.

---

A few months later, Manaus was devastated by COVID again.

Quote:

---

But after a peak in late April, Manaus seemed to have gotten past the worst of the pandemic. Some scientists thought that the drop meant Manaus had gained herd immunity.

...
Now three studies offer a sobering history of P.1's meteoric rise in the Amazonian city of Manaus. It most likely arose there in November and then fueled a record-breaking spike of coronavirus cases. It came to dominate the city partly because of an increased contagiousness, the research found.
...
To reduce the risks of P.1 outbreaks and reinfections, Dr. Faria said it was important to double down on every measure we have to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Masks and social distancing can work against P.1. And vaccination can help drive down its transmission and protect those who do get infected from severe disease.

"The ultimate message is that you need to step up all the vaccination efforts as soon as possible," he said. "You need to be one step ahead of the virus."

---

Maybe Makary should learn from his past mistakes and recognize that we are in a continuously evolving landscape and that as a surgical oncologist he may not be the best person to be making definitive suggestions on public health policy.

---

... He sounds fairly reasonable here. You unfairly paint him as an unqualified nut-job because he is against vaccine mandates and wants the scientific community to recognize natural immunity.

---

False. This is just your agenda shining through. I haven't painted him as a nut job but just one of many doctors who is stepping outside his primary field to advocate a certain worldview on how we should treat COVID. He is trying to come across as an authority but he's not. He's just a doctor with an opinion that the WSJ and others have given a platform to, for whatever reason.

As I showed above, he's been wildly wrong before. Last year you would have said his position was "reasonable " but in hindsight it was laughably bad.

My point is that I don't see much of any reason to rate his opinion. He doesn't have the credentials or experience to warrant a platform on par with infectious disease experts or epidemiologists. Just as I'm sure he would take the opinions of epidemiologists with a grain of salt when discussing surgical oncology I would do the same here, particularly given his track record.

---

You are welcome to address what he actually wrote in WSJ instead of attacking his ability to comment on the fourth shot.

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

oski003 said:

---

FDA Shuts Out Its Own Experts in Authorizing Another Vaccine Booster

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-shuts-out-its-own-experts-in-authorizing-another-booster-covid-vaccine-pandemic-science-11649016728?st=h5e27vjd8luvoi7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

---

Same Marty Makary who wrote this op ed last year?

Quote:

---

We'll Have Herd Immunity by April

Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. Experts should level with the public about the good news.

Amid the dire Covid warnings, one crucial fact has been largely ignored: Cases are down 77% over the past six weeks. If a medication slashed cases by 77%, we'd call it a miracle pill. Why is the number of cases plummeting much faster than experts predicted?

In large part because natural immunity from prior infection is far more common than can be measured by testing. Testing has been capturing only from 10% to 25% of infections, depending on when during the pandemic someone got the virus. Applying a time-weighted case capture average of 1 in 6.5 to the cumulative 28 million confirmed cases would mean about 55% of Americans have natural immunity.

...
In my own conversations with medical experts, I have noticed that they too often dismiss natural immunity, arguing that we don't have data. The data certainly doesn't fit the classic randomized-controlled-trial model of the old-guard medical establishment. There's no control group. But the observational data is compelling.
...

But the consistent and rapid decline in daily cases since Jan. 8 can be explained only by natural immunity. Behavior didn't suddenly improve over the holidays; Americans traveled more over Christmas than they had since March. Vaccines also don't explain the steep decline in January. Vaccination rates were low and they take weeks to kick in.

My prediction that Covid-19 will be mostly gone by April is based on laboratory data, mathematical data, published literature and conversations with experts. But it's also based on direct observation of how hard testing has been to get, especially for the poor. If you live in a wealthy community where worried people are vigilant about getting tested, you might think that most infections are captured by testing. But if you have seen the many barriers to testing for low-income Americans, you might think that very few infections have been captured at testing centers. Keep in mind that most infections are asymptomatic, which still triggers natural immunity.

Many experts, along with politicians and journalists, are afraid to talk about herd immunity. The term has political overtones because some suggested the U.S. simply let Covid rip to achieve herd immunity. That was a reckless idea. But herd immunity is the inevitable result of viral spread and vaccination. When the chain of virus transmission has been broken in multiple places, it's harder for it to spreadand that includes the new strains.

...
Some medical experts privately agreed with my prediction that there may be very little Covid-19 by April but suggested that I not to talk publicly about herd immunity because people might become complacent and fail to take precautions or might decline the vaccine. But scientists shouldn't try to manipulate the
public by hiding the truth.

---

Really stuck the landing on that one. Can you imagine if COVID didn't disappear by April of last year? Would have been a really bad year right?

He also specifically called out how Manaus had herd immunity.

Quote:

---

Herd immunity has been well-documented in the Brazilian city of Manaus, where researchers in the Lancet reported the prevalence of prior Covid-19 infection to be 76%, resulting in a significant slowing of the infection.

---

A few months later, Manaus was devastated by COVID again.

Quote:

---

But after a peak in late April, Manaus seemed to have gotten past the worst of the pandemic. Some scientists thought that the drop meant Manaus had gained herd immunity.

...
Now three studies offer a sobering history of P.1's meteoric rise in the Amazonian city of Manaus. It most likely arose there in November and then fueled a record-breaking spike of coronavirus cases. It came to dominate the city partly because of an increased contagiousness, the research found.
...
To reduce the risks of P.1 outbreaks and reinfections, Dr. Faria said it was important to double down on every measure we have to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Masks and social distancing can work against P.1. And vaccination can help drive down its transmission and protect those who do get infected from severe disease.

"The ultimate message is that you need to step up all the vaccination efforts as soon as possible," he said. "You need to be one step ahead of the virus."

---

Maybe Makary should learn from his past mistakes and recognize that we are in a continuously evolving landscape and that as a surgical oncologist he may not be the best person to be making definitive suggestions on public health policy.

---

... He sounds fairly reasonable here. You unfairly paint him as an unqualified nut-job because he is against vaccine mandates and wants the scientific community to recognize natural immunity.

---

False. This is just your agenda shining through. I haven't painted him as a nut job but just one of many doctors who is stepping outside his primary field to advocate a certain worldview on how we should treat COVID. He is trying to come across as an authority but he's not. He's just a doctor with an opinion that the WSJ and others have given a platform to, for whatever reason.

As I showed above, he's been wildly wrong before. Last year you would have said his position was "reasonable " but in hindsight it was laughably bad.

My point is that I don't see much of any reason to rate his opinion. He doesn't have the credentials or experience to warrant a platform on par with infectious disease experts or epidemiologists. Just as I'm sure he would take the opinions of epidemiologists with a grain of salt when discussing surgical oncology I would do the same here, particularly given his track record.

---

You are welcome to address what he actually wrote in WSJ instead of attacking his ability to comment on the fourth shot.

---

It's an off topic discussion board on a Cal sports website that you constantly fill with anti-vax misinformation regardless of source. I'm going to continue to feel free to respond however I desire including by pointing out where you've sourced an op-ed from a person with a history of poor takes on COVID.

---