There was a lot of news about Covid this week. What was said, what was not said and what you should infer.
Pfizer CEO was interviewed on CNBC
During the interview on CNBC, the Pfizer CEO said he envisioned in the near future a normal life with annual Covid shots and antiviral pills for those that contract Covid. He also said a shot targeting the Omicron variant should be available soon.
- I will not try to impugn the motives for the CEO of one of the leading Pharma companies to envision a “normal” world with annual shots and anti-viral pills. I will just point out that while it may ultimately be a true depiction of the future normal, that normal would have profound profit implications for the company.
- For those willing to see, we are watching the gradual but inexorable messaging move from VACCINE to booster shot. When people hear the word vaccine, most think of the polio or chicken pox vaccines. Permanent or long term inoculation from a virus. It may have been premature but optimistic to hope that the shots developed rapidly to combat Covid were actual vaccines. But the government and medical community have known at least as early as the beginning of the Delta wave that this definition was not true for the Covid shots. History may show that Delta wasn’t too much more contagious as previous variants or that Delta was bypasing Covid shot protections. History may show that Delta hit at a time when many people that took the original 2 shots were losing their short term immunity. They strike me as very similar in effect to flu shots in that they are short term acting and don’t apply to all mutations. However, they do mitigate the risk of contracting the virus and limit the severity of illness to some degree. And yet, even today, these shots are framed by many as vaccines. They are not as defined by the definition of vaccine that was applied even 3 years ago. So we are moving away from the ultimately false messaging about a Covid “vaccine” and towards the reality of Covid “Annual Booster Shot”.
- The CEO of Pfizer acknowledged an important role of anti-viral medications in reducing symptom severity in people that have contracted Covid. The government and media have downplayed the possible roles of these anti-viral drugs. For some reason they have especially targeted Ivermectin. I have no idea if Ivermecton, a Nobel prize winning drug, has any affect on Covid or symptoms of Covid. But it should be honestly reviewed for effectiveness and users not shamed for taking “horse deworming” medication. Viagra was originally designed to reduce blood pressure. People that use it to enhance their sex life because of its known side effects are not shamed publicly for improperly using a blood pressure medicine. If we shamed people for ingesting orange mold, what would the world look like without Penicillin? I believe the messaging around antiviral medicine was originally created around prioritizing vaccination efforts to eradicate the virus. As the Biden administration and the world slowly move from pandemic to endemic (similar to the flu) maybe antivirals will get a fair analysis.
- Lastly, I would like to point out that if Pfizer felt the need to create a booster shot targeting the Omicron variant (coming out soon -Yay!) then they have data that indicates that current shots do not cover Omicron to some degree if at all.
U.S. House Rep. Nancy Mace got her 2nd breakthrough case of Covid this week
When people started testing positive for Covid even after being inoculated, they were immediately labeled as break through cases. Break through cases have historically been defined as 1 in 60,000. Which, by the way, is in no way true for the rate of break through cases with Covid. Statistically speaking, Rep. Mace should have had a 1 in 60,000×60,000 chance of contracting two break through cases. That is 1 in 3,600,000,000. She should buy a few lottery tickets. So I am going to say it again. Covid shots are not a vaccine and these are not break through cases. Oh, and AOC contracted a “break through” case also. That right there is 2 in 435 house reps in the same week, not exactly 1 in 60,000 is it? Any NFL fans out there? Some football teams are showing over 10 staff and players on Covid quarantine any given week. Yea… not break through cases.
The CDC is considering mandating N95 masks due to Omicron contagiousness
Correct me if I am wrong (I am not at least on this point), but when Covid became a pandemic over 2 years ago Trump promised N95 masks. Manufacturing facilities were going to be converted. Everyone was going to have three of them (sarcasm). And then N95 discussion just dropped. I can just imagine Trump wearing one after his N95 declaration and saying something like, “Holy hell, it is hard to breathe in this thing.” And then N95 masks went the way of the Dodo. Why do I surmise this? Even today the head of the CDC is balancing N95 mask effectiveness against people’s perceived ability to tolerate wearing the mask. Dr. Gupta at CNN put up a graphic of mask air leakage, one indicator of mask effectiveness. N95 masks approx. 1 – 10%, surgical masks approx. 50% and cloth masks approx. 75%. Annnnd we immediately jumped on, by far, the worst performing mask aka the cloth mask. But hey, you can get nifty things printed on them like alma mater symbols in school colors, sport team logos or even small words/acronyms.
Reports are coming out about people giving up on Covid and ignoring the virus.
O.K. I get it. People are tired of Covid. They are tired of the in-home quarantines, the masks indoor and/or outdoor even if “vaccinated”, the school closures, trading off civil liberties with the government promise of eradicating this virus, Covid passports or shot cards. We are tired of all of it. Yes, I get it. Unfortunately… With the tools we currently have, we can not eradicate Covid. This is not a war that we can win as promised by the government. We can’t take our ball and go home. We can’t forfeit and go get a beer at the pub. Covid doesn’t care if you surrender or roll over and play dead. Covid didn’t ask your opinion or take a vote. So, no matter how tired we are as a people, we can not give up and go back to 2018 normal life. We can find a new normal that may not be as comfortable but a new normal most all of us can live with.
Fauci clashed with Republicans again at a governmental hearing
Fauci at governmental oversight hearings reminds me of the old T.V. show crossfire. Republicans give their talking points. Fauci (playing the Democrat left in this crossfire analogy) gives his talking points. They call each a few names. Little actual discourse occurs. Even less fact checking occurs. The show is over. The cycle repeats at the next hearing. I would be ecstatic if one of the multitude of points was taken, actually discussed, facts actually fact checked and something (anything) actually F*$&%ing resolved.
If you are still reading this, great! And that is enough for now. Be safe and live smart.
Random Thoughts 