Here's Why
BATTLING MISINFORMATION AGAIN: VACCINE EDITION
My brother brought up a good point this morning in that I have not mentioned the "16,000" people who have died from vaccination.
That's because it did not happen.
That number is WAY off and that paper was retracted as a mistake (which it was) by the original team that put it out.
Conservative news outlets have continued to run with it the same way douchebags with anger issues continue to reference the "alpha wolf" study even though the scientists who did it have been screaming that they screwed up from day 1 and alpha wolves are not AT ALL a thing in the way they presented.
HOOOOOOWEVEEEER THAT IS NOT TO SAY THE VACCINE IS 100% SAFE. IT IS NOT. KNOWING THE FACTS IS VITAL.
Straight, No Chaser
Yes people have died from being vaccinated and not everyone CAN or SHOULD be vaccinated.
So let's go over some stuff:
COVID was discovered in 2002. We have been working with it for almost 20 years. These vaccines are not "new" or "rushed."
We've had them in the works for ages cause that's what science does when it discovers new viruses. Teams study them, figure out how they work, map their structures and get going gearing up defenses.
So when COVID became an issue for humans we already had like 2 decades of studying done.
When funding and better labs and more teams and sharing work became priority, things moved MUUUUUUCH faster than with no funding cause nobody had ever heard of it.
Researchers were able to squad up and stop working with the worst possible equipment. Things got done.
Except now people are being dicks about it and they're taking the fall.
If you've ever worked retail or a customer facing job you understand exactly how this goes. You've been telling your boss for forever that this thing is an issue and they ignore you like you're not the one out there dealing with it.
But as soon as it impacts THEM or makes a customer angry or someone ELSE says something suddenly it's a huge deal. Now all of a sudden it's:
"Why haven't you brought this to their attention before?"
"I did."
"Well obviously you didn't try hard enough. Ugh here are resources that you asked for 12 times but I said no to. Now fix this immediately with no time or training or it's all your fault!"
"I'll do what I can but this could have BEEN DONE if you'd have listened."
"I'm making a post from the company apologizing for how inept and unprepared my employees were. I'm gonna use your whole name."
"Bro WTF!?"
Just SO rude.
Scientists have been working on this thing for AGES but are now getting the funding they've been asking for cause those in charge didn't see the value in it before.
And as they're busting ass to save lives, people are framing them like THEYRE the sketchy ones.
ANYWAY that's why this seems "so fast" - it's not, but it is understandable how and why it looks that way especially with this all being framed as a political circus rather than a public health crisis.
Politicians are out here lying about stuff STRAIGHT UP.
Your "this is no big deal, you don't need a vaccine or mask, your kids shouldn't either" GOP figures are all vaccinated and their kids go to mask mandated private schools or they have tutors.
Most of them don't live in our world, so they don't much care.
Your "get vaccinated and get your life back" DEM figures knew DAMN WELL that you would still need masks after vaccinations because that's the fucking science. They're vaxxed and still masked but giving the go ahead for concerts, going maskless indoors etc.
Most of them don't live in our world, so they don't much care.
Viruses are simple organisms so they evolve FAST. Way faster than humans in labs can keep up with and get shots doled out over.
A vaccine is a study sheet for when the virus shows up in your system, it is NOT A CURE. If you already have COVID and get vaxxed, it's not going to fix it. This vaccine will need boosters just like lots of others.
Its purpose is to help your dope ass immune system layeth the smackdown when COVID shows up. If you "trust your immune system" then arm it for battle. Give it the study sheet.
Vaccines may cover test versions A, B, and C fully. Versions D and E mostly. Version F kinda. And then after that you need boosters as the test changes.
MRNA vaccines are NOT rewriting your DNA for forever. Bruh I f*cking wish they could. Lots of scientists do.
If we could rewrite DNA like we could tackle aging, dementia, degeneration, genetic disorders... We would probably just use it to engineer bigger penises cause that's what medicine usually does, but not the point.
This says a lot about who we are as people.
Some of those above-mentioned conditions (not the dick thing) might be reasons NOT to get vaccinated. Yes, there are people who should NOT get it.
People:
with known allergies to ingredients
with some genetic preconditions
under the age of 12 (for now while more testing is done)
medical conditions related to blood clotting who have not gotten the OK from their doctor
who cannot consent due to mental decline and do not have a trusted authorized medical representative
all should NOOOOOT be vaccinated.
"Its not FDA approved" is not a valid reason. FDA approval is coming fast, first of all.
Secondly the FDA also didn't approve the weed you smoke, the ink in your tattoos, or half the meds you take for the reasons you take them (they're approved for other things, but not the use your Dr gave it to you for. this is decently common.) Also, the FDA has shown time and time again that it's pretty close to useless on a lot of stuff. Like a lot.
Fuckery abounds.
"I don't know what's in it" is not a valid reason.
Google remains free and the scientific papers are not hard to find.
Research those "scary" ingredients critically and with qn eye to actually learn, not to reinforce your already held beliefs. It's the same shit in your drinks, it's the same shit that's already in your body, it's the same shit in the forks you eat off of. Most of us are so far beyond needing to worry about this that's its not even funny.
"I don't understand it and I'm nervous" thank you for being honest! Nervous is understandable. Nervous is especially understandable when it comes to your children.
Good parents want their kids as healthy as possible! This shit is scary and confusing cause people have weaponized the idea of COVID so much and twisted it into a political circus.
So it's now your job as parents to find ACTUAL EXPERTS and learn from them. Not me. Not ya boi from work who you know is stupid AF cause you work with him daily. Not whatstheirname on FOX.
Like actual people who work in actual COVID wings of actual hospitals. The experts.
They're not hard to find. They're all screaming on social media and in newspapers and at school board meetings.
If you live in a small town, look to bigger cities - not just because that's where you'll find the experts but because that is what is coming your way. Smaller towns literally do not have the ability to care for critical COVID patients so you're getting sent to the bigger hospital anyway.
"I do not trust the medical system. Look at the Tuskeegee experments!" - You are 100% correct about how horrific that was - and it was just ONE of maaaany maaaaany such studies. Much of modern medicine is built on "experiments" using Black bodies as test subjects without their consent.
I will point out that most of that was done by DENYING them treatment just to see how things played out, which is exactly what happens to unvaccinated people. Lots of key figures in the community have posited that using Tuskeegee as justication to NOT vax is a slap in the face to those people. They were desperately seeking medical help and were denied it. That's not the case here.
I'm not the one to speak at any length on that issue, so I'm going to suggest, as I always do, that you go to trusted thought leaders within the community on that one. EXPERTS.
"Religious exemption!" OK but half the people claiming that haven't attended faith-based gatherings in, like, ever. Leaders from pretty much every faith INCLUDING CATHOLICS (who are against everything as a standard starting position) are recommending vaccinations and saying it is your duty as a believer to protect others.
Churches are holding vaccine rallies.
If you're Christian, the Bible literally says not to put God to foolish tests and we have all heard the story of the sick man who rejected doctors cause he said God would save him, then when he died he was all:
"WTF, JESUS!?" and then all of heaven was like "bro don't even try it! We sent you fiddyleven doctors with hundreds of years of collective wisdom to help and you decided to be stubborn cause God didn't show up looking the way YOU wanted."
Listen, there ARE VALID REASONS NOT TO VACCINATE. It's just that most of the ones I'm seeing on social media aren't valid and the numbers being flung around to support and encourage those reasons are false.
It's the first step.
Fear can be overcome with understanding.
Willful ignorance is literally choosing not to understand.
Political-based misinformation is rampant.
This should NEVER HAVE BEEN ABOUT POLITICS - especially not when so many politicians literally have stock in companies making these "alternative" medicines like HYDROQSHIT and the rabbit lice med. They don't work for COVID.
These people are profiting off of you being untrusting of scientists while they run to them. They're not on these "alternative" treatments. They're vaxxed and going to the hospitals they tell you not to trust.
The other side isn't out clubbing it up and at festivals in general admission. They're masked and avoiding those gatherings they're telling you are safe if you're vaccinated.
Both parties are being stupid as hell about it and telling the public to do stuff they themselves won't do. This should have always been centered on science.
Science and experts. EXPEEEEERTS. Not your friends friend. Certainly not Erica.
"But don't your friends have an 'Erica is Right' meme they trade back and forth?"
Yeah but that's not this.
Erica is usually right about day to day stuff because I have anxiety and spend all day every day thinking about awful situations. Then after I hurt my own feelings about shit, I start researching and planning my way out of them with contingency plans and everything.
But that doesn't make me an expert in all things.
Awkwardness, yes.
Pathology, no.
Staying at a holiday in express, reading an article on a biased site (and they pretty much all are at this point) because it was free v the more central article you had to pay for, and shit you learned on TikTok or Insta do not make you OR ME experts.
FIND THE EXPERTS. LISTEN TO THE EXPERTS. THEY ARE THE ONES WILLING TO MOVE AND CHANGE WITH THE DATA.
Data is suppoooooooosed to change. I don't know who lied and convinced everyone that a scientist updating their stance meant they couldn't be trusted.
Quite the opposite. Moving with the data is SUPPOSED TO BE WHAT HAPPENS.
What's not supposed to happen is political and media figures latching on to inaccurate figures to put people in unsafe situations that they themselves won't enter.
I distinctly remember none of the government buildings in my area ever removed the mask mandates for being in the building.
Cause they knew.
Anyway all this to say GO TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR AND GET THE VACCINE IF YOU CAN AND IF IT IS SAFE FOR YOU.
Make sure you understand the risks. Talk honestly to professionals. Ask questions without anger.
The misinformation is literally killing.
Recent Comments