Vaccines no shot in the arm for lifting restrictions
People aren’t going to agree about vaccines. We get that. And the past few years have done a lot to shatter faith in vaccines.
But I believe vaccines in general are a grand scientific achievement. I have very little trust in big drug companies, but vaccines are a good concept on their own. Not only have vaccines improved public health, but we were also told that vaccinations for the novel coronavirus would at long last be our ticket out of draconian restrictions. The first COVID vaccinations outside of clinical trials were administered in December 2020. Yet almost three years later, there are places in America and worldwide that look like it’s still April 2020—maybe even worse. New restrictions have been added just in recent days in some areas.
Much of what is recounted in this entry took place before we started seriously questioning the COVID vaccines that were available in America. We originally worked from the premise that these vaccines were a positive contribution. After more facts came out, we now have very strong doubts about the efficacy and safety of these particular products, even as we still opt to get vaccines for other viruses.
U.S. regulators said COVID vaccines would be approved if they were at least 50 percent effective. They predicted 70 percent. Cheers went up around the globe when trials seemed to indicate that these vaccines were as high as a smashing 95 percent effective. Some people joked that our overlords were going to keep all the restrictions because vaccines still weren’t 100 percent effective. But nobody was laughing when some institutions did exactly that—for that reason. That’s like not wearing seat belts because they reduce serious injuries by 50 percent instead of 100 percent.
This was said to be the most rapid development of a vaccine in history, but the lockdown totalitarianism made it seem much longer than it was. People had been encouraged to temporarily accept the “new normal” because vaccines were always coming soon, and they were told that a vaccine would end restrictions. For months, the vaccine was said to be six months away. Six months later, it was still six months away—maybe longer. It’s like in George Orwell’s 1984 when they lowered the chocolate ration but claimed they had raised it. They moved the goalposts so they could claim success. Of course, almost three years after vaccines came, there are still restrictions. Let that sink in: three years.
After vaccines were introduced, America and many other countries seemed to experience quick uptake of them. Yet it was much slower than we thought it should have been, because there seemed to be no sense of urgency by officials. They seemed to be dragging their feet in distributing the vaccines. If COVID was enough of an emergency to issue lockdowns, then there should have been no delays with vaccines. Instead, American officials inserted an arbitrary four-day waiting period before issuing an emergency use authorization. No reason was given. If it’s an emergency, you don’t arbitrarily delay the vaccine.
After spending nine to 10 months telling us to hunker down “until a vaccine”, authorities failed to use countless doses of the vaccines. These doses went on to pass their expiration date and were wasted. WAVE-TV reported in January 2021 that 22 million doses had been distributed to healthcare facilities across the U.S., but only about seven million people had received the first dose.
The first doses of the vaccines were supposed to be rolled out to high-risk groups such as the elderly and healthcare workers. That was because there wasn’t enough vaccine available for others yet. When more vaccine was available, others were supposed to be able to receive it. Yet the New York Times reported in January that New York state was not allowing other people to receive doses that were left over—which forced pharmacists to throw these doses away.
WPVI-TV reported in February that 100,000 Pennsylvania residents were affected when doses that were intended to be used a second dose were instead used as a first dose.
KTXL-TV reported that Rite Aid drugstores were throwing away doses of vaccine instead of using them.
Before vaccines came out, observers warned against “vaccine nationalism” and said that each country’s vaccines should be shared with the world instead of being limited to just a few countries. Yet they did become limited, as distribution was almost nonexistent in some lands.
May 13, 2021, was a banner day, as that was when the CDC famously declared that those who were vaccinated did not need to wear masks. It has been said that pandemics last an average of 12 to 18 months, so it is not an exaggeration to say that date was the end of the pandemic phase in the U.S., and that the virus entered its endemic stage. After all, the number of people who had been either vaccinated or infected surely exceeded the herd immunity threshold of 70 percent that had been promulgated.
The media had an absolute meltdown over the CDC’s relaxed guidelines, and within months, the CDC began backtracking. Some American jurisdictions went on to implement COVID restrictions that were even stricter than before—despite the pandemic having effectively ended in the U.S. We learned the hard way that getting vaccinated wasn’t the path out of the “new normal” that we were told. We had been lied to right to our faces.
This was highlighted by the later revelation that the vaccines did not prevent transmission—despite the fact that we had been told that they were 95 percent effective at this goal. We had been lied to about the vaccines’ effectiveness. We have receipts on this, as there are numerous clips of public figures and commentators saying the vaccines prevented transmission. Many of these same people later admitted they do not. Thus, the vaccine is not truly a vaccine. It is little more than glorified NyQuil—if that.
In 2021, the CDC’s Rochelle Walensky said, “Unvaccinated Americans count for virtually all recent COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.” Yet in 2023, she said, “We still to this day do not have data on people who are coming into the hospitals who are vaccinated. That is a data point that we have lacked”—contradicting what she said in 2021. Both statements can’t be true.
When vaccines were first being rolled out, we were told that when new COVID variants appeared, the vaccines would still provide significant protection, but a reformulated vaccine would be released right away for anyone who still needed to be vaccinated. That was a lie. After major variants appeared, it was months before reformulated vaccines came out. By the time they were available, these variants were being overtaken by newer variants—which in turn needed yet another reformulation.
At first, we were told that the original doses of this vaccine would protect us for years. But later, we were told we needed boosters every few months. It was like a lifetime subscription.
When people got infected with the Omicron variant even after getting the booster that was supposed to have been designed for that variant, pundits began absurdly claiming that the purpose of vaccines in general never was to stop the spread of viruses but merely to reduce severity of symptoms.
It wasn’t just America. It was Europe too. Months after the Omicron variant had peaked, European officials said approval of an Omicron-specific vaccine was still months away.
Many institutions and jurisdictions had begun requiring COVID vaccines. Some cities even had a mandatory vaccine passport, which obligated certain businesses to require patrons to show proof of vaccination. This had been previously shrugged off as just a conspiracy theory. Some places like colleges required boosters too. However, by the time boosters were offered, many people had lost faith in COVID vaccines, and the uptake of boosters was very low. Some American jurisdictions closed or fined restaurants that did not check customers’ vaccine status.
According to an online post, Chile as late as October 2022 required proof of four doses just to enter places like restaurants and theaters.
Even before vaccines were released, it was reported that Ticketmaster was developing a system to require people who were buying concert tickets to use their smartphone to verify their vaccination status. No other virus or disease had ever required such efforts to verify vaccinations. The media could not contain their glee over this system, for they knew the technology would be used for things other than COVID and for activities like air travel or employment verification. At the time, there was also technology being developed to facilitate enforcement of social distancing at concerts.
Very strictly speaking, vaccine requirements might not be a full lockdown, but COVID vaccine mandates were the progeny of the hated lockdowns of 2020. All things considered, COVID vaccine requirements made no sense. Once it was disclosed that vaccines did not prevent transmission, what was the point of requiring them? For a long time, states had obligated children to be vaccinated for other diseases before starting school. The reason for this was to prevent disease transmission. What is the point of requiring vaccines that do not stop transmission? Indeed, a judge in New York state ruled in January 2023 that a COVID vaccine mandate for healthcare workers was “arbitrary and capricious” because the vaccine did not halt transmission.
A week ago, part of Pakistan issued an outdoor mask mandate because of smog—not because of any contagious disease. COVID vaccine mandates are as nonsensical as that, as we now know they do not stop communicable illness. This also proves that mask mandates have been seeing mission creep.
During vaccine hoopla, an online commenter who apparently was a professional actor was kicked out of their union for not getting vaccinated. This shows some unions did not stand up for workers.
In March 2021, KHON-TV reported that Hawaii announced it would institute a mandatory vaccine passport even for travel within the state. State officials planned a pilot program to require proof of vaccination just to travel between islands. In 2022, Hawaii announced it may require out-of-state visitors to have a booster, even if they were from another part of the U.S., not a foreign country.
The U.K. wasn’t safe either. The BBC reported that Boris Johnson wanted to introduce a mandatory vaccine passport to access places like pubs. Prominent members of the Labour, Liberal Democratic, and Conservative parties signed a pledge opposing this idea.
The more it became clear that the vaccination program was failing, the more criticism of it was shouted down and even censored. As with other claims in this report, I am willing to stand by my criticisms of this program. One can easily find footage of officials claiming the vaccine had a high rate of preventing transmission, followed by their later admissions that this was not so. After they were caught lying with so little shame, they have forfeited the privilege of being trusted on anything.
In February 2022, the U.S. began considering lengthening the recommended wait between the two main doses, saying it would lower the risk of heart inflammation. This was after officials spent over a year saying the vaccines were safe and didn’t cause heart inflammation.
Later, so-called “expert” Dr. Peter Hotez—widely curried to be Anthony Fauci’s successor—said a new round of boosters should be authorized, not because there was any medical need for it but because these doses would otherwise be wasted. Unfortunately, a lot of things out there are wasted. That doesn’t mean we should use them when there’s no medical justification.
Some officials tried to redefine “fully vaccinated” as having received not just the main doses but also all the latest boosters—even though that is not what it objectively means. They dug in when it became clear that very few people were getting the booster. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in late 2021 that full vaccination should be redefined as being boosted as well, saying that many recent cases were among people who had received just the main doses. In other words, the vaccine was not preventing transmission, yet she was encouraging people to use it more.
Again, there is no justification for mandating an ineffective vaccine—or to require a vaccine of those who had already become immune from prior infection. Unlike some labor unions, which were corrupted by the rootkit of COVID maximalism, other unions fought against these mandates. For example, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East vowed to fight vaccine mandates in workplaces. The New York State Nurses Association also issued a statement against vaccine mandates.
I have not abandoned vaccines in general, as I did get a flu vaccine even in the fall of 2023. Even before COVID, acolytes of big drug companies smeared opponents as anti-vaxxers. It was like a new McCarthyism. The fact that I voluntarily received any vaccine only two months ago debunks their accusation. Plus, if I was reflexively against COVID vaccines, why did I jump at the chance to get the two original doses in 2021? I know these facts won’t stop the lies. When Gavin Newsom was facing a recall election, he called recall supporters anti-vaxxers. He also accused them of being against immigrants and being Trump supporters. Yet Newsom himself had not only praised Trump but had approved fracking permits and shredded union contracts of state workers. One dissenter said that Newsom’s website to fight the recall contained messaging that was no different from “the garbage used by Fox News.”
After a vaccine was introduced, California faced problems distributing it. In January 2021. California reportedly ranked dead last among all U.S. states in vaccine distribution. This reamed a cavern through Newsom’s claim to be a vaccine champion.
Even actress and director Justine Bateman signed the recall petition. That was after Newsom tried to make people wear masks at Thanksgiving family gatherings and limit the number of people who could attend. In 2008, Bateman had testified before the U.S. Senate to support network neutrality—the idea that Internet providers must treat all content equally. Net neutrality was designed to promote free speech—but COVID maximalists stifled free speech when anyone challenged the “new normal.”
In the spring of 2023, the original versions of the COVID vaccines approved in the U.S. were quietly discontinued by federal regulators. The vaccines that many people got just two years earlier—thinking they were safe and effective—weren’t even available anymore. It was as if the problems of these vaccines were being swept under the rug.
Some have said that COVID vaccines were stunningly effective against earlier variants up through Delta, but are completely useless against Omicron and its progeny. This belief has surely helped fuel the decline in interest in these vaccines.
Maybe someday we’ll have access to effective COVID vaccines, and perhaps people’s faith in COVID vaccines will be restored. But don’t count on that, because big drug companies and their enablers in government did so much to tar this process. We were lied to about vaccines’ safety and efficacy, and we were lied to when we were told vaccines would end restrictions. Our public officials lied point blank—over and over—and can’t be trusted.