OPINION:
Fully vaccinated White House press secretary Jen Psaki has just tested positive for COVID-19. That’s after fully vaccinated Colin Powell died — reportedly from medical issues tied to COVID-19. And all along, along the way, the American people have been told the vaccines work, the vaccines are effective, the vaccines effectively work.
Hmm.
A clarification of the word “works” seems to be in order.
“Although each vaccine is unique, all of them offer strong protection against severe disease,” Yale Medicine wrote in October.
“Fauci Says Shots Work Despite Cases Among Fully Vaccinated,” Bloomberg wrote in August, referring Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“Dr. Fauci explains why COVID-19 vaccines work much better than natural immunity to protect you from the coronavirus,” Business Insider wrote in May.
If by “works” medical bureaucrats, Big Pharma and their pro-vaccine-mandating partners in politics mean “may protect you against testing positive for the coronavirus, but then again, may not” — well then, the vaccines seem to work swimmingly.
Simultaneously, if by “works” medical bureaucrats, Big Pharma and their pro-vaccine-mandating partners in politics mean, “My gosh, these vaccines are pulling in the big bucks for us — we’ll have those opioid lawsuits settled in no time — now just think how much more lucrative the shots will be if they’re mandated for every man, woman and child — and don’t forget, think of all the boosters” — well then, once again, these shots seem to work swimmingly.
But if by “works” it’s meant that the vaccines actually protect people from getting, spreading and/or dying from the coronavirus — well then, disappointment is in order. Disappointment followed by disillusion, all buoyed by, get this, government and pharmaceutical deceptions and distractions.
Here’s a quick glance at the facts — at least, the ones that have leaked out so far — from Yale Medicine: Pfizer-BioNTech initially announced its shot offered 95% efficacy. Then it downgraded that stat to 91% efficacy. Then a peer-review study found nope, efficacy was only about 84%, while a CDC analysis found even that figure could wane over time — to the point where efficacy could drop to 75% over a few months’ time. Meanwhile, there’s that whole FDA warning about this shot’s potential to inflame the hearts of youth.
Then there’s Moderna. Then there’s Moderna with its own FDA-affixed warning about inflammation of the heart muscle post-shot. Then there’s Moderna with its initial promise of 95% efficacy, falling to 90% efficacy, and its who-knows-where-this-number-will-land over time. If there’s one constant with this coronavirus, after all, it’s the fact that each changing season brings new stats. The constant is the fact nothing’s constant.
Johnson & Johnson?
Well, minus the FDA warnings of blood clotting and Guillain-Barre syndrome — the former which resulted in a pause in administering the vaccine — Johnson & Johnson’s version offers about 72% overall efficacy, and 86% efficacy against “moderate and severe disease,” according to the FDA. Johnson & Johnson then said in October that if you get a booster — mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money! — that efficacy increases to 94%.
Round and round and round it goes.
Where it stops, nobody knows.
Why do American citizens have to be the lab rats here?
The more we learn about the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccinations, versus the safety and side effects, versus the total lack of knowledge of long-term health issues, the more it underscores the need for citizens to demand free choice.
No vaccine mandates.
No government overreaches into private citizen choices.
No private sector pushes for employees to vaccinate as a condition of working.
No company requirements on customers to show proof of vaccines as conditions of entry.
Free choice. Individual choice. Parental choice for children.
The more we learn about these vaccines, the more crucial it becomes to insist on individual freedoms.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.
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