At this point in the Covid pandemic saga, the public is still faced with an information blackout.
The data is very concerning indeed, but no one in parliament or MSM wants to get in front of it. Instead many are still stuck stoking the fear factor. As Prof. Vinay Prasad, an American hematologist-oncologist and health researcher, wrote today: Legitimising irrational anxiety is bad medicine.
Early on in our efforts to publicise the dangers of biotechnology medicine, Guy had an email exchange with Jesse Mulligan, popular commentator with RNZ Afternoons. Jesse’s perspective on Covid vaccination was as follows:
Dec 6th 2021 “I feel like anybody aiming to critique such an obviously positive public health measure should begin and end their messaging reminding people that any risks/flaws in the vaccine are minor compared to the horrific impacts of getting Covid….I don’t have the time to correspond with you on this at length but, for what it’s worth, if you’re putting people off getting a largely safe vaccine by what you’re writing about it, I think you need to review how you approach writing these messages.”
Dec 7th 2021 “It’s not your caution I object to but the predictable effect it has in putting people off the vaccine…..I’d say you have the choice whether to use this data to educate and question (which I am keen on) vs lining it up to try and convince people they should fear or think twice about getting the vaccine.”
Jesse quoted from Ministry of Health directives and had also read some questioning scientific articles, but he could not get past the conclusion that vaccination was an obvious public good and for this reason, he declined to have Guy on air.
The ‘obvious public good’ narrative has come in for some recent criticism. The BMJ printed an opinion piece in July entitled “Time to assume that health research is fraudulent until proven otherwise?“. Or try this referenced substack article which reports that the negative harm/benefit ratio in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine trials has been acknowledged in a scientific journal article. In other words, there is more harm than benefit.
We wonder what is Jesse’s assessment of current evidence? He is on our mailing list, but the correspondence has only been one way since Dec 7th.
An Underlying Assumption That Biotech Medicine Interventions Are Safe
For us, the central early point of pandemic misinformation has been the underlying assumption that biotech medicine interventions could be safe.
There really was little or no evidence to justify such an attitude, in fact, as we have discussed, there was a great deal of published pre-pandemic evidence to justify caution. It seems to me that Jesse and most other MSM pandits were probably under-informed on this point.
Given the central role of DNA in human physiology, altering its function was from the outset potentially catastrophic. We are now facing Covid vaccine outcomes that not only involve serious individual adverse effects but also potentially affect whole populations in the longer term. These outcomes include:
The evidence for these is patchy because governments are not rushing to publish data, but it is still very convincing. So concerning in fact, that the Israeli government has covered up key data and scientific conclusions.
The latest comprehensive evidence for Covid vaccine induced excess all cause mortality can be found in a just published analysis: Excess mortality in Germany 2020-2022.
Sudden Deaths Among All Ages are Being Normalised
It is extraordinary how this perilous new normal has found its way into advertising messages, but not into serious commentary. Today we watched a TV ad for a funeral home which arranges alternative and appropriate funerals for those dying young, whilst a British Heart Foundation appeal featured a young woman collapsing on the football field. It did so in order to encourage donations.
Sudden deaths among all ages are being normalised in the public’s mind because they really are happening at a rate that dwarfs the past, as insurance data confirms. However here in New Zealand, we are still being subjected to puerile government advertising devoid of scientific caution. Like this MoH promotion which turned up this morning:
GET YOUR SECOND BOOSTER—I’ve had three shots, do I really need another booster? Current evidence shows your protection against severe infection slowly decreases over time—GET YOUR SECOND BOOSTER
No mention of safety, no mention of efficacy, and the term ‘current evidence’ is bandied about inappropriately as if this advert is scientifically up to date and reliable. It isn’t
So why has it become so unfashionable to be concerned about rising death rates and lowered birth rates? You might find a clue in this frightening pre-pandemic article from the government-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation “Medically assisted deaths could save millions in health care spending: Report”. Are higher death rates good news for people with this kind of perspective? We hope not.
Are we being too harsh? No. This involves the health and life of young people on the doorstep of a bright future.
In the Uncertain Covid Climate of Fear
When teaching, kindness and understanding go a long way towards improving communication and successful learning. We are clearly on a learning curve here. The poor vaccination outcomes were never anticipated, the adverse effects were initially disbelieved on principle, and blamed on misinformation.
We can understand that, in the uncertain Covid climate of fear, people took sides and trusted the official Ministry of Health narrative, but continuing to do so now doesn’t fit the published scientific narrative or the public data. Caution was and is a very scientific strategy, it never deserved bad press.
We’re reaching out here. Those offering advice to the public need to be more discerning if they wish to contribute to the well being and longevity of our society. MSM language has become extreme, and it is increasingly polarising without a foundation in science.
The sad reality is that medicine is a very conservative profession. Most medical procedures are locked in during training and seldom challenged for years after. Biotechnology interventions lie outside of the boundaries of past medical practice. What we need to do without anger, politics, or extremism is to talk through the fear of Covid and discuss the risks of biotechnology.
There is still a chance for seasoned journalists to cover the pandemic with an open mind. It is happening elsewhere. GB News for example has gained one of the largest prime time news audiences in the UK. Why not initiate a more open public debate? Cooling rhetoric and decreasing polarisation can only lead to better outcomes. Fresh air never harms anyone, it can save lives.
Co-Authors: Guy Hatchard and Narayani Hatchard
