It won’t be long before we’re treated to the spectacle of Senators grilling antivax nominees like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (HHS) and Dr. Dave Weldon (CDC). I exist to serve, which is why I’m suggesting some questions for Senators to ask all of Trump’s health picks.
A recent article claims that Omicron reinfections confer “no immunity” such that it’s possible to be reinfected with Omicron variants every two to three weeks and calls COVID-19 the “forever plague.” Although it makes a reasonable point that “natural” postinfection immunity doesn’t last long because of variants, the article is undermines its reasonable criticisms of COVID policy with maximal fear mongering.
Over at the “spiritual child of the Great Barrington Declaration,” an anonymous graduate student likens COVID-19 responses to the Cultural Revolution. Wait, I thought COVID mitigations were the Holocaust! I’m so confused!
Cranks love a heroic persecution narrative, and the climate science-denying right wing think tank American Institute of Economic Research (AIER) has a doozy: COVID-19 “anti-lockdown” cranks like Scott Atlas and those behind the Great Barrington Declaration are the new abolitionists! This is a page from the antivax playbook.
Whenever vaccine uptake falls to a level below that needed to maintain herd immunity, the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases climbs. It doesn’t take that dramatic of a decline. Here’s a study that shows how a small decrease in vaccine uptake can lead to a large increase in disease.
