COVID Cases Spiking In 13 US States – Most Have High Vaccination Rates
By
Joe Martino
6 minute read 
In Brief
- The Facts:
Multiple states with highest vaccination rates are still seeing spikes in COVID cases.
- Reflect On:
Experts don't know if COVID vaccines can stop transmission, they only know that people who are vaccinated are less likely to get ill. So is the vaccine really the solution? Or should we be looking at treatment instead of vaccination?
The world is focused on COVID-19 vaccination and the increase in alleged COVID variants that are causing governments to feel they are in a race against time to vaccinate their populations before more variants can be created that may be unpredictable.
What Happened:
-->Watch a free sneak peek of our new course: Our latest course focuses on how to improve your critical thinking and become more aware of bias. Click here to check it out!
COVID cases in 13 US states are spiking, among these states are some of the most highly vaccinated states in the country. An Axios analysis found Michigan is leading in new cases as their 7 day average has spiked by around 53%. Michigan also happens to be above the average US vaccination rate at 13.9%.
Why It Matters:
As these numbers continue to be reported, we notice that cases is still the main focus. I was able to find a small uptick in hospitalizations reported in Michigan, but this did not seem concerning given the level of cases being reported. Most of the time throughout COVID in the US, cases have not been linked to a large spike in hospitalizations.
Many who have ventured outside mainstream media’s tight control on the COVID narrative have hypothesized that strictly focusing on cases does not tell a full picture of what’s going on. Simply testing a person who is found to have COVID isn’t necessarily a negative – in fact, asymptomatic infection may be exactly what the population needs to build herd immunity.
While cases are reported in mainstream media as a scary and negative data point, it’s actually part of the process of a virus moving through a population.
Given we are seeing a spike in COVID cases in the highest vaccinated areas, one might ask: is it possible that the vaccine is spreading the disease? That’s not easy to tell at this point. Virus shedding does occur with other vaccines, but we don’t have information on that for new COVID vaccines.
One might also ask, at what point will vaccination rates even have an effect? After all, those who are participating in vaccination aren’t really being rewarded. The states with high vaccination rates are no where close to the threshold that would typically produce herd immunity. Virtually every state is at 20% or less and what’s needed for herd immunity is a highly debated topic. According to Nature, 60 – 70% of the population would need a vaccine or have had the virus to be protected through herd immunity. This in contrast to Elizabeth Hertel, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services who has stated that the herd immunity threshold could be as high as 90% to 95% with the variants circulating.
That said, herd immunity is also built into our natural biological processes as Nature points out. When humans contract a virus, we gain antibodies and herd immunity builds naturally. Natural herd immunity is responsible for major declines in almost all major infectious diseases throughout history.
Further, according to Shweta Bansal, a mathematical biologist at Georgetown University in Washington DC, there is no clear answer that the COVID-19 vaccines even stop transmission. Here is an excerpt from Nature discussing her statements:
“Herd immunity is only relevant if we have a transmission-blocking vaccine. If we don’t, then the only way to get herd immunity in the population is to give everyone the vaccine,” says Shweta Bansal, a mathematical biologist at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Vaccine effectiveness for halting transmission needs to be “pretty darn high” for herd immunity to matter, she says, and at the moment, the data aren’t conclusive. “The Moderna and Pfizer data look quite encouraging,” she says, but exactly how well these and other vaccines stop people from transmitting the virus will have big implications.
Martin Kulldorff, a medical professor at Harvard university and vaccine safety expert recently tweeted,
After having protecting themselves while working class were exposed to the virus, the vaccinated #Zoomers now want #VaccinePassports where immunity from prior infection does not count, despite stronger evidence for protection. One more assault on working people.
There are multiple studies hinting at the point the professor makes, that those who have been infected with COVID may have immunity for years, and possibly even decades. For example, according to a new study authored by respected scientists at leading labs, individuals who recovered from the coronavirus developed “robust” levels of B cells and T cells (necessary for fighting off the virus) and “these cells may persist in the body for a very, very long time.” There are further studies that suggest infection to prior coronaviruses can also provide protection from COVID-19.
Might we look at all the asymptomatic people who get tested positive for COVID and are told to be infected and say that technically those people wouldn’t require the vaccine because they have effective antibodies already? Are we even testing to see whether someone has antibodies before assuming an unproven vaccine is necessary? Do we know how many people in the US have already been infected with COVID, don’t know it, and are immune?
The Takeaway:
With a rushed vaccine there are bound to be side effects in the short term, we are already seeing some of those reported through VAERS. But what about over the longer term? We can’t know what the long term effects of a vaccine are until we study that as we typically do with other vaccines. We’re in an especially unique case with COVID vaccines as brand new vaccine technologies are being employed with many COVID vaccines. For this reason, should we be taking a different approach? Multiple studies have raised concerns about this.
Given we know of many treatment options that are HIGHLY effective against COVID, would it not be better to focus on treating patients with cheap and effective alternatives like Ivermectin and letting natural herd immunity do its thing? What this might look like is letting people live their lives out and about, allowing them to bring more joy back to their lives. For people who are at higher risk, they can be a bit more careful like in their habits, similar to what we do with other infectious diseases. If someone contracts COVID, is actually seriously ill and symptomatic, they could be treated with Ivermectin and potentially better in 3 to 7 days. Herd immunity builds and does its thing over the course of time – just as nature intended.
This as opposed to focusing on heavy lockdowns, and a rushed vaccine where we don’t understand the side effects and where billions in tax dollars have to be spent. Further, people lose their jobs, livelihood and economic power further centralizes within the rich. Perhaps there is a significantly better use for these tax dollars that doesn’t end up in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies. It makes one question why so much doubt and censorship is cast on effective treatments while the vaccine, which is unproven, gets front and center attention.
Dive Deeper
Click below to watch a sneak peek of our brand new course!
Our new course is called 'Overcoming Bias & Improving Critical Thinking.' This 5 week course is instructed by Dr. Madhava Setty & Joe Martino
If you have been wanting to build your self awareness, improve your.critical thinking, become more heart centered and be more aware of bias, this is the perfect course!
No comments:
Post a Comment