The CDC now tells us that more than 95% of all new COVID-19 cases are from the Omicron variant. Omicron is accelerating through the population so quickly, it’s as if there is no immunity to it at all.
The COVID data tracking chart on the CDC’s website definitively shows that the 7-day moving average of infections right now in the US is far greater than what it has been at any other point during the pandemic1. The previous highest peak of infections (7-day moving average) was one year ago, when less than 1% of the population was vaccinated. The record setting number of infections we are now experiencing is happening with 74% of the population having had at least one dose of the vaccine (according to the Mayo Clinic COVID-19 vaccine tracker). There is only one logical conclusion that can be drawn from this – the current vaccines are not effective against the Omicron variant.
Yet, the President and just about every other state and federal government official continue to tell everyone to go get vaccinated. How will this help? The original COVID-19 virus that spread through the country in 2020 and part of 2021, for which a very effective vaccine was specifically developed, is not the current threat. This is not just a hand waving assumption. If 95.5% of all new cases are Omicron, and most of the remaining 4.5% of new cases are from the Delta variant, the mathematics makes it clear that there is no other conclusion.
Since the Omicron variant is the infectious agent in nearly all new COVID cases, a policy of continuing to coerce people into getting injected with a vaccine that provides little if any protection from Omicron is utterly senseless. Would you go to your doctor for your annual flu shot and insist that you be given last year’s serum that targeted a different influenza variant?
Dr. Fauci and the CDC are wanting us to believe the situation is far more complex, and more dangerous, than the simple observations outlined above. The best explanation they have to offer so far is that getting the vaccine now (or a booster) may lessen the severity of the symptoms if you catch Omicron. But they also tell us that the Omicron cases are mostly mild compared to Delta and the original COVID-19 strain. That raises this question – are people now being forced to get vaccinated so the already mild symptoms they would get from Omicron can be even milder? There might be some justification for this with the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. But what justification is there for forcing such a dubious and low value health remedy on (for example) Navy Seals, probably the healthiest and fittest young humans on the planet?
The Biden Administration and several state governors are continuing to institute and defend vaccine mandates. They are spending hugely wasteful amounts of time and money in the court system trying to defend these mandates, despite the obvious and inescapable observation that the vaccine is not efficacious against Omicron. Worse, some corporate leaders have adopted the same feckless policies within their private companies. In the face of Omicron’s resistance to the vaccine, the only thing these policies have accomplished has been to alienate a significant portion of their workforce. In turn that has had the downstream effect of negatively impacting the services and/or products of those companies. Look no further than the airline industry.
Of course, this makes zero sense. Why aren’t our political leaders and senior health officials adapting their message to what is actually happening in the present? We think it’s a combination of simple human nature and a self- imposed ideological imprisonment.
With the arrival of COVID-19, entities such as the CDC, Dr. Fauci and other health “officials”, all found themselves with a greatly elevated and rather sudden significance. The same became true for numerous state governors as well as for CEO’s and the human resource departments of many private companies. This was to be expected at the onset of the pandemic as everyone was looking to their leaders and health experts for guidance. The level of total attention and trust instantly thrust upon these people was rare, even by the standards of their already lofty positions. For many of them, it has been too intoxicating to come down from that high.
In addition, many of these leaders, most notably our sitting President, have steadfastly refused to adapt their decisions and policies to the changing conditions on the ground as the virus has evolved. This is partly because they are fearful of being seen as unsure or flailing. It’s also partly because they are wedded to an old school paradigm – once you’ve made a plan, stick with it and don’t waiver. That behavior has placed them in a self-imposed “jail” of sorts with COVID policy, preventing them from changing anything that might appear to undermine their own previous decisions.
We are now in the midst of seeing the government and some parts of corporate America imposing an Omicron-ineffective vaccine and accompanying prevention measures that are both powerless and unnecessary for improving our lives and safety in the presence of this variant.
We’re not by any means suggesting that nothing be done now. Instead, the focus should squarely be placed on the further distribution and accessibility of several excellent COVID-19 therapeutics now available such as monoclonal antibodies. This is especially true since the observed speed with which the COVID-19 variants are arriving outpaces our ability to create and distribute a new vaccine in time to immunize ourselves against them.
Since the severity of an Omicron induced illness has been globally observed to be about the same as a common cold, the rest of our society needs to mentally and structurally adapt to that condition. As one example, in-person learning at all levels of school should be happening now. The absolutely shameful behavior of some teachers and their unions that insist otherwise should be strongly vilified and resisted.
Mask mandates and mask wearing in general (for COVID-19 prevention) both need a huge reality check. We believe it to be true that wearing an N-95 mask which is properly form fitted to your face and NEVER removed when in a public setting, would prevent the spread of COVID-19, including Omicron. But the reality is that almost no one wears a mask this way. Thus, in practice, masking accomplishes very little. And that’s after almost two years of instructions and public service announcements. Instead, forced mask wearing has caused a number of unintended consequences that are ruinous to society and must be stopped. These include angry divisions between mask wearers and non-mask wearers, the complete illogic of not having to don a mask when sitting down for a meal in a public setting, and the much greater difficulty understanding voices and visual facial cue’s during conversation. Continuing to blindly enforce mask policies with all that we now know about their practicalities is not only ignorant of reality, but also just plain stupid.
Not all of our leaders have their heads in the sand. One in particular, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, has adapted his policies and decision-making in near perfect lockstep with the evolution of the virus. It takes courage to change course when a change is warranted, and DeSantis has not been shackled by vanity or confined to a risk-averse jail of his own making. If only all our other leaders could likewise conform to the present reality of COVID-19.
1 Click here to see the CDC COVID Data Tracker.
6 Responses
As always, your commentary is well written and very accurate.
The newly expanded control for those in positions of power are the root of ongoing hysteria. People have been getting the “flu viruses” forever. While data is probably not as accurate as it might be now, the limited tracking records of the “flu” indicate it was responsible for killing 100’s of thousands over the last decade. 80K in 2017 alone – nobody gave a crap. This current Omicron is not even close to a flu, but tracked by sneezes due to mandatory testing. Like a a cold or flu, many people get it in a mild or unrecognizable way, never to be tracked- until now. We are also missing the elephant in the room. The vast majority of the population will never get it ever based on genetics or developed natural immunity.
So, we’ve created a monster of sorts with hyper awareness – this control will never end. The idiots in power combined with the financial lobbying force of the global pharmaceutical industry, will now ensure we have vaccine mandates forever or until one of the vaccines go very bad and one probably will, as we roll the dice with emergency approvals for untested vaccines and permanently damage humankind, including the vast majority that never needed the vaccines due to natural immunity.
Great points Johnny. One thing to add that we didn’t mention in this post (but did in a prior article) is the government’s response to Swine Flu in 2009. No one talks about the fact that the grand total of COVID-19 cases in the US since the start of the pandemic (59 million as of today) is still not even close to the total number of swine flu cases in 2009 (81 million). And swine flu reached that total in half the time we’ve had COVID-19 with us so far. All that Obama did in 2009 was close a few daycare centers and kindergartens. No masks, no social distancing, no vaccine mandates (and there was a vaccine). The over-the-top concern about this phase of COVID and the irresponsible hype is criminal. Whoever the Republican is that enters the Whitehouse in 2024 needs to immediately get rid of the whole top layer of personnel in just about every department. The CDC should have their entire management staff replaced. I could go on but this will be too long…
And then you have Rochelle Wolensky who actually said this;
“The overwhelming number of deaths, over 75%, occurred in people who had at least 4 comorbidities. So really these are people who were unwell to begin with and yes, really encouraging news in the context of Omicron.”
What? We have a doctor in a prominent position announcing to the nation that it is ‘encouraging’ that unwell people are dying…what is happening?
The entire senior staff at the CDC needs to be replaced by professionals who understand how messaging works and that their words and phrases may have a meaning beyond what they intended. She speaks like her audience is a high school class rather than the population of the entire world.
It is curious though that the CDC (and some of the liberal media) are all of a sudden wanting to revisit how COVID deaths are tabulated. There is no doubt in my mind that this has to do with the very inconvenient statistic that the number of recorded COVID deaths under Biden (with most people vaxxed) is far greater than the number of recorded COVID deaths under Trump (with almost no one vaxxed). If they can revise down the recent death count, that statistic can magically go away.
Oh, come on folks, they are sincerely trying. Moderna just announced they have a 4th vaccine that is really needed. Forth time’s a charm – I think someone once said that. Anyway, I’m running right out to get the early release of it, along with my snake oil elixir.
If we were truly following the science……………..American citizens will now be mandated to exercise daily, eat healthy and maintain a healthy weight. Proof of daily exercise, healthy nutrition and weight management will be mandatory. Blood pressure and vitamin D levels must be kept at acceptable levels. Failure to comply will result in termination of employment, restrictions on movement, and the restricted access to restaurants, grocery stores and entertainment venues.