I think from our perspective, how people can continue to do this and expect that their credibility is not undermined is kind of shocking.
However, what's happening is simply brute force historical revisionism. They have the money and resources just to pay off everyone to keep repeating the same lies rather than try to be accountable.
The fact is that the Biden administration (though it probably would be any political or administrative decision-maker in the U.S. allowed to be in power, given the extent of pharmaceutical capture in US lobbying and politics) doubles down on a forced narrative -- and people are so desperate to avoid cognitive dissonance (the admission that they were wrong and yes most pandemic measures REALLY WERE political and not scientific, simply put) that they're willing to continue accepting lies while almost every other country actually makes decisions based on real data rather than pseudo-scientific demagoguery that appeals to a voter base rather than to, you know, what we actually accurately say we know.
At this point, Covid vaccination is not about science. It is about who has more political and financial power to force their will on people.
So the real discussion should be about how people can fight back the vaccine mandates without suffering any adverse consequences. Incidentally, the leading Presidential candidates Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, and Kennedy have now come out openly against any vaccine mandate. Biden will likely drop out of the race by the end of this year.
Yet another reason I am grateful to be out of healthcare. I hate to see people get forced into a shot. They can say that we’re not forced; that we can decide whether or not we want to work and feed our families, etc. etc. This administration is bound and determined to ruin an already struggling healthcare system. I’ll keep doing my pro bono helping in my old field as a retiree, it seems that’s all I can do.
I will never get another Covid shot because I never got one in the first place. Had two mild cases (thought the 2nd was just an allergy until my parents tested positive and then I tested). I’m 53 and have never had a flu shot either. Covid was probably the first respiratory illness I’ve had in 20 years.
I'm guessing that the vast majority of republicans will not take the booster but 30-50% of dems (85%+ in CA & NYC) will. And I fear for young people who take the 4th/5th shots. I genuinely fear for their lives.
if i'm being forced to get a shot - just one shot - by the government, as a healthy guy under 40 with documented natural immunity (after an asymptomatic infection, naturally), should i take my chances with the current one or take my chances with the new one? seems to me like i should go with the current one because we at least have a vague sense of the myocarditis risk, whereas the new one could kill you dead within a month and we wouldn't know yet...
How will you respond if your hospital(s) require the Covid booster as a condition of employment? I’m weighing how much of a pariah I’m willing to be if I’m required to get more boosters with no evidence.
Vinay, I have followed your writings, interviews, and podcasts throughout the pandemic as one of the most consistent and credible sources for scientific, evidence-based medicine and one of those few who have sustained what shreds of trust I have in medicine after three years of Covid mismanagement. I posted the following on my FB page along with your substack post:
This should be in screaming headlines in all media across the country as the most damning indictment of the handling of the Covid pandemic and the Covid vaccines.
1. The Biden Administration is not science based. They are as ignorant as the anti-science fringe they decry. I would watch for conflicts of interest as Califf, Jha, Murthy and others move into private sector.
2. I will never get another COVID19 shot until someone shows it lowers the risk of severe disease for someone of (a) my age and (b) who already had 3 doses (2 against my will) and (c) COVID. Practically, given the anti-science admin, this will be never.
3. I would not advise anyone healthy <65 to get the vaccine.
4. I would not advise anyone healthy who had COVID already to get the vaccine.
5. For those >65 with medical problems, and no prior covid, there are no data. I suspect nearly none of these people will want the booster, and I won’t push back. I have no data to fight with.
6. I would discourage all COVID19 vaccination of anyone healthy <30 (this is most insane); Especially <18. At this point, all have had covid and no data show further doses help them.
7. Colleges & hospitals should NEVER mandate this booster
8. I will continue to oppose the universal booster program without data, and this anti-science administration.
No, these are not my statements although I agree with every one of them. The author is Vinay Prasad, MD, a hematologist/oncologist and Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of California San Francisco. I have found Prasad to have been a credible and consistent voice for science in every aspect of the Covid pandemic. He has published and testified online throughout the pandemic as a voice of reason and evidence-based medicine. In the article below, he puts together nearly three years of stunning incompetence, greed, bad medicine, and malfeasance that borders on criminal.
Read this article first, then click on the link to his summary of the disastrous Covid policy. I hope this will make you as angry as it does me.
I have agreed with you nearly 100% of the time in your positions regarding all things Covid. My single greatest disagreement has been your persistent dismissal of Ivermectin as effective for early Covid. There is a massive body of observational and anecdotal data attesting to Ivermectin's effectiveness for early Covid which you discount. You say this is because of the lack of a large RCT showing it works. I have to ask what you think of the fact the there was such a trial, the PRINCIPLE trial in the UK which looked at Ivermectin and the results of this have never been reported two years down the road. Why is this?
I'm a primary care internist who moonlights as a hospitalist. I had an extremely mild case of COVID in the fall of 2020. I've never been vaccinated, and I don't plan to be. My local hospitals are so hard-up for hospitalists, I've basically forced their hands to get rid of non-traditional masking and any vaccination requirements...bc I sure as hell won't be masking all day long, nor will I be vaccinated without SOLID data.
Thank you for this. My 74 year old Mother who is in relatively great health (amongst her peer age group)other than some higher blood pressure asked me if she should get it. Because I have seen no data to support another booster, because she has received 2 doses of the Pfizer and because she had Covid, I had advised her not to get a booster this Fall. They SAY that for older adults, benefit outweighs risk, but they have not SHOWN this to be true. I value your writings on this (and all topics) Dr Prasad.
What would be your advice for healthcare students? There is no even an option to decline boosters for nursing or medical students. You either take it or all of your education years and money spent are out of the window...
Thank you. Your clarity and logic is uplifting in an era of venomous stupidity.
I think from our perspective, how people can continue to do this and expect that their credibility is not undermined is kind of shocking.
However, what's happening is simply brute force historical revisionism. They have the money and resources just to pay off everyone to keep repeating the same lies rather than try to be accountable.
The fact is that the Biden administration (though it probably would be any political or administrative decision-maker in the U.S. allowed to be in power, given the extent of pharmaceutical capture in US lobbying and politics) doubles down on a forced narrative -- and people are so desperate to avoid cognitive dissonance (the admission that they were wrong and yes most pandemic measures REALLY WERE political and not scientific, simply put) that they're willing to continue accepting lies while almost every other country actually makes decisions based on real data rather than pseudo-scientific demagoguery that appeals to a voter base rather than to, you know, what we actually accurately say we know.
At this point, Covid vaccination is not about science. It is about who has more political and financial power to force their will on people.
So the real discussion should be about how people can fight back the vaccine mandates without suffering any adverse consequences. Incidentally, the leading Presidential candidates Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, and Kennedy have now come out openly against any vaccine mandate. Biden will likely drop out of the race by the end of this year.
Yet another reason I am grateful to be out of healthcare. I hate to see people get forced into a shot. They can say that we’re not forced; that we can decide whether or not we want to work and feed our families, etc. etc. This administration is bound and determined to ruin an already struggling healthcare system. I’ll keep doing my pro bono helping in my old field as a retiree, it seems that’s all I can do.
I will never get another Covid shot because I never got one in the first place. Had two mild cases (thought the 2nd was just an allergy until my parents tested positive and then I tested). I’m 53 and have never had a flu shot either. Covid was probably the first respiratory illness I’ve had in 20 years.
I'm guessing that the vast majority of republicans will not take the booster but 30-50% of dems (85%+ in CA & NYC) will. And I fear for young people who take the 4th/5th shots. I genuinely fear for their lives.
Thank you, Dr. Prasad. Who else will stand up and speak out so eloquently?
if i'm being forced to get a shot - just one shot - by the government, as a healthy guy under 40 with documented natural immunity (after an asymptomatic infection, naturally), should i take my chances with the current one or take my chances with the new one? seems to me like i should go with the current one because we at least have a vague sense of the myocarditis risk, whereas the new one could kill you dead within a month and we wouldn't know yet...
thank you for all your work on this!
How will you respond if your hospital(s) require the Covid booster as a condition of employment? I’m weighing how much of a pariah I’m willing to be if I’m required to get more boosters with no evidence.
Vinay, I have followed your writings, interviews, and podcasts throughout the pandemic as one of the most consistent and credible sources for scientific, evidence-based medicine and one of those few who have sustained what shreds of trust I have in medicine after three years of Covid mismanagement. I posted the following on my FB page along with your substack post:
This should be in screaming headlines in all media across the country as the most damning indictment of the handling of the Covid pandemic and the Covid vaccines.
1. The Biden Administration is not science based. They are as ignorant as the anti-science fringe they decry. I would watch for conflicts of interest as Califf, Jha, Murthy and others move into private sector.
2. I will never get another COVID19 shot until someone shows it lowers the risk of severe disease for someone of (a) my age and (b) who already had 3 doses (2 against my will) and (c) COVID. Practically, given the anti-science admin, this will be never.
3. I would not advise anyone healthy <65 to get the vaccine.
4. I would not advise anyone healthy who had COVID already to get the vaccine.
5. For those >65 with medical problems, and no prior covid, there are no data. I suspect nearly none of these people will want the booster, and I won’t push back. I have no data to fight with.
6. I would discourage all COVID19 vaccination of anyone healthy <30 (this is most insane); Especially <18. At this point, all have had covid and no data show further doses help them.
7. Colleges & hospitals should NEVER mandate this booster
8. I will continue to oppose the universal booster program without data, and this anti-science administration.
No, these are not my statements although I agree with every one of them. The author is Vinay Prasad, MD, a hematologist/oncologist and Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of California San Francisco. I have found Prasad to have been a credible and consistent voice for science in every aspect of the Covid pandemic. He has published and testified online throughout the pandemic as a voice of reason and evidence-based medicine. In the article below, he puts together nearly three years of stunning incompetence, greed, bad medicine, and malfeasance that borders on criminal.
Read this article first, then click on the link to his summary of the disastrous Covid policy. I hope this will make you as angry as it does me.
I have agreed with you nearly 100% of the time in your positions regarding all things Covid. My single greatest disagreement has been your persistent dismissal of Ivermectin as effective for early Covid. There is a massive body of observational and anecdotal data attesting to Ivermectin's effectiveness for early Covid which you discount. You say this is because of the lack of a large RCT showing it works. I have to ask what you think of the fact the there was such a trial, the PRINCIPLE trial in the UK which looked at Ivermectin and the results of this have never been reported two years down the road. Why is this?
Respectfully,
Rick Bosshardt, MD, FACS
Wish I could give this a million likes.
I’m an NP and praying my employer won’t insist that I take the booster. I will not.
I'm a primary care internist who moonlights as a hospitalist. I had an extremely mild case of COVID in the fall of 2020. I've never been vaccinated, and I don't plan to be. My local hospitals are so hard-up for hospitalists, I've basically forced their hands to get rid of non-traditional masking and any vaccination requirements...bc I sure as hell won't be masking all day long, nor will I be vaccinated without SOLID data.
Thank you for this. My 74 year old Mother who is in relatively great health (amongst her peer age group)other than some higher blood pressure asked me if she should get it. Because I have seen no data to support another booster, because she has received 2 doses of the Pfizer and because she had Covid, I had advised her not to get a booster this Fall. They SAY that for older adults, benefit outweighs risk, but they have not SHOWN this to be true. I value your writings on this (and all topics) Dr Prasad.
Thank you Vinay!!! Please keep at it!
But 8 mice sacrificed their lives to bring us the booster, shouldn’t we be grateful?
What would be your advice for healthcare students? There is no even an option to decline boosters for nursing or medical students. You either take it or all of your education years and money spent are out of the window...