IGNORANCE KILLS

"Oh no, not again!" I can hear it now. Another column covering the Covid-19 pandemic. We are over it. We are sick of it. Understandably, but exactly the point. Given newly published "remedies" to combat the virus, and given the endless predisposition by a significant segment of true believers to oppose vaccination and trust charlatans on social media, the topic remains pertinent. "Ignorance," some would say "stupidity," kills. Numerous studies have concluded that during the past six months at least 200,000 Covid related deaths were entirely preventable. This number correlates to the fact that 99.5% of those killed by the virus were not vaccinated. The results of a study published by the "Commonwealth Fund," (Dec. 14, 2021), projected that due to vaccination programs, between Dec. 12, 2020 and Nov. 30, 2021, 1,087,191 deaths were averted. While this information is readily available, most of those unwilling to lend credence to these statistics continue to be corrupted by "confirmation bias," a national, if not international, disease which compels them to only absorb information from sources confirming what they already believe. After the early discussion about the origin of the virus, which included the suggestion that it was a bio-weapon deliberately designed by China or by Barack Obama, ran its course, the focus shifted to how to combat it. Some of the so-called cures obviously predated the development of a vaccine, but a number of them persisted and evolved into a movement. Eating sea lettuce; holding your breath for 10 seconds; smelling sesame and other plant oils; or cleaning your nostrils with salty water to kill the virus before it can reach your lungs, had a relatively short shelf life. Scientists stayed predominantly in their own lane, rather than spending a lot of time debunking these relatively mundane suggestions. Some extraordinarily freakish ones struck a persistent and dangerous cord, however. Take the recent suggestion by Christopher Key, leader of an anti-Covid-19 vaccine group, the "Vaccine Police." advocating followers drink their own urine to combat the virus. According to him there is "tons and tons of research .... peer reviewed published papers on urine." He calls it "God's own antidote to Covid-19." He also suggests that pharmacists should be executed for administering coronavirus vaccines. His recommendation likely originated in India, where its Hindu majority population adopted the widespread practice of consuming cow dung and urine, branded as "cow dung therapy" for a Covid cure. The Hindu religion places an emphasis on "purifying qualities" of cow products, proclaiming that "eating cow dung will help purify mind, body and soul." The CDC suspects that there is a relationship between the surge of cow-dung therapy and black fungal disease, and that the use of cow dung and urine might actually accelerate the transmission of coronavirus along with other diseases. And who can forget former president Donald Trump's epiphany during a widely viewed public broadcast proposing bodies be injected with bleach and other disinfectants to knock out the virus - "in a minute. One minute!" Of course, bleach is a poison which will make you sick. Nevertheless, the gullible complied, and within a week after he made his suggestion poisonings with household disinfectants increased by 121%. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. remarked: "This the most dangerous and idiotic suggestion made so far in how one might treat Covid-19. Drinking or injecting disinfectant is more likely to kill humans than the virus." The use of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria and lupus drug, was more readily accepted by those looking for an alternative to vaccines, probably because it resonated as a medical solution. And even though the World Health Organization debunked its efficacy, and warned that administering it to Covid could even increase the risk of death, its use went viral. In Brazil, materially supported by members of the Trump administration, President Jair Bolsonaro elevated its use to be the primary antidote for the virus. Pushed by his Health Ministry and supporters controlling the manufacture of the drug, and contrary to recommendations from the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases, he relegated funds earmarked for combating Covid to purchase more chloroquine. The result was a national disaster, giving Brazil the 2nd highest Covid related death rate in the world, just below the U.S. and slightly ahead of India. Ivermectin, another so-called medical alternative to vaccination, a drug meant to control parasites in farm animals, also made its appearance among those adamantly opposed to anything proposed by legitimate epidemiologists. These dangerous deviations from scientifically prescribed protocols are relentlessly advocated by those in search of profit, notoriety or political advantage. The opposition to scientific evidence and government mandates has organized and is supported by unfettered access to social media. Some media savvy public figures seize every available opportunity to indoctrinate their followers by spewing venom in attempts to discredit the professionals. "Fox News" host Tucker Carlson publicly compares vaccine mandates to "Nazi experiments." "Fox Nation" host Lara Logan claims that "people all across the world" are comparing Dr. Anthony Fauci to Joseph Mengele, the Nazi "Angel of Death." Senator Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist with questionable credentials, posturing as an epidemiologist, takes every opportunity to viciously attack Dr. Fauci and what he stands for. School boards are being confronted by parents threatening to bring loaded guns into a meeting if mask mandates are adopted. And governors in multiple "red states" are doing everything in their power to thwart attempts by the federal government to bring the pandemic under control. The result has been that 36% of adults are still not fully vaccinated. Fifteen percent are not vaccinated at all. Most of them have been convinced to not trust the vaccine, to be weary about side effects, to resort to bogus remedies, and to rely on fake news irrespective of its source. The people in this category maintain a false sense of security and won't follow health safety guidelines unless forced to. They also tend to influence others and spread the disease. Anecdotal evidence emerging out of multiple ICU units indicates that many unvaccinated Covid patients on their death bed confess that they wished they had listened to the science and trusted the vaccine. Theo Wierdsma