Sarah Palin — the anti-vax rocket scientist

22 Dec, 2021 at 08:39 | Posted in Politics & Society | 9 Comments

Sarah Palin, rocket scientist, offered her thoughts on the coronavirus vaccine at a far-right conference in Arizona over the weekend. “It will be over my dead body that I’ ll have to get a shot,” she proclaimed.

Sarah Palin Hazed for Not Getting COVID Vaccination: 'I Bet She Is Horse Dewormed'Unlikely, governor. Phase III trials have shown that the vaccines fail to generate a robust immune response when administered to dead people.

But Palin’s talk of dead bodies is on point. By discouraging vaccination, she and Tucker Carlson and the rest of the anti-science right are quite literally getting people killed. Studies show that those living in the most pro-trump counties in the United States are dying from covid-19 at a rate more than five times higher than in the most antiTrump counties …

Back in September, Palin had boasted on Fox News: “I am one of those White, common-sense conservatives, I believe in science, and I have not taken the shot.” And now she says she won’t take it — unless and until she’s a dead body.

Thanks to Palin and other death-cult leaders, countless Republicans have become exactly that.

Dana Milbank / Washington Post

9 Comments

  1. Perhaps the problem will solve itself – a mass suicide by anti-vaxers?

    Comment by Jan Wiklund— 22 Dec, 2021 #

    • There are indications that it is not vaccinations which will end the pandemic. Let us hope that the Omicron variant will provide natural immunity at zero cost for most of the world’s population, with only mild symptoms for most people. Maybe we will soon be able to go back to the OLD normal!
      .
      Meanwhile the left wing media persists with dishonest reporting, as in the above example.
      Like Donald Trump,Tucker Carlson and other Fox hosts are all very much pro-science, have been fully vaccinated themselves, and they strongly encourage others to get vaccinated.
      They are not against vaccinations – rather they oppose vaccination mandates imposed by governments.
      It is the mandates which are unscientific in that they ignore the natural immunities of the many millions who have already had Covid 19.
      Moreover, the evidence suggests, contrary to Biden, that even the unvaccinated who lack natural immunity do not pose a serious danger to the vaccinated – such risks are only slightly higher than the risks from a vaccinated person with a breakthrough infection.

      Comment by Kingsley Lewis— 22 Dec, 2021 #

      • How can some wrap themselves in the cloak of Science and then present anti scientific views like ***natural immunity*** with regard to covid. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett s Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases clearly states in the first two chapters that the term immunity cannot be applied to covid, natural or vaccinated.

        .

        That well worn and known – Scientific Fact – without any individual agency just refuted everything you just said, yet you keep using the term Science to burnish an ideological view.

        .

        BTW I think the back drop from covid is a good time to revisit Kenneth Arrows works on – In a classic, fifty-year-old paper entitled Uncertainty and the Welfare Economics of Medical Care, Arrow discussed how:

        “the operation of the medical-care industry and the efficacy with which it satisfies the needs of society differs from… a competitive model… If a competitive equilibrium exists at all, and if all commodities relevant to costs or utilities are in fact priced in the market, then the equilibrium is necessarily [Pareto] optimal” (emphasis added)

        Note the implicit assumption that price reflects value, to which I’ll return. As Arrow elegantly explained, there are vast differences between the actual healthcare market and the competitive model, and, moreover, these differences arise from important features of the actual healthcare market.

        Kenneth Arrow on healthcare economics: a 21st century appreciation

        Comment by skippy— 22 Dec, 2021 #

      • Some what dispirited that you have not replied Kingsley after such a declarative statement about an historical moment of epic import here now and into the future. I attempted to correct your ignorance with verifiable facts, with the intent you would not spread misinformation, in this time of need, but you seem more intent on pushing misinformation which might negatively affect others. Hear I thought that in academic settings and intellectual groups a thank you for pointing out error was a deemed a personal good and acknowledged by a thank you. I am both saddened and wounded.

        .

        Is your/s agenda worth it – ????

        Comment by skippy— 23 Dec, 2021 #

        • @ Skippy,
          Please don’t be dispirited or offended because I haven’t replied to your comment within 18 hours.
          This was entirely because of the time difference between us and because I have a life to live.
          .
          Thank you for the reference to Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s “Principles”. I now have the latest 9th edition published in 2020.
          I am mystified by your spirited comment because there is no mention of Covid in the first two chapters or in any of the almost 5,000 pages.
          .
          Perhaps you are concerned with the failure of Covid to meet “Koch’s postulates”. However, Mandell et al. dismiss such “traditional notions”. Similarly, according to Wikipedia “More modern concepts in microbial pathogenesis cannot be examined using Koch’s postulates” including viruses.
          However, this is certainly not my field of expertise so forgive me for being unable to explain these ideas.
          .
          A quick internet search provides simple definitions of natural immunity, for example:
          “Active Immunity results when exposure to a disease organism triggers the immune system to produce antibodies to that disease.
          Active immunity can be acquired through natural immunity or vaccine-induced immunity.
          Natural immunity is acquired from exposure to the disease organism through infection with the actual disease.”
          https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/immunity-types.htm

          Comment by Kingsley Lewis— 23 Dec, 2021 #

        • “Natural immunity is acquired from exposure to the disease organism through infection with the actual disease.”

          Sure, as long as the initial infection is survived.

          Comment by Henry Rech— 23 Dec, 2021 #

      • You might not be aware of the Science that the problem is that you can’t vaccinate your way out of a coronavirus pandemic. Coronaviruses apparently beat adaptive immunity.

        .

        How many are you prepared to sacrifice.

        Comment by skippy— 23 Dec, 2021 #

        • Hi Skippy,
          The following will not quench your thirst but it may lift your spirits:
          .
          Question
          If you’ve tested positive, including for Omicron, does that mean you won’t get Covid again any time soon?

          Answer
          Reinfections can occur after a previous Covid-19 infection. This is especially common with Omicron, which according to a recent Imperial College London report is more than five times more likely to cause reinfection than the Delta variant. These reinfections are most likely to have been in those who were previously infected with an earlier variant, such as Delta or Alpha.

          This means you should continue to be careful, but it isn’t cause for excessive concern… any reinfection will “probably be a mild cold” as you will have built up “a bigger and better army of ‘memory’ T and B cells”, as long as you are otherwise healthy.”
          https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/22/lateral-flow-tests-covid-omicron-explainer

          Comment by Kingsley Lewis— 23 Dec, 2021 #

          • To reiterate … your use of the term Science in underpinning your ideologically driven groups views is the objective point. This is further highlighted by you offering non Scientific links to support your erroneous post hoc ergo propter hoc methodological approach. Pe se the CDC was politically captured/compromised a long time ago, big revolving door between Pharma/Health industry.

            .

            Firstly there is no sterilizing immunity with Coronaviruses, hence the concept of herd immunity was always a non starter, yet one can clearly see the sorts that advanced that view and why. Even with infection immunity is not transferred regardless of vaccination status. What you do get is reduced term and severity for the majority, but it does nothing to stop reinfection, especially to new variants. This is without factoring in long covid, even for those with mild symptoms during infection.

            .

            The best bit is the faster populations are infected the more opportunity there is for new variants/mutations and populations being reinfected time and time again. With that in mind you might want to consider the cumulative effects on the immune system regardless of the variants previously infected with. You are aware of the autoimmune ramifications right e.g. opens up the body to a cornucopia of other illnesses or diseases which would not be attributed to covid at first glance.

            .

            Lastly this all well known decades ago and a historical foot note, yet the response to it, especially in informing populations has been dysfunctional at best – see aerosols – ultimately inept – this is the largest PHASE III Trial ever conducted in human history. And it has been under no supervision of an IRB in any way shape or form as has been done for decades. Maybe your OK with that, but, not everyone else is. See how thing go in January … see you then …

            Comment by skippy— 24 Dec, 2021 #


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