Good Question

the search for truth

Stacey Lennox, PJ Media: Experts Are Everywhere, But Which Ones Are Worth Listening To?

When it comes to COVID-19, it seems as if we are drowning in experts and approaching peak insanity. Mass vaccination, regardless of risk, appears to encourage the proliferation of variants. Despite mounting data demonstrating that masking children shows little if any benefit in controlling transmission of the virus, hysterical adults still insist on it. Now, the Senate is considering requiring proof of vaccine or a negative test for domestic airline travel, even though flights have been operating throughout the pandemic with no significant issues. HEPA filters work.

…[T]hey tell you, “Listen to the experts,” but not all experts agree, even within the government. Sometimes the experts don’t even agree with themselves a few weeks later.

Then they tell you to “Listen to the science.” Except you don’t “listen” to science. You read it, evaluate it, and compare one study’s methodology and results to another in order to draw conclusions about what we know and what we don’t. “The Science” suggests the scientism reflected in Dr. Anthony Fauci asserting he is science. He is a scientist, one among millions.

Fauci’s position in the federal bureaucracy, where a person can remain for life with little to no accountability, does not confer special knowledge or increased credibility. He is not the top infectious disease expert in the country. He is the longest-serving immunologist in the government. That’s it.

Am I supposed to believe Dr. Fauci, an expert according to the corporate media, when he tells Gloria Estefan to get a vaccine, despite having recovered from COVID, because he claims the vaccine provides better protection? Or when he tells Dr. Sanjay Gupta that he doesn’t have a good answer for why a recovered person should be vaccinated?

A few weeks ago, Fauci told CNN’s Jim Sciutto that the third dose of an mRNA vaccine would confer the proper protection, inferring that two doses are not enough. Then he redefined fully vaccinated to mean a third dose and maybe more. The Pfizer CEO is anticipating annual updates. Who and what do we believe? Senator Rand Paul cited dozens of studies supporting the assertion that natural immunity is robust and long-lasting in a recent congressional hearing. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra refused to acknowledge the findings. Should Americans believe the rigorous data-driven studies or a federal agency playing ostrich?

The FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBAC) recommended providing boosters to only patients who are over 65 or immunocompromised. After watching nearly eight hours of deliberations, it appears their recommendation is reasonable and data-driven. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) agreed.

Political appointees who lead the agencies overrode the decisions of their expert committees. The recommendation now includes nearly all Americans over 18 who want a booster shot. Neither CDC Director Rochelle Walensky nor FDA Acting Director Janet Woodcock is an expert in vaccinology, unlike the members of the committees. Whose opinion should Americans take seriously? And how should they respond to President Joe Biden saying that 97-98% of Americans need to be vaccinated? Would it be wrong to assume the CDC director and FDA acting director caved to political pressure? Two vaccine experts resigned, reportedly because of the politicization of the decision-making process.

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A sane public health response would adopt a “First do no harm” approach. It is perfectly reasonable to take a wait-and-see attitude, as Gloria Estefan’s doctor did, measuring her antibody response and delaying vaccination until the medical community knows more. As it turns out, U.K. research asserts that recovered patients are more likely to suffer severe side effects from the vaccine. And dozens of studies show that Estefan’s immune response conveys long-term immune protection. Her doctor was right, and Dr. Fauci, the embodiment of “the science,” was wrong.

Americans deserve better from the government we fund and our healthcare institutions. A functioning media would be catching these contradictions and conflicting opinions and pressing the experts on all sides and not just broadcasting the government’s side and preferred narrative at all costs. Unfortunately, during the worst pandemic in a century, Americans are left to sort it all out on their own.