The Best of BeeLine-2021

Here is a Top 10 List for the Best of BeeLine for 2021. The first five are the most popular posts I wrote during the year based on the number of views. The second five are a few of my personal favorites out of the 131 blog posts I wrote during the year. 

Covid again dominated the headlines during 2021 and it also continues to command the most interest from my readers. All of the five most popular posts I wrote during the year were about Covid. There is no doubt we are all worn out from Covid. I wish I could write about something else. However, the popularity of my posts on the subject indicate that there are a lot of people looking for honest, data-driven information to put the subject in perspective.

If you missed reading these "Best of BeeLine" posts the first time around, here's another opportunity to get to "the shortest route to what you need to know" to start 2021 off right. You might also consider forwarding this post to several friends who might appreciate a blog that tries to put some of the complicated issues of the day in context.

I don't actively promote or advertise this blog. New readers almost always come from one of you passing it along to someone else.

If you enjoy BeeLine, please pass a recommendation on to your friends and family. I enjoy writing it but it is a lot easier to sit down, research and write when I know more are reading what I write.

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Thank you to all my loyal BeeLine readers and a Happy New Year to each one of you!

The Best of BeeLine-2021

Most Popular Based on Views

Nothing Is Under Control Except You    July 29, 2021

"...it is becoming increasingly clear that Joe Biden, Anthony Fauci and the CDC do not have anything under control with Covid right now. The data shows that Covid is under less control today than it was a year ago when Trump was their target.

Unfortunately, their only answer to everything involving Covid is to try to enforce more control over your life and everyone else."

The Fog of the Covid War    July 22, 2021

"I will go where the data takes me.

I will not blindly follow "the narrative".

The most troubling aspect of everything we have seen the last 18 months is the unwillingness of our political and public health establishment to do the same.

Why are they afraid of being transparent with the data?

Why do they feel compelled to silence any contrary views?

Why aren't they humble enough to simply admit there are many things they don't know about the virus, its origins and the vaccines?

I don't know the answers to the questions I have posed. There are too many moving parts. We are in the midst of the fog of war when battling this pandemic.

The fog will lift at some point. The data will reveal the truth.

Let us pray that those who are pushing the narrative are on the right side of that truth."

Pandemic of the Vaccinated?    December 17, 2021

"Are we in a pandemic of the vaccinated?

That might be going too far right now.

However, it is hard for anyone to call this a pandemic of the unvaccinated any more.

The data simply does not lie if anyone is willing to open their eyes."

Are You Going to Get the Vaccine?    January 17, 2021

"The only thing I know for sure is that the media and the "experts" have painted the most negative and dangerous narrative they could involving Covid-19. They are also portraying the vaccines in the most positive light they can.

Neither narrative should be trusted. The risks of Covid to most people is a much smaller than most are led to believe. At the same time, the benefits of the vaccine are much less and there also can be real risks attached to these vaccines that should not be overlooked.

The truth undoubtedly lies somewhere in the middle but it is next to impossible for the average person to decipher what it is."

"The biggest misconception I see in people regarding the vaccine is that they believe it will prevent them from being infected with Covid or if loved ones are vaccinated it will prevent the transmission of the virus to them. This would seem to be an obvious assumption and a primary reason to get the vaccine.

Incredibly, there is no evidence that any of the Covid vaccines will prevent transmission of the virus.

As I wrote when these vaccines were under development, that was never a stated objective or goal of the vaccines. They merely were intended to minimize the symptoms if you get the infection."

Spikes Everywhere You Look    August 17, 2021

"Spikes everywhere you look even though vaccinations are also up everywhere you look.

However, we are told the answer is to vaccinate more people and give booster shots to everyone who has already been vaccinated.

This is the case even though we have no answer as to why all of these spikes in cases are occurring around the world as vaccinations have increased.

This makes no sense whatsoever from a scientific perspective.

Between last year and this year what is the one intervention that was introduced that we did not have last year?

Vaccinations.

The hypothesis from the experts was that this would be our way out of the pandemic. It would prevent disease and stop transmission. 

Considering that there are spikes everywhere you look, wouldn't the scientific method suggest that you should test your hypothesis that vaccines are the answer by looking at the data and investigating why we are seeing these spikes?

That would be science.

Sadly, science is no longer science. It has become politics disguised as science.

Or public health experts that are so invested in the narrative and their reputations that they care more about both of these before the science and your health."

A Few Personal Favorites

What Are You Concerned About    February 25, 2021

Democrats believe that Donald Trump's supporters are a bigger problem for the country than anything but the spread of Covid-19?

Trump's supporters are a bigger problem than the economic damage of Covid 19, Covid-19 school closures, health care coverage and costs, Social Security and Medicare, illegal immigration, high taxes, unemployment, budget deficits and the national debt, China, Russia, Islamic terrorism, income inequality, student debt, abortion rights, climate change, gun violence or anything else?

The divide is quite remarkable.

It also tells us a lot about how Joe Biden is likely to govern.

You can expect him to continue to push strong measures against Covid that include mandatory masking, lockdowns and school closures (and even mandatory vaccinations if they cannot get the voluntary acceptance percentage that they want) since stopping the spread of Covid is the top concern among Democrats.

Biden will also continue to attack Trump and his supporters despite his calls for "unity". There will be more calls to censor conservative voices or speech that does not conform to the Democrat narrative on Covid, immigration, election fraud and other liberal hot button issues."

ID Idiocy   March 28, 2021

"In what universe does it make sense to require an ID when a living, breathing individual shows up to vote in person but nothing is required for an anonymous mailed-in absentee ballot that could be voted by anyone randomly?"

"Do they really think it is more crucial to have a photo id to pick up baseball tickets than it is to protect the integrity of the vote?

Of course, we all know how many other instances it is required that you must produce a photo id in our society today.

You have to do it to board an airplane, cash a check, buy alcohol or get a hotel room for the night to name a few. I have to show mine when I go to the doctor.

It might be worth noting here that the same people who think it is not necessary for anyone to have to produce an ID to vote will also most assuredly be the same ones who will soon be arguing that it is absolutely required to have a "vaccine passport" if you want to travel, attend a sporting or entertainment venue, shop, or do anything else outside your home."

Inflation In Our Future?    May 23, 2021 

"Many people in the United States have not experienced significant, sustained, across the board inflation.

It has been 40 years since we last saw double-digit annual inflation. For most of the last 30 years consumer prices have averaged about 2.5% per year.

Is this about to change?

There are troubling signs on the horizon."

Sinking Fast?    July 27, 2021

"Storm clouds are already gathering on the horizon that could result in Biden's approval rating sinking fast.

Biden has a 63% approval for his handling of the Covid response. Cases are rising and there is increasing talk of reimposed mandates, booster shots and other measures. What happens to that approval number if cases numbers continue to rise?

55% approve of his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal. The Taliban is already capturing large swaths of the country. What if Afghanistan is overtaken by turmoil and terrorists?

53% feel positive about the economic recovery. However, inflation risk seems to be everywhere. Biden and his advisors are saying this is temporary. What if it is not?"

We Should Know A Lot More in Three Months  November 18, 2021

"The sad fact also is that Covid deaths in 2021 are higher overall than in 2020. Where is there any proof that the vaccines actually reduced deaths? We are told that it would have been much worse without the vaccines. How does anyone know? How can anyone prove that?

What are we going to see in the critical period coming up?

Is the vaccine or the virus going to win? Almost everything is being wagered on the vaccines. 

However, if the cases continue to climb at the same time that vaccine doses are multiplying, is there anyone with enough integrity to admit the obvious?

I would like nothing better than to find that my instincts on this were wrong from the beginning.

I had hoped to see data on something that proved to be overwhelming as a means to control Covid---masks, lockdowns or vaccines. Anything.

I have yet to see it.

A true test lies ahead as the winter season approaches.

We should know a lot more in three months.

Will it make any difference?"

Best BeeLine Pictures-2021

As the year winds down I have traditionally posted some of the best pictures I have taken with my iPhone during the year.

In the past this included pictures I took on my travels around the world.

There are no pictures from Santorini, Shanghai, Sydney or Stonehenge this year as in the past.

Nor photos from Bora Bora. Bermuda or even Boise.

Like most everyone else, BeeLine has spent much of the year closer to home.

However, I still was able to capture a few images to document the year.

Below are a few of the sights that I found on my handy iPhone in reviewing 2021.

We still are bombarded with a lot of disheartening and discouraging news almost every day but we are also blessed to live in a beautiful and beguiling world if we stop and look around.

A few examples that underscore that point.

Sunrise
Hilton Head Island, SC

Sunrise
Miramar Beach, FL

The Most Beautiful Beach in the World?
Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, FL

Sky, Sea and Sand
Miramar Beach, FL

Seaside, FL

Dahlonega Gold Museum
Dahlonega, GA

18th Hole, Hawks Ridge Golf Club
Ball Ground, GA

Bald Eagle
Cincinnati, OH Zoo

Falls Park
Greenville, SC. 

 

Sky Valley, GA
On the border of Georgia and North Carolina

    

America's Heartland
Fort Recovery, OH

Read your BeeLine blog while having a brew at BEELINE
Easton Town Center, Columbus, OH

Are the Boosters Fueling the Omicron Rocket?

Looking at the data it is difficult not to wonder whether the Covid vaccine booster shots are fueling the surge of Omicron variant cases.

Last week I wrote about the surge of Omicron cases that has made the Covid daily case graphs look like a rocket launch.

That trend continues and my prediction in that blog post that Florida would also soon see the Omicron surge has also come true.

Cases are up 4x in Florida in the last seven days.

7-day average of new reported cases in Florida
Source: The New York Times

It is sure to go much higher, as it will elsewhere, as there is undoubtedly a lag in reporting right now due to Christmas.

What is telling about the numbers from Florida is that the case growth is strongest in the counties that are the most heavily vaccinated. These are also counties in which booster uptake is the highest.

There is little doubt that the higher transmissibility of the Omicron variant makes those in urban settings more vulnerable than less populated counties. However, the case growth numbers in Miami-Dade county (80% fully vaccinated) are eye-popping. Cases are up +1,873% in the last 14 days.

Here are the leading counties in Florida based on daily cases per capita.

All are at or above the full vaccination rate for Florida as well as the United States at large.

Reported Florida cases, deaths and trends by county
Source: The New York Times

This heat map of Florida shows how much of the case incidence in the state is coming from the populous and highly vaccinated counties on the southeast coast of Florida.

Hot Spots for Cases in Florida
Source: New York Times

What makes this especially interesting is that this would not normally be considered to be the "high season" for viral spread in a warm weather climate. Most of the seasonal viral spread we see at this time of year is usually in cold weather climates.

We are seeing the same thing in Hawaii--another warm weather climate. Hawaii also has a higher vaccination rate than the national average. 95% of all those age 12+ have received at least one dose.

The Omicron Rocket has really taken off there in the last two weeks. Cases are up +964%.

Compare cases now to December of last year when there was hardly a blip in case with almost no vaccines deployed at that time.

7-day average of new reported cases in Hawaii
Source: New York Times

San Francisco (like Miami-Dade) has 80% of every man, woman and child fully vaccinated. 

It just set a new record of cases despite having some of the most stringent mask and vaccine mandate rules in the country.

7-day average of new reported cases in San Francisco
Source: New York Times

78% are fully vaccinated in Australia and that nation also has some of the most draconian Covid mandate rules in the world outside of Communist China.

None of those measures has prevented the Omicron Rocket in Australia.

7-day average of new reported cases in Australia
Source: New York Times

Bear in mind that the case counts above don't consider any cases identified in home test kits. These home tests are much more available this year than they were a year ago.

At what point does someone step up and state the obvious?

Something is not working here.

What would have been the reaction if we had seen similar case curves a year after the smallpox and polio vaccines were introduced? 

Would we say these vaccines were working?

I am also tired of the revisionist history where we keep hearing that "no one ever said the vaccines were going to prevent Covid infections".

The fact is that almost every one of the experts said exactly that.

In fact, this was tweeted out by Pfizer the day that the first vaccines doses left their plant in Kalamazoo, MI.

In the last week I know of three friends or acquaintances who came down with Covid who were fully vaccinated and boosted recently.

Yes, it is anecdotal evidence. However, when you also consider the charts above it does not look so anecdotal.

In that the case surge seems the greatest in areas that have the highest vaccination rates, is anyone asking the question whether the vaccines may actually make people more vulnerable to the virus right now?

Washington, D.C (67% fully vaccinated), New York (71%), New Jersey (70%) and Puerto Rico (72%) all have case numbers right now that are more than double what they were last year at the top of the winter peak. 

Source: The New York Times

These are the top locations for Covid cases in the nation right now.

Dr. Tony Fauci is certainly not asking any questions.

In fact, Fauci is telling people to not gather for New Year's Eve parties this year.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fauci-new-years-parties-omicron-cancel

Why? Is it because the virus is raging through places like DC, New York and New Jersey with twice the cases of last year despite high vaccination rates? 

No. Fauci says it is because you don't know the status of who is vaccinated in large groups.

Does he seriously believe that makes any difference right now?

"I have been telling people consistently that if you're vaccinated and boosted and you have a family setting, in the home with family and relatives," it's OK to gather, Fauci continued. "But when you're talking about a New Year's Eve party, we have 30, 40, 50 people celebrating. You do not know the status of their vaccination, I would recommend strongly stay away from that this year."

Does this guy ever look at the actual data? Fauci is still trying to blame this on those who are unvaccinated when the truth is staring him right in the eyes.

It is simply impossible to have the explosion of cases we are seeing in highly vaccinated areas without most of the transmission coming from those who are fully vaccinated.

Are the vaccines and booster fueling the Omicron Rocket?

There is some evidence of that in studies in the UK and Denmark.

A UK study suggests that someone who is triple-vaccinated is more than four times as likely to test positive for Omicron as someone who is unvaccinated.

This study was tweeted out by Dr. Robert Malone who is credited with inventing the mRNA technology over 30 years ago that has been used to develop the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

A study out of Denmark indicated that the unvaccinated actually had the lowest cases per capita of Omicron.

Those fully vaccinated had the highest per capita cases.

Source: https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/theres-something-antigenic-in-denmark

An analyst that I follow calculated that being double vaccinated more than doubles your risk of contracting Omicron based on the data in the Denmark study.

A booster on top of the two shots would reduce your risk but it is still 75% higher than not being vaccinated at all according to the analyst's calculation of vaccine efficacy,

Source: https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/theres-something-antigenic-in-denmark

Below is a chart taken directly from the Denmark study.

Note that the study does not even include any vaccine utility in the first two weeks after the second shots. 

Vaccine efficacy is not considered until two weeks after the second shots.

Between 31-60 days after two shots, Pfizer was found to have only 16% efficacy against Omicron. That drops to 10% after 60 days. After 90 days, it is substantially negative meaning you are more likely to get the virus when vaccinated compared to doing nothing.

Moderna is a little better but the vaccine is still without value against Omicron after 60 days and also has negative efficacy after 90 days.

(Click on to enlarge this or any other image).

Source: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.20.21267966v3.full.pdf

This graph form the study displays the same data which might be easier to comprehend.

Source: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.20.21267966v3.full.pdf

This study indicates that someone would need to get a booster practically every other month to maintain any kind of vaccine protection against Omicron.

That also does not consider the fact that in the first two weeks after any shot you may actually be suppressing your natural immune system until the vaccinal antibodies build up. However, this data suggests that protection never gets that robust to begin with and then quickly decreases until vaccine efficacy is actually negative after 90 days.

Bear in mind this is early data and may be superseded by better information as we learn more about Omicron and how the variant responds to the vaccines.

However, shouldn't there be more questions being asked before we tell more and more people to get more and more jabs?

This is particularly true as we see cases in South Africa falling as quickly right now as they took off originally in the nation that first identified the Omicron variant.

Notice that the declines in Covid cases almost always mirror the trajectory of the increases in any graph you look at.

Have Omicron cases come down in South Africa because of more vaccinations?

South Africa has actually been doing fewer vaccinations in December than they have in previous months.

South Africa has also vaccinated a much smaller percentage of its population than other heavily vaccinated countries that are seeing massive spikes in cases right now.

Contrast the daily confirmed cases in these heavily vaccinated countries (Portugal, Spain, Denmark, UK, USA) compared to South Africa.

South Africa has about 25% its population fully vaccinated. All of the other countries are over 60%.

Here are the confirmed cases in the same countries.

All of the heavily vaccinated countries in this chart are still heading up on the Omicron Rocket.

South Africa is already heading down.

Looking at South Africa, might it be better to actually consider reducing the vaccination effort in the middle of the pandemic?

Are the vaccines and the boosters actually fueling the Omicron Rocket right now?

Are the increasing number of variants being caused by the vaccines?

I don't know but someone above my pay grade should be asking these questions.

However, the two guys at the highest pay grades in the United States government (Fauci and Biden) are not asking any questions even as the Covid battle has changed. They just keep doubling down irrespective of the facts and data that confront us.

As stated above, Fauci is still looking for unvaccinated people to blame.

Biden stated today that there is no federal solution to Covid. He has now declared that it is a state level issue.

Does that mean all of his federal mandates are null and void?

Never mind that Biden spent all of last year's campaign saying Covid had to be addressed as a federal issue and that Trump should be removed because he had no plan to deal with it.

At this point, I have no more words. It would be comical if it was not so serious. We are two years into this and those in charge don't have the slightest idea of what they are doing.

The good news is that hospitalizations are not moving up as fast as cases are. 

If it stays like this we might have a chance to build up herd immunity with this surge of cases, that we did not get from the vaccines, without overwhelming hospitals and seeing rising deaths.

However, Covid is always a numbers game. If we see double the cases, even if Omicron is half as serious as Delta, that still means the same hospitalizations and deaths are possible just based on the sheer number of total infections.

This is why having vaccines that do not provide sterilizing immunity, and do not prevent the disease and  transmission (as the smallpox, polio and most other vaccines we are familiar with), are such a disappointing failure no matter how much the experts try to convince us otherwise. 

The Colossal Failure of Biden's Covid Plan

Joe Biden spent most of his 2020 campaign sitting in his basement telling everyone that Donald Trump had no plan to stop Covid.

He said this in the first debate with Trump at the end of September.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/joe-biden-says-donald-trump-has-no-plan-to-tackle-coronavirus/story-2phN20iJCuyDw0vRsCP0oM.html

Biden said this at the end of October.

When Biden took office on January 20, 2021 he unveiled his Covid plan that he said was "comprehensive". "detailed" and "based on science not politics."

"Our national strategy is comprehensive, it's based on science, not politics. It's based on truth, not denial, and it's detailed," Biden said, speaking from the White House. He said the 198-page plan is posted on WhiteHouse.gov.

Who is in denial right now?

Biden was asked in an ABC News interview this week why he did not have a better plan to deal with the Delta and Omicron variants and how he and his experts could have gotten things so wrong.

Biden's response is the height of denial.

"How did we get it wrong?" he responded. "Nobody saw it coming. Nobody in the whole world. Who saw it coming?"

Biden says nobody in the whole world saw it coming. 

That's interesting because I was writing about the Delta variant in India and the UK in April.

The National Institute of Health, which counts Dr. Tony Fauci as one of its employees, wrote this about the Delta variant in July mentioning that the WHO had designated it a variant of concern (VOC) in July, 2021 before the summer surge in the Sun Belt.

Let's take a step back and determine who should have seen any of this coming.

Donald Trump was totally blindsided by Covid. So was Fauci and the CDC.

Recall that Fauci did not want to cut off travel from China in January, 2020. Trump did it anyway.

Fauci was saying as late as the end of February, 2020 that the risk of Covid was "minuscule".

At that time Fauci was actually advising people to take precautions against a second flu outbreak of the season rather than Covid! This is our "expert".

 

Fauci doesn't want people to worry about coronavirus, the danger of which is "just minuscule." But he does want them to take precautions against the influenza outbreak, which is having its second wave."

The CDC had no approved tests for Covid when the pandemic first started. They were totally unprepared and the lack of approved tests was a major roadblock early.

There was also little personal protective equipment (masks, gloves etc) stockpiled in the national readiness reserve when the pandemic started. Obama/Biden had not seen fit to fund the emergency reserve during their tenure in office.

Despite almost no notice Trump ramped up tests, test sites, PPE and fast-tracked the vaccine effort.

Almost nothing was known about the lethality of the virus at the beginning. 

Recall those videos from China early in the pandemic of people walking down the street and suddenly collapsing and EMT crews in hazmat suits picking them up? How many times have we seen that outside of China? Looking back now do you think those might have been staged by the CCP to sow fear to the rest of the world?  

We knew nothing about the seasonality of the virus in early 2020.

Trump started from almost ZERO.

Contrast that with Biden.

The pandemic had been ongoing for a year when he took office.

Vaccines were already on the market and being distributed.

We knew who was vulnerable and who was at little risk.

PPE supplies were in ample supply.

Testing centers were available everywhere and at-home antigen kits had been developed for ease of use.

We knew that Covid had strong seasonal patterns so it should be easy to predict where the next outbreaks would occur by looking at the prior year cases and hospitalizations.

All of the heavy lifting had been done.

Despite all of the disadvantages that Trump faced, and the advantages that Biden had, Biden is presiding over a colossal failure in his plan for Covid.

2021 has already seen more cases and deaths than 2020.

We are now seeing a surge of cases unlike anything we have seen in two years of the pandemic.

There were almost 34,000 new Covid cases in New York yesterday. That is already more than double the peak in last winter's surge.

New Reported Cases in New York
Source: The New York Times

As I wrote in my last blog post, the line on the graph looks like an Omicron Rocket taking off.

Ironically, the greatest surge is in the city where Joe Biden and his Covid brain trust reside---Washington, D.C.

It now has the highest per capita number of cases in the United States. 

+541% in the last two weeks.

Almost 4x higher than the previous peak in that city.

New Reported Cases in Washington, D.C.
Source: The New York Times

Here are the other states at the top of the list for highest daily average case counts per The New York Times as of December 22, 2021.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html

These are all deep-blue Democrat states that were "all-in" on Biden's Covid plan for 2021. Most have relied on mask mandates, lockdowns and vaccine mandates all along.

How is this anything but a colossal failure?

Biden's new plan is telling the American people he is providing 500 million new home test kits that can be ordered for free through a government website.

Never mind that the order had not even been placed when he said this according to reporting by The New York Times.

"Mr. Biden’s administration has not yet signed a contract to buy the tests, and the website to order them will not be up until January. Officials have not said how many tests people will be able to order or how quickly they will be shipped once they begin to be available next month. Manufacturers say they are already producing tests as fast as they can.”

If manufacturers are already producing tests as fast as they can it will interesting to see where Biden gets 500 million new tests in January as he is promising. Does he have a call into the Chinese?

Never mind as well that the website will not even be up until January. Will cases be headed down by then anyway?

In the meantime, the Biden plan is to tell people they can get together for Christmas but they should test themselves (vaccinated or not) before meeting with family and friends.

However, there are almost no home test kits to be found anywhere right now.

And in many places, including New York City and Washington, D.C., lines stretch around the block for people waiting to get PCR tests.

Joe Biden was given every advantage and a huge head start in implementing his Covid plan compared to Donald Trump.

To use a sports analogy, Biden had a 50 yard advantage in a 100 yard race and he has tripped over his own feet 25 yards from the finish line.

Yes, Joe Biden has fallen and can't get up!

(The following graphic meme proves you can literally find anything your imagination dreams up on the internet!)

Credit: https://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/joe-biden-memes/86222273/

Whatever Covid plan he had is a colossal failure right now.

In fact, an expert on testing trends at Johns Hopkins says Biden does not have a plan, it's only a hope.

Source: https://nypost.com/2021/12/23/biden-has-yet-to-sign-contracts-for-promised-500m-at-home-covid-tests/

  

It seems that Biden still thinks he is an era when you don't have to deliver results, you just have to promise HOPE and CHANGE.

Where did he learn that?

----------------------------------------------------

Merry Christmas to all of my BeeLine readers.

The true meaning of Christmas is that there really is hope for all of us no matter how dark the night sky.

For He arrived in a manger in a stable in Bethlehem.

Dr. David Goetsch wrote about the hope that followed to those that follow Him.

Credit: https://www.david-goetsch.com/post/a-christmas-message-because-he-lives-we-have-hope-even-in-our-darkest-hours-psalm-119-114

The Omicron Rocket

I have found it interesting that some of the Covid variants share names with rockets.

ALPHA rocket launch
Source: https://orbitaltoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/rocket-launch-2-2048x1183.jpg

Delta Rocket
Source: https://spacecoastlaunches.com/blog/apollos-50th-aniversary-a-look-at-the-evolution-of-rockets/attachment/delta-rocket/

Gamma Rocket
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2019/spectrum-x-gamma-rockets-into-space-with-x-ray-vision.html

Omicron would also seem to be a good name if anyone is in the "rocket naming" business. A quick Google search indicates that name has not been claimed for a rocket yet.

However, that name would seem very appropriate for a rocket in seeing how the cases of Omicron are rising like a rocket in various parts of the United States right now.

I pointed out in my last blog post that New York was sure to hit a new 7-day average all-time high in new Covid cases in the next day or so. 

They have attained that dubious record.

The 7-day average is now 19,420 cases/day. That is 17% higher than the previous high on January 12, 2021.

The surge over the last ten days looks like a rocket launch in New York.

7-Day Average of New Cases in New York State
Source: The New York Times

It should be no surprise that New York City is driving part of this surge considering its population. However, New York City has some of the strictest vaccine passport and mandate rules in the country, not to mention mask usage.

Cases are 60% higher than the previous peak in January. 

Cases are up +342% in the last two weeks.

How is this happening?

7-Day Average of New Cases in New York City
Source: The New York Times

In upstate New York, Cornell University had over 2,000 new Covid cases among its 97% vaccinated student body in just two weeks.

One of the big reasons that cases declined was the students were sent home after completing final exams on December 17.

Cases have also soared in New Jersey. It is also at an all-time high.

7-Day Average of New Cases in New Jersey
Source: The New York Times

The surge in cases in Washington, D.C. is so steep, if this was a rocket ship, the G-forces to the crew would be unbearable. 

This looks to be a straight vertical ascent. It is also unbearable to look at this after all that we have been told about the effectiveness of the vaccines, masks, etc.

Cases are 3x greater than they have been at any time since the beginning of the pandemic!

7-Day Average of New Cases in Washington, D.C.
Source; The New York Times

This graph shows you how Washington, D.C. compares to the rest of the United States right now and over the course of the pandemic.

Source: The New York Time

It was a few months ago that I heard that Trump voters were the reason that we were not able to put an end to the pandemic. They wouldn't wear masks and were not getting vaccinated as quickly as they should.

What percentage of votes did Donald Trump receive in the last election in Washington, D.C?

Trump got a grand total of 5% of the total vote in D.C. when he opposed Joe Biden.

Is the rise in cases now the fault of Biden voters? 

Every location cited above also has among the highest vaccinated rates in the nation as well as strong masking requirements.

Nantucket, MA had the highest case rate increase of any county in the United States earlier this week.

Cases were up 1,414% in the 14 days ending 12/20 despite 94% of every man, woman and child being vaccinated on Nantucket according to The New York Times.

You can see the meteoric rise in Omicron cases across the nation in this CDC chart that shows the variants in circulation. Omicron went from less than 1% of all Covid cases to 73% in two weeks! Omicron went from 12% to 73% in one week!

Delta is represented by the gold bars. Omicron by the purple.

Source: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions

The rocket ship rise in cases is not confined to the 50 states.

Look at what is happening in Puerto Rico.

84% of everyone age 12+ is fully vaccinated in Puerto Rico.

7-day Average of New Cases in Puerto Rico
Source: The New York Times

What is interesting about Puerto Rico is this surge is occurring in a warmer climate.

These other surges are in colder climes.

Puerto Rico already had a summer surge at the same time as the Sun Belt states did. This is not a cold season seasonal surge. It is something else. What is going on?

This makes me wonder what we are going to see in Florida over the next several weeks

It appears to be in the early stages of an ascent. 

7-day Average of New Cases in Florida
Source: The New York Times

Let's call it a first stage. Are a second and third stage coming that will make this another Omicron rocket ship vertical ascent?

It looks like it might be shaping up that way especially considering what we have already seen in Puerto Rico.

How can anyone look at all of data above and make the case that the vaccines are in any way even marginally protective?

How can anyone look at this data and and say we need to keep doing more of something that is not delivering anywhere close to what was promised at the beginning?

Right now we are like a gambler who insists on doubling down on his bets and keeps on losing and losing.

In looking at the data, I am concerned that the boosters may actually be feeding the pandemic in that we are seeing many of these rocket ship ascents in areas with high vaccine rates and booster uptakes.

In looking at the data from when the vaccines were first introduced, there seems to be a trend where the vaccines may actually make you more susceptible to the virus in the first several weeks after the jab. Your natural immune response is suppressed while waiting for the vaccine antibodies to be produced.

If you think this is crazy, look at another Omicron Rocket in the U.K.

Cases are now 46% higher than previous peak in January.

Cases are up 83% in just the last two weeks.

Now look at this tweet from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson from yesterday.

It is astonishing.

Is it a coincidence?

The CDC has never acknowledged that vaccines may initially suppress your natural immunity but remember the CDC does not consider anyone to be vaccinated (or fully vaccinated) until two weeks after the shot. This definition was not arrived at by chance.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/second-shot.html

My guess is that they saw the numbers and did not want the two-week period when natural immunity might be suppressed to be counted and used against the vaccine narrative.

You might want to consider this information and decide for yourself whether it is good idea to get jabbed at a time when cases are rising and the virus is raging in your area. You may actually make yourself more vulnerable to the virus in the short-term.

The rocket is also visible in Australia which has had some of the strictest Covid measures in the world over the last two years. 76% are fully vaccinated.

It is also visible in Canada which has barred the unvaccinated from participating in most aspects of society. 77% are fully vaccinated.

The good news is that every surge in cases in the past has been followed by a decrease at about the same rate. There are early signs that is already starting to occur in South Africa where Omicron was first identified.

If that past trend follows, cases we are seeing on these rocket ship ascents will crash at a similar rate.

The hope would also be that these infections will not lead to increased hospitalizations and deaths.

Further, a best case scenario is that these infections will confer broader based and longer lasting immunity to the population than have been provided by the vaccines despite what was promised a year ago when they were introduced.

I know you are not getting this data and these perspectives in the narratives you hear in the mainstream media and the major social media channels.

However, how can you look at the data and facts that surround us right now and come to any other conclusion if you apply a little critical thinking?

There is something wrong with what you have been told.

In the meantime, strap in as the Omicron Rocket has taken off. We are in this together and you should understand by now that the "experts" do not have all the answers no matter how much they want you to believe otherwise.

Be particularly careful if you are in an area that is seeing these vertical spikes in cases. It doesn't matter if you are vaccinated or not.

We can all only hope and pray for a safe landing after the rough ride we look to be embarking on with the Omicron Rocket in the coming days.