I am old enough to remember when we implemented "15 Days to Slow the Spread" in March, 2020 based on the argument that we did not want to overwhelm our hospitals from Covid.
We needed to "flatten the curve" to keep from overwhelming our hospitals. The entire logic for our initial interventions was based on that argument.
How many times did you see a chart like this in March and April, 2020?
I even remember a time when we talked about the healthcare heroes in our midst who showed up every day and put themselves in harm's way to care for those infected with Covid.
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| Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmosley/2020/04/20/recognizing-our-healthcare-heroes/?sh=7b29c2be42ad |
This was especially true in New York which was ground zero in the early days of the pandemic.
The appreciation for those healthcare workers knew no bounds 18 months ago.
We live in a vastly different world today.
Hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare providers have begun firing healthcare workers in New York state who have not complied with a state order for these employees to get vaccinated against Covid as of September 27.
At last count, nearly 20% of the state's healthcare workers were unvaccinated.
The state does not permit any exemption for those who were previously infected with Covid and have antibodies. It is not unreasonable to conclude that a large number of healthcare workers would be in this category considering their exposure risk over the last 18 months.
Governor Kathy Hochul has also indicated that she does not believe anyone is entitled to exemption to the mandate based on their religious beliefs.
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| Source: https://www.wrvo.org/politics-and-government/2021-09-16/hochul-says-religious-exemption-not-a-legitimate-excuse-to-avoid-covid-19-vaccine |
Governor Hochul has even gone so far to state that the vaccines are "from God" and the unvaccinated are disobeying the Almighty.
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| Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ny-gov-hochul-claims-covid-19-vaccines-from-god-sends-out-her-own-apostles |
It is unclear to me when the last time Hochul read the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
I also seem to have missed the 11th Commandment that Hochul seems to be referring to.
"Thou Shalt Not Refuse Any Government Mandated Vaccines".
All of this gets more difficult to understand by the day.
We are firing healthcare workers who have been on the frontlines in the midst of thousands of Covid patients for 18 months because they are not vaccinated as they might now put vaccinated co-workers and patients at risk?
We are also firing these workers when most healthcare facilities are already suffering from staffing shortages?
In what real world do you voluntarily terminate any healthcare resources in the middle of a pandemic when you are supposed to be concerned about the health system being overwhelmed?
Hochul says that she is prepared to call up the National Guard to fill hospital positions that are left open after the firings. However, National Guard members have day jobs of their own. Does she seriously think she is going to plug the hole in the dam by pulling a doctor or nurse from Syracuse to cover open positions in Schenectady?
Hochul also has stated that she wants to import healthcare professionals from foreign countries such as Ireland and the Philippines to staff the expected shortages in staff.
Hochul also seems to ignore the fact that many of the unvaccinated workers in hospitals and nursing homes are janitors, aides, food service personnel and other lower paid positions that are already under a lot of staffing pressure. Hospitals need workers to clean the floors, cook and serve the meals and change the sheets on those hospital beds. Where do these replacement workers come from?
The hardball tactics regarding the vaccine mandate will undoubtedly coerce a number of healthcare workers to get the jab. Loss of your job, career and livelihood is a powerful motivator.
However, even if 5%-10% refuse to comply it will cause disruptions we can ill-afford right now.
I am concerned about similar disruptions concerning the vaccine mandate regarding our military forces.
Let's consider our SEALs special forces operators.
There are only 2,450 SEALS on active duty. These service members are the best of the best. There are not many among us that have the intelligence, fitness, perseverance and combat skills to be in that select group. It takes a lot of time and money to train these warriors.
I have seen a couple of estimates that 60%-80% of SEALS are not vaccinated currently and that a significant number are not interested in getting vaccinated. After all, we are talking about young and extraordinarily fit human beings here. Some have already had Covid.
Are we really crazy enough that we are going to kick SEALs out of the service for not getting vaccinated against something that is practically ZERO RISK to them?
This article provides some more background on the legal challenge a number of SEALs have brought against the Defense Department mandate.
Navy SEALs have been informed by their superiors that they won’t be deployed if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine, even if they’re granted a religious or medical exemption, according to lawyers representing the elite special operations troops and a document seen by The Epoch Times.
“What they’ve been told is if they apply for a religious accommodation, they will no longer be deployable,” R. Davis Younts, who is representing seven SEALs and is in talks to take on approximately 20 others, told The Epoch Times.
Timothy Parlatore, whose firm represents a number of SEALs and other service members concerned about the vaccines, said his clients have also been given a similar ultimatum.
The reasons the SEALs don’t want a shot are the same as many unvaccinated Americans. They believe they have so-called natural immunity, or protection against reinfection after getting COVID-19 and recovering. And a subset are Christians who don’t want any medicines that are developed using cells from aborted fetuses.
“These guys are not anti-vax, they just—given the extraordinarily low risk of COVID to them and the substantial risk of unknown long-term effects of the vaccine—they aren’t comfortable with it right now,” Parlatore told The Epoch Times.
While the exact number of SEALs considering not getting a vaccine isn’t known, both Parlatore and a pastor who is advising some of them say it’s in the hundreds. The loss of that many SEALs could devastate the elite force, which has 2,450 active-duty members. So far, lawyers haven’t been successful in attempts to convince military leaders to alter the harsh mandate.
It is not just SEALs I am concerned about. What about pilots, nuclear power engineers on submarines, Arabic translators and other highly skilled positions in which the American taxpayer has made major investments in training?
Let it also not be forgotten that the DOD also mandated that all personnel had to be vaccinated against Anthrax. That program began in 1998 until a court injunction halted the program in 2004 declaring the previous six years of vaccinations had been illegal because proper safety protocols had not been followed.
That did little to help those who got pushed out of military service for refusing the shot. Nor did it help the 85% (based on GAO survey in 2000) who had some type of adverse reaction to the vaccine.
Questions about the long-term effects of the Anthrax and other vaccines must still be prevalent as the Department of Veterans Affairs maintains a website page specifically on this topic.
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| Source: https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/gulfwar/sources/vaccinations.asp |
How much future liability are we assuming in Veterans Benefits if there are long-term effects from the vaccines?
The entire financial calculus changes when a voluntary jab becomes a mandatory one in order to maintain your position and rank.
The bottom line is that none of this makes any sense. So much is glaringly evident but no one seems to acknowledge the obvious.
77.1% of all those age 18 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine in the United States.
It should be clear right now that the problem is not with the numbers getting the vaccine. The data suggests that the problem is that the vaccines we have are not sterilizing vaccines that prevent infection or transmission.
As I have written before, the vaccines may actually be causing the Covid variants that are surfacing due to viral immune escape according to a leading vaccine and virus expert.
Who can honestly believe that another few percentage points in vaccine uptake is what is holding us back from ending the pandemic?
Is that worth disrupting our hospitals, nursing homes, schools, military and economy?
Are we in the process of making a bad situation even worse?
Does anyone also honestly believe that the United States can achieve the 97%-98% vaccine compliance that Joe Biden says is necessary for us to return to normal?
What would be the cost to our society to do that?
Are you going to cut off people's welfare checks and government benefit checks to get there?
Are you going to start jailing parents if they refuse to vaccinate their children?
Are you going to sneak up on people, corral them and vaccinate them against their will?
Yes, that has been done before.
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| Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1897/12/07/archives/atlanta-vaccination-war-guests-at-a-negro-wedding-and-courtroom.html |
Ayn Rand, the author of Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead, made an observation in the latter novel that seems to describe exactly where we are right now.
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| Source: https://kwize.com/quote/3230 |
In the meantime, the number of vaccine doses administered are actually declining over the last month even with the threat of vaccine mandates and the fact that people started getting booster shots in the middle of August. Those shots were supposed to be reserved for immunocompromised individuals but at least one pharmacy I am familiar with was overwhelmed with demand going back over a month.
I merely provide evidence.
It is up to others to decide what they see.
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