I can’t figure out why Science hasn’t converged on opposite sides of the Atlantic regarding vaccines. Let’s leave COVID aside for the moment since one’s level of coronapanic is inevitably a political decision. Let’s look at the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. The technocrats in the UK say that Science told them this is for people 75-79 and for pregnant people of any age:
(Of course, by Massachusetts standards, the best protection for a 28-week-old baby is abortion care, legal at every stage of pregnancy and “on-demand” through 24 weeks.)
What does Science say on the western side of the Atlantic? The RSV vaccine is for people aged 60-130+ (CDC):
The NHS says that the flu vaccine is for those 65+. The CDC?
Everyone 6 months and older in the United States, with rare exception, should get an influenza (flu) vaccine every season.
An indestructible 15-year-old is, therefore, never more than a year away from a flu shot in the US while he/she/ze/they is 50 years away from his/her/zir/their next flu shot in the UK.
Let’s turn now to coronapanic. In the U.S., Science says to get one shot at age 6 months and then keep getting injected regularly:
In the UK, the Sacrament of Fauci starts at age 75. In other words, a person must be 150X older in the UK compared to in the US to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. There are usually some error bars in Science, but does anyone know of an example where there is a factor of 150X between a Scientific result in the US versus somewhere else in the world?
Related:
- Lost in the coronapanic shuffle, an April 2020 paper from the Annals of Internal Medicine: “The Effect of Influenza Vaccination for the Elderly on Hospitalization and Mortality” (Anderson, Dobkin, and Gorry). They looked at the UK where hardly anyone gets a flu shot under age 65 and almost everyone gets one at age 65. “Turning 65 was associated with a statistically and clinically significant increase in rate of seasonal influenza vaccination. However, no evidence indicated that vaccination reduced hospitalizations or mortality among elderly persons.” (in other words, the flu shot might prevent a few days of illness, but it doesn’t reduce the death rate)
From listening to right-wing news, I’ve been reliably informed that Myokarditis is the worst killer known to man, far worse that covid, which killed 1m Americans in the last 5 years.
But Myokarditis is a somewhat common side-effect of the flu.
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2023/07/10/flu-related-myocarditis-is-rare-but-can-be-fatal-as-ohio-family-learned
What does a right-thinking person choose?
– Reduce risk from a moderate condition they’ve been talking up for the last 3 years?
– Take one of these dirty left-wing vaccines?
Decisions, decisions.
In the US, flu season was very bad last year. In a typical year, just a few percent of people get it. I seem to remember seeing stories where 50% of some high school students got it.