WITH the politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic, CDC preventive guidelines, vaccines, and booster shot, people are so confused and scared, and are making the wrong choices, unwise decisions, and endangering their lives, those of their loved ones and people around them.
Allow me to review some proven scientific facts and various scenarios we now know since the first case of COVID-19 was discovered in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019, up to the present.
The vaccines against COVID-19 were developed faster, not because they were recklessly created or shortcuts were taken. The state-of-the-art Messenger Ribonucleic Acid (mRNA) technology made it possible. The old technique to develop vaccines took 5 to 10 years or longer, but utilizing mRNA speeds up the process normally. This wonderful progress in medical science is a welcome advancement the whole world should be grateful for, and not be demonized as something improper, sinister, or dangerous. Vaccines today are a lot safer than those of yesteryears.
Wearing face mask properly (covering both the nose and the mouth), using KN95 mask or other CDC designated mask, social distancing, and avoiding crowds are more than 80 percent protective if everybody does the same. The remaining risk depends on the integrity of the immune system of the individuals and their behavior.
Unvaccinated persons are at the highest risk (4 to 5 times more likely) to get COVID-19 infection, 10 times more likely to require hospitalization and ventilator support, and 11 times more likely to die. Most of the new cases and 90 percent of the recent hospitalization and deaths involve unvaccinated individuals. This has been dubbed the “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
Collateral damages resulting from refusal to get the vaccines include harboring the virus in their bodies; spreading the virus to the vaccinated ones causing breakthrough infections; filling up hospital beds and ICUs, leading to cancellation of surgeries and endangering people with heart attack and other severe (non-COVID) illnesses due to unavailable ICU beds.
New studies show that more than a third (36 percent) of those unvaccinated who recovered from COVID-19 infection had ZERO antibody against the virus. Natural immunity following infection is not consistently enough to ward off re-infection. It also fades faster than the immunity from the vaccines. Vaccination provides longer lasting immunity compared to natural immunity. Those who recovered still need the vaccines.
The effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines wanes after around 6 months after the second shot. This is the scientific justification for everyone to get the booster (third) shot, which increases the antibody titer to 10 to 12 times, providing more than 4 times greater protection against breakthrough infections. Data from Israel prove these findings and European countries are now following suit.
Unvaccinated individuals must wear a mask, do social distancing, wash hands frequently, and stay away from crowds because they have the gravest risk to get infected, spread the virus to others, and kill people (technically inadvertent homicide). Vaccinated persons must practice the same preventive measures to minimize breakthrough infections.
Had at least 80 percent of the people in the U.S. been fully vaccinated soon after the vaccines were available on December 11, 2020, we would have started to develop herd immunity as a nation by now and could celebrate a normal Christmas this year.
But it is not meant to be, and predictably so, because gullible people are led by politicians, civil rights agitators, social media misinformation and fake news, rather than medical science. Sadly, even wisdom and common sense appear to have vanished.
A survey a few months ago revealed that 20 percent (more than 60 million) of people in the U.S. were against the COVID-19 vaccines. The warm bodies of these unvaccinated group now act as the host reservoir of the virus, rapidly replicating and mutating, churning out more virulent and more deadly strains. Without a host, the virus would self-destruct.
A historical footnote: In 1721, inventor Benjamin Franklin and his brothers were highly critical of variolation (inoculation) for smallpox. When the virus came to Philadelphia in 1736, it infected and killed his son. In his autobiography, Franklin wrote: “In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the smallpox taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation.” Sadly, there were (are) thousand others with similar regrets.
So long as there are unvaccinated people, this pandemic will linger and remain with us for years. Our leaders are inept, spineless, interested only in being politically correct. It’s really up to us – We, The People – our mindset, priorities, biases, and behavior to end this pandemic.
It would be most negligent and callous of the federal government not to urgently mandate COVID-19 vaccination when almost 750,000 Americans have already died. How many thousand more deaths do we need to do what is right?
National societal interest, safety, and welfare must prevail over individual freedom and civil rights. Refusing the vaccine and to wear a mask simply to exercise the freedom of choice is almost suicidal, could kill countless others, and prolong this pandemic. Let us choose life, instead!
The historical constitutional basis for my suggestion and comments follows:
“In 1901 a deadly smallpox epidemic tore through the Northeast, prompting the Boston and Cambridge boards of health to order the vaccination of all residents. But some refused to get the shot, claiming the vaccine order violated their personal liberties under the Constitution. One of those holdouts, a Swedish-born pastor named Henning Jacobson, took his anti-vaccine crusade all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The nation’s top justices issued a landmark 1905 ruling that legitimized the government’s authority to ‘reasonably’ infringe upon personal freedoms during a public health crisis by issuing a fine to those who refused vaccination.” Smallpox has been officially declared globally eradicated. By law, vaccines are required for kids for school. We have other legal precedents!
To save the nation, its people, economy, and our children’s education, not to mention, sanity, and end this pandemic soonest, we need an urgent federal mandate on vaccination and the strict implementation of the CDC preventive guidelines.
If we strictly follow science and modern epidemiology, we, together, (People Power) could end this pandemic much sooner. It’s really a no-brainer, even to a non-physician.
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National interest and welfare must always supersede, override, and prevail over individual freedom if equitable justice is to be served in a democracy. Personal right must give in for the greater safety of society as a whole. The same is true for the noble responsibility a person has to his entire family. This sacred principle is especially true in a pandemic or in a world war. And this is a world war.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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The main objective of this column is to educate and inspire people live a healthier lifestyle to prevent illnesses and disabilities and achieve a happier and more productive life. Any diagnosis, recommendation or treatment in our article are general medical information and not intended to be applicable or appropriate for anyone. This column is not a substitute for your physician, who knows your condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, a Health Public Advocate, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian and anti-graft foundation in the United States. Visit our websites: philipSchua.com and FUN8888.com Email: [email protected]
