[ExI] vaccine dark humor

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On Mon, 27 Dec 2021 at 07:39, spike jones via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

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> *From:* extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> *On Behalf
> Of *Stathis Papaioannou via extropy-chat
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> So now… we still don’t have testing done under controlled conditions with
> systematic data collection, which is why after all this time the big
> picture is still muddled and chaotic, with pharmaceutical companies and
> politicians cheerfully wielding power without reasoning or accountability.
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> >…What do you imagine more thorough earlier testing in a few thousand
> subjects would have shown that is not evident by observing the effect of
> almost 9 billion doses of vaccines given in 184 different countries? --
> Stathis Papaioannou
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> Stathis for starters, we would have known perhaps that the vaccine’s
> benefit is short term.  When I took the first shot, we were being told this
> was one and done, like tetanus or measles.  That has changed dramatically.
> Had it been known before, it would have influenced a lot of decisions on
> whether to take the vaccine to start with.  Many took this the first time
> based on misinformation.
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> Now we learn that the risk model is speculative as well, and no one is
> accountable if things go badly.  Yet plenty of governments charge ahead
> with mandates.  The US government would jump on that mandate bandwagon if
> it had the authority to do it.  We do get a side benefit: it serves as a
> reminder to make double sure the government doesn’t get special authority
> based on public health emergencies.
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I don’t think it was ever promised that the vaccine would be permanently
effective. The closest comparison was with the flu vaccine, which needs to
be changed every year. It was a welcome surprise that the COVID vaccines
are more effective than flu vaccines because it was feared that it might be
very difficult to make a vaccine at all, as with HIV. But even if the
vaccines were not very effective, say if they only decreased the risk of
dying from COVID by 10%, they would still be worthwhile, because 10% of
many millions is still millions of lives saved.

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Stathis Papaioannou
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