Are Perceptions of COVID Changing?

By Anthony J. Ciani

Mask and vaccine mandates are less politically damaging than they should be.  Recent polls show that around 64% of Americans support mask mandates, although less than half view masks as effective.  One in four view masks as hazardous and ineffective.  Playing on COVID fears, Democrats are beating Republicans 45% to 33% on their handling of the COVID pandemic.  John Q. Public views the party that called the pandemic a hoax, that played games with lockdowns, and that had plentiful hairdresser and French Laundry moments as they abused and made light of the pandemic, to be more trustworthy on the issue.  Why, and what can be done to correct this?
 
The repetition of the big lie, suppression of facts and lack of personal experiences have skewed perceptions.  Big Media and Big Tech have consummated an unholy alliance with Big Government to spread “fact checks” and disinformation masquerading as truth.  If government disinformation is the problem, then privately spreading information is the solution.
 
A scientist colleague proclaimed, “I cannot believe how anti-science the Republicans are acting.”  I corrected him, “the Republicans are the only ones following the science.”  I informed him that the CDC’s studies showed that masks were ineffective, that other studies suggested masks would worsen the spread and severity of disease, and that Pfizer’s Phase II/III vaccine trials suggest that their vaccine will kill three healthy people through side effects to save one life from COVID (over six months, with declining efficacy).  Meanwhile, there are multiple effective therapies, such as ivermectin, monoclonal antibodies, budesonide, vitamin D3, zinc, azithromycin, and hydroxychloroquine, which are inexpensive and can individually reduce deaths by over 80% and can be used in combination.
 



 
Republicans are trying to stop self-destructive and counterproductive policies as we transition to the reality that COVID is here to stay, and we should focus on effective treatment rather than harmful and futile prevention.  Meanwhile, Democrats continue politicizing COVID for power.
 
Moreover, if Pfizer’s study of 44,300 participants and three confirmed COVID deaths were scaled to the U.S. population, that would be 66,000 confirmed COVID deaths, far fewer than the 660,000 on the highly politicized COVID death clock.  Is the error in Pfizer’s study or the death clock?
 
None of this is hidden.  PubMed is a great resource for scientific papers.  Information is available from government and vaccine and mask manufacturer’s websites.  Even Google will provide solid sources for the dangers and lack of efficacy of masks and vaccines after you filter the results for anything prior to 2020.  During 2020, the origins and severity of COVID, its therapies, and masks, and vaccines became political, and the web filled with “fact checks” that contradicted long-standing and emerging science.
 
My colleague was taken aback.  Neither he nor his nurse girlfriend had heard any of this, and the same is true for many of my left-leaning associates, even MDs.  They only knew what issued from the talking heads on network news or appeared in drive-by media headlines, and only accepted what came from official, non-Republican political sources.
 
The fearmongers are Democrats, and their purpose is political, so everything about COVID becomes political and loses trust.  You might inform some people that COVID has a 99.8% survival rate but will persuade few to end mask and vaccine mandates.  There has been a gross overreaction, and the resulting loss of liberty is of greater concern and harm than COVID.  On that issue, conservatives have won public opinion by a large (65/30) margin.  But to many, it says that conservatives are okay with killing 0.2% in the name of freedom.  They see little harm in masks and vaccines and grossly overestimate the severity of COVID.
 

 
Consider that over 1/3 of all COVID deaths are among people waiting for death at long-term care facilities, and the remainder on the death clock were not in much better condition. If masks and vaccines are neither safe nor effective, the question about mandates becomes, why would you force people to injure and kill themselves in futile attempts to save those near the ends of their lives?
 
As people gain experience that masks and vaccines are neither safe nor effective and learn of the mundane nature of COVID, attitudes will change.  While 50% now view masks as effective, it was 70% back in December 2020.  Personal experience is contradicting the government and media narratives.
 
Many have had COVID and hardly suffered from it, a far cry from the certain death that some of our politicians proclaim.

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