Press needs to ask why science’s Covid fight has failed, because it has failed
December 20, 2021
As President Joe Biden prepares his “Winter of Death” speech for Americans amid a backdrop of Christmas trees, it’s time for the press to shift gears and become the watchdog against the abuses of those who hold and exercise power in the U.S.
Content over the past five years to blame everything bad on former President Donald Trump, the press, most especially new media outlets such as Vox and BuzzFeed, have been organized as a giant ways-and-means committee for the federal government, including those who have fumbled so badly the Covid virus response.
Instead of questioning authorities, which have proven to have covered up so much, publications including Vox helped shout down voices that asked tough questions, not only about the origins of the virus, but also the public health measures to combat it.
As an example, at the start of the virus, the CDC, which has been preparing for this pandemic for over 40 years, had conflicting advice and no real, solid data about even the efficacy of masks, one of its number greatest tools against Covid.
Which begs the question: What has the CDC been doing for 40 years if it hadn’t even studied the effect of masks on the spread of viruses?
It’s an important question that the press should be asking, but won’t.
Nearly two years later and the CDC still is relying on paper and cloth masks, lockdowns and 100% vaccinations for a virus that has given scientists the head fake more than once in different variants.
And as the numbers of people who have died from Covid under Biden surpass the numbers of people who died from Covid under Trump, one might legitimately ask if there is much difference between the country’s response under the two presidents.
And if not, who’s really responsible for the results?
That would be the scientists, upon whom presidents rely for advice.
It was an important question to ask even before Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the head of the National Institutes of Health admitted that they didn’t see the omicron variant coming.
But now it’s urgent.
What else don’t the scientists know?
At this point, a bit of humility would be refreshing from those in charge, but humility is difficult when the press treats Dr. Anthony Fauci like a rockstar as a way of politically pummeling Trump or whomever else threatens them.
From here, it looks like Covid is here to stay.
Data shows that those aged 65 and older still represent 80% of deaths from Covid.
“For every 1,000 people infected with the coronavirus who are under the age of 50, almost none will die. For people in their fifties and early sixties, about five will die — more men than women,” according to Nature.
We have been reassured ad nauseam that those who get vaccinated, even among the elderly, have a very small chance of getting sick and dying.
Perhaps now is the time to pivot to treating it, mitigating the most serious consequences of the disease and protecting the people who are most vulnerable, like the aged and infirm.
But that can only happen if the press asks some tough questions of those who are responsible for fighting the virus.