Dr. Leana Wen is a near-perfect example of everything that is wrong with vaccine and public health messaging during the uptick in COVID-19 cases. She appeared on CNN again Thursday promoting universal masking indoors, even for the vaccinated. She is a relentless advocate of some kind of vaccine passport despite public data late in the spring reported by ABC News that businesses such as stores, schools, and indoor dining were not primary drivers of transmission:
Yet, public data analyzed by ABC News appears to tell a different story. The data from states across the country suggests specific outbreak settings (including bars, gyms, restaurants, nail salons, barbershops and stores — for the full list, see graphic below in story) only accounted for a small percentage, if any, of new outbreaks after the pandemic’s initial wave in 2020.
Yet here she is again, whining about creating a two-tiered society and punishing everyone if we don’t:
Here’s the major reason we need to go back to indoor mask mandates in grocery stores & schools: Without a reliable system to determine proof of vaccination, it’s not possible to tell who is vaccinated & who is not. The honor system does not work. pic.twitter.com/3XEC7q3vq7
— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) July 22, 2021
Again, horrid messaging regarding vaccines. As of July 12, the CDC is reporting out of 159 million fully vaccinated Americans, 3,833 hospitalizations and 791 deaths due to a breakthrough infection of COVID-19 infection. As far as population risk, that is effectively zero. The CDC reports these breakthrough infections occurred in the same cohorts of high-risk individuals who suffered severe illness and death during the pandemic. From the CDC report:
- Vaccine breakthrough cases occur in only a small percentage of vaccinated people. To date, no unexpected patterns have been identified in the case demographics or vaccine characteristics among people with reported vaccine breakthrough infections.
- COVID-19 vaccines are effective. CDC recommends that everyone 12 years of age and older get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they can.
- People who have been fully vaccinated can resume activities that they did prior to the pandemic.
To date, data out of Israel and the United Kingdom show the Delta variant results in increased infections without the corresponding increase in daily deaths. Positive tests started to rise at the end of May:
There has been no lagging increase in deaths after two whole months. The infection and death curves have generally mirrored one another. With the Delta variant in a highly vaccinated population, as of July 5, more than 90% of people over 50 were fully vaccinated, vaccination appears effective in preventing fatalities.
Dr. Wen needs to stop reducing vaccine confidence with her ridiculous masking recommendation. Vaccines protect the vaccinated individual. Broadly speaking, while nothing is 100%, the vaccinated should feel confident they are protected. The indoor masking contradicts the CDC’s advice as of July 12.
Next, the talking heads and public health bureaucracy need to calm the public, not inflame them. While the vaccines are effective, the CDC says it takes two weeks from the final vaccine for them to reach full efficacy. That means 14 days after the Johnson and Johnson brand and up to 42 days, depending on the brand of mRNA vaccine. Cases are rising now, with a reported transmission rate, R-naught, of 6.0, meaning every person capable of transmitting the virus will infect six others.
To ease panic and stop the drumbeat of lockdowns and other restrictions, can these “experts” please get real? Dr. Scott Gottlieb was on CNBC Thursday and said the consensus model from ten academic groups is this wave will peak somewhere around Labor Day. That is inside the window for mRNA vaccine effectiveness. In the meantime, every one of these talking heads should be turning healthcare practitioners and patients to the NIH guidelines for early outpatient treatment of COVID-19.
The current treatment protocol recommends monoclonal antibody therapies doctors can administer to outpatients. The FDA has provided new emergency use authorizations for brands that demonstrate effectiveness against the delta variant. Updates show the NIH has demonstrated in vitro effectiveness against several other variants like epsilon. Healthcare providers are still telling patients to go home and go to the emergency room if they become too sick to care for themselves if they test positive for COVID-19. That is malpractice at this point.
It is also malpractice for public health officials and “expert” commentators not to be communicating this broadly and often. Even if an unvaccinated individual gets vaccinated today, they are at risk of contracting COVID-19 during this wave for two weeks to 42 days. The NIH gives the monoclonal antibody recommendation an A rating, and the HHS has gone to the trouble of providing a locator for patients and healthcare providers.
So, if all these geniuses were serious about reducing hospitalizations, the risks of long haul COVID-19 in the unvaccinated, and preventing needless death, they would be pushing this outpatient treatment every chance they get. They aren’t. Instead, ideologues like Wen are obsessed with new restrictions, creating a two-tiered society, and inciting panic. Is it any wonder that American’s confidence in our health bureaucracy is plummeting?
Source: PJ Media
