Among the disciplines of responsible journalism is examining both sides of any debate. That means avoiding the crusading trap which ensnares many. Keeping an open mind has been particularly useful during a pandemic which has taught us scientists, especially those in bureaucratic organisations, are as capable of making mistakes as the rest of humanity.
The graph above from The Spectator is a case in point. Ahead of the UK’s July 19 “Freedom Day”, the country’s medical bureaucrats warned of dire consequences, clearly reflected in the official forecasts. As the graph shows, actual Covid infections turned out to be below even the most conservative projections and 5x under the highest forecast.
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With hindsight, UK PM Boris Johnson was right to prioritise the economy (and society) by rejecting the advice of medical bureaucrats and academics who demanded the lockdown continue. Releasing their grip is proving more difficult for his counterpart in Pretoria. SA remains at Lockdown Level Three, despite its Third Wave having very clearly dissipated.
Fresh and already widely accepted information tells us that’s not the only area where the medical bureaucrats – and media which slavishly regurgitates them – have been wrong.
For instance, Bloomberg has been the banner bearer in following the official line – a consequence perhaps of its owner’s abhorrence of the former US president seeping into the newsroom.
Among the positions Bloomberg took was Washington’s dismissal of those who suggested natural immunity offered better protection than vaccines (see Marc Girardot’s excellent contribution on BizNews).
That’s now been reversed. It follows publication of research from Israel and the subsequent article in respected publication Science which quotes a leading scientist thus: “It’s a textbook example of how natural immunity is really better than vaccination. To my knowledge, it’s the first time this has really been shown in the context of Covid-19. The differences are huge.”
Bottom line: An analysis as part of the large study which compared 32 000 people in Israel’s health system concluded vaccinated people had a 27 times higher chance of developing symptomatic Covid-19 than the previously infected. Yes, 27 times. And for good measure, the vaccinated have an eight times higher chance of being hospitalised than the recovered. Pretty dramatic, what?
In her recant published last night Bloomberg Opinion columnist Faye Flam admits what she wrote was wrong, blaming her view on the official US narrative which (obviously) was also wrong. In other words, she now admits the 98% of humanity who recover from a Covid infection are exponentially better protected than by any vaccine shield. Not the other way round as she previously stated.
So Panda’s Giradot was right all along.
Apart from being a strong reminder to always question bureaucrats – and the media narrative propagated by those with obvious agendas – it’s also massively relevant for South Africa.
Discovery, which was the first SA company to announce mandatory vaccines for staff, also tells us more than 80% of SA’s population have already recovered from Covid-19. Presumably that policy will now be adjusted to exclude the four in five of its staff who were previously infected?
More reading for you today:
* Have an older iPhone? Here’s a guide to getting the best performance.
* A generation of American men give up on college: “I just feel lost.”
* Bitcoin price tumbles after El Salvador makes it national currency
