Damar Hamlin is alive.
"What a fool believes, he sees.
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be.
Oh, I believe."The DoobieBrothers, 1978
Damar Hamlin, the NFL player who had a heart attack after being hit mid-chest, did a direct-to-camera video.
He did it to show he isn't dead.
Post-Musk adjustments to the Twitter algorithm have given me new and unexpected exposure to the anti-vaccination world-view. I am getting multiple posts from people I had not previously seen. They assert that Dr. Anthony Fauci conspired to create a weaponized virus to kill Americans, that COVID vaccines have killed millions of people and will kill millions more, and that athletes are dropping dead from the vaccines. Therefore, "the system" arranged to hide Hamlin's death. Conspirators include every malefactor of the political left. The changes to Twitter are subject for another post, but for now I am grateful for the insight into what some people are reading. It helps explain why so many people let lapse their COVID vaccination boosts.
A conspiracy involving body doubles seemed crazy to me. The Hamlin-is-dead claim requires that he never be exposed as alive. But doubt does not require credible theories or evidence, just hearing confident assertions by enough people. This Twitter post arrived yesterday. Its reach was boosted by Naomi Wolf, a Ph.D. in English Literature. She became famous as a clothing advisor to Al Gore in the 2000 election--telling him to be more "alpha"-- but she re-emerged in national consciousness as a spreader of conspiracy themes on social media.
The "expert in data analysis" doesn't know that the word data is plural. No matter. His assertions and ones like it from thousands of other people circulate within MAGA circles. Some people will be influenced and won't get vaccinated or boosted. As this blog has reported, Republican areas have seen a rise in mortality rates compared to Democratic areas, beginning when vaccines became widely available. MAGA COVID victims who die are not talking. The ones who get through it can say, "See, it wasn't so bad."
The battle to stop the spread of COVID has been lost. COVID is endemic. Colorado's Jared Polis probably had the right political instincts for a Democratic governor. He decided to give up trying to protect Coloradans from one another--the original justification for lockdowns, social distancing, masks, and vaccinations. Instead, protect yourself. Get vaccinated--but if you don't, it is on you. The vaccines now largely protect the vaccinated from a severe case of COVID, not from spreading the disease. The justification of COVID protocols shifted about the same time the tipping point of Americans lost their patience with the protocols. Besides, why bother? They were hearing word that vaccinations were dangerous and masks were worthless.
Nations can do hard things, but it takes leadership. Ukraine's Zelenskyy has shown that public support for a courageous path can be mustered if a leader establishes a clear national purpose and demonstrates he is all in. President Trump took the position of minimizing the disease. He helped fast-track creation of vaccines, but since his bigger message was to "go on with your lives," a split emerged in the national message. Public health authorities talked about a health crisis, while the Trump message was that the COVID crisis was fake. Trump's strongest supporters turned against vaccinations. They've "heard things."
The best data (plural, remember) on vaccines come from a source considered non-credible in many circles, the CDC. I consider them more credible than Joe Rogan or Marjorie Taylor Green. The CDC says vaccines have a vanishingly small health risk and they reduce the severity of COVID if one gets the disease. Here is some difficult, dense reading by the CDC.
Readers will choose their own sources. Believe what you wish. I will summarize the report's conclusion: The vaccinations are a significant net health benefit. Stay up to date with recommended COVID vaccines, including the bivalent boosters.