Jim Cardoza - Why this Objectivist won't take the COVID vaccine

I had been toying with the notion of getting a COVID shot or two for the past several months. Being over 65 and having been diagnosed with COPD (smoking 30 years not-to-fun), it would seem to be an easy call for me. It hasn’t been. As of now, I have chosen not to get the vaccine. My resistance centers around three basic reasons: misinformation, censorship and bullying.

Let me start with the misinformation:

CDC statistics that counted anyone who died with a COVID symptom (cough) or a positive COVID test as a COVID death, even if they were shot or if they fell off a cliff. Many died of cancer, heart failure and terminal preconditions were listed as COVID deaths.

Official CDC numbers show no deaths from seasonal influenza in 2020. All were included in the COVID numbers.

One year after the fact, there is still no evidence that masks work. The N95 ones that surgeons wear unquestionably do. But bandanas and the blue and white ones commonly seen carry no supporting evidence. Fauci admitted as much in March, 2020 before he found it politically expedient to say they do. There is no evidence for them, but they are mandated nonetheless. They amount to nothing more than a virtue signal and a Simon says-type compliance with authorities.

Lockdowns don’t work. The jury is in. There is no significant difference between COVID deaths in lockdown states and non-lockdown states nor between Europe (lockdowns) and Sweden. However, most scientist believe Sweden will be first to reach herd immunity.

They insisted children are particularly susceptible to COVID and can easily spread it to others. Another lie, this one designed to benefit the teacher’s union. No one under 18 in Sweden died of COVID. There is not, nor was there ever, evidence indicating schools should have been closed.

They claimed people who are asymptomatic but test positive for COVID can spread the virus. Still no evidence for that contention. COVID is ONLY contracted through the respiratory system. It stands to reason that someone who does not cough does not put others at risk.

How come no mention that obesity is right there with age as a primary risk factor? This article explains that a recent global study found that “Covid-19 death rates are an astonishing ten times higher in countries where most adults are overweight. Although advanced age is the strongest indicator of a severe outcome from a coronavirus infection, “being overweight comes a close second,” the report determined.”

Internationally, the only countries showing a marked decrease in COVID-related deaths from the rest of the world are those countries (like India) who dispensed hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic for malaria. I have taken hydroxycloroquine for the past six months and will take until May. The documentation is clear.

Now we are told that mutant strains will require more vaccinations. Do we buy that? Will we allow ourselves to be herded like human livestock whenever the self-interested ruling class demands it?

There are others, but those came to mind quickly.

All of those factors influence me. We know that government has clearly done everything possible to magnify the potential danger of COVID. There can be no argument about that. AND, everything government has done has weakened the individual and empowered themselves. You wouldn’t argue against that either, would you?

Censorship:

Several doctors, nurses, scientists and others have had concerns about COVID which have been banned from YouTube, Facebook, Google and other information distributors. Misinformation has never required censorship. It require rebuttal with evidence. Only when the truth cannot be rebutted is censorship required. If I am deprived of the pertinent information that allows me to make an informed decision, I am not likely to be proactive.

Having noted all of the OFFICIAL misinformation above, it stands to reason that censoring the rebuttals would be an imperative.

Bullying:

Now, vaccination ID’s are being used to gain entry to events and is being proposed as a prerequisite for a passport. That is a grotesque abuse of individual liberty in my opinion. What I see is a government, using the guise of science to restrict and control what used to be free citizens.

I am often accused of overthinking things and that is possibly true. However, the evidence is clear for me that I cannot trust the government. Especially, today’s government. And, if I am required to rely on the veracity of government to have confidence in the vaccine, I will pass. My surmise is that the risk of not taking the vaccine is negligible at this point. I only hope we can get on with normal life soon and not have to wait for Newsom to be recalled.

If I sound like a wacko, so be it, but I am dedicated to following the verdict of my own mind, not the self-interested forces around me. I think this COVID-lockdown fiasco has been a terrible event in American history and with Biden-Harris at the helm, I suspect it will be extended for as long as possible. I feel certain that another bogeyman is being conjured in the lab, since the domestic terrorism propaganda is falling flat. Government has discovered the recipe for totalitarianism.