Sequels are always a gamble. A good sequel contains just enough of what the original hit held, to capture the original fans and keep them captivated. The Hunger Games trilogy did this twice. Die Hard made it through Die Harder intact, barely pulled it off with Die Hard With a Vengeance, and should have stayed dead after that. But in real life, there are real consequences to sequels, as in two terms of Obama. And now that the debut of a pandemic appears to be heading to final credits (Thanks, China) we are already being treated to trailers of the sequel: the Delta variant.
Buckle up Buttercups. CNN, Newsweek, and all your favorite fake news outlets are falling over themselves to ensure Americans don’t start feeling like they are safe without a vaccine that may or may not be causing some young male recipients to keel over from inflamed hearts.
“The Delta variant is on its way to becoming the dominant strain of coronavirus in the U.S., raising concerns that outbreaks could hit unvaccinated people this fall,” CNN reports. First reported in India, the Delta variant is now said to have gone global. This, news outlets like CNN are stating, “may spearhead a wave of infection that could overwhelm health care systems, reverse reopening plans and even potentially undermine the rollout of vaccines.”
But as long as we all get vaccinated, reports go on to say, we should probably be fine. Because even though the vaccines don’t protect against getting the variant, the effects will probably be less severe for those with the vaccine.
Maybe. They think. But they’re not sure. There could be a need for a booster shot, or not. But probably. And even though people have died in spite of being fully vaccinated, we shouldn’t allow that to make us doubt the efficacy of the vaccine. And even though there is a recent wave of young males developing pericarditis (inflammation of the heart) after being vaccinated, the CDC is assuring us that this isn’t a problem either. As of yet,we are told, it isn’t certain if these young men’s hearts developed this condition as a result of the vaccine, or as a result of picking up other viruses now that they are going out more often. Former FDA Chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb says viruses like respiratory syncytial virus, enterovirus, echoviruses and coxsackie could be the true culprits, even though we’ve never been warned before, that these viruses are common enough that just going out more can instigate a wave of young men clutching their chests and being rushed to hospitals.
That’s weird, isn’t it?
The CDC reported 475 cases of myocarditis or pericarditis in males under the age of 30, who received the vaccine. That’s more than they expected, they say, which implies that it is not entirely unexpected, right?
But 475 people is not a lot, given that millions are getting the vaccine. So it probably won’t happen to you or someone you love. Not getting the vaccine because of such a small number of people having such serious problems is almost like not getting the still-questionable vaccine to protect yourself from a disease that is 99% survivable. Besides, only some of those people are still in the hospital, and most of them recovered.
Gottlieb insists the merits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of heart problems or COVID, itself. He’s also a board member of Pfizer- but nothing to see over here. Move along and get your vaccine, or get ready for more lockdowns, mask mandates, and overall efforts to remove your civil liberties.
Now that Trump is no longer president, the only thing standing between America and glory are the people who continue to insist upon having the right to make their own decisions about their own bodies and their own families and their own businesses. One pandemic exposed who will crumble and who will stand tall. It weakened morale, turned friends against one another, destroyed business, increased domestic abuse and suicide, and obliterated our rights.
We weren’t ready for the first one. But we are now.
