"Scientists have become sitting ducks. We need leaders to step up and defend us"

[Nevilledog]

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-09-22/antiscience-climate-change-covid-vaccines-antivax

No paywall
https://archive.ph/5imQn

Nearly a century ago, when global dominance in scientific research began shifting to the United States from Europe, our nation built an empire firmly grounded in the natural sciences. America’s research universities and institutes flourished and provided the discoveries leading to the Manhattan Project, Silicon Valley’s tech industry, NASA and space exploration, vaccines to fight polio and other global infections, and new treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and depression.

As a science envoy for the State Department, I saw first-hand how global leaders and technocrats admired the U.S. for its higher education system of scientific training and support. They spoke to me with pride about their time spent at U.S. universities or their hopes and aspirations that one day their sons and daughters might study here.

I have devoted my life to vaccine science. During the pandemic, our team at the Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine developed a low-cost COVID vaccine that was scaled for production in India and Indonesia, where almost 100 million doses were administered.

But here in the United States, thousands of Americans needlessly perished because they refused a COVID-19 immunization during our awful Delta wave in the summer and fall of 2021 and the BA.1 Omicron wave in the winter of 2022. Analyses by myself and colleagues have found that 200,000 unvaccinated Americans died during this period. Overwhelmingly, those deaths occurred in Republican strongholds, including 40,000 in my state of Texas. A closer examination reveals that the redder the county, the lower the immunization rates and the higher the death rates.

*snip*

[QED]

1. Good read by Peter Hotez

[erronis]

11. It's a pity that the best qualified are the targets.

The least qualified rise to the top off the cesspool.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. What can one say or do, to change this stupid behavior around? Republican leaders aren't

doing a damn thing either, to help address the issue, but instead, doing anything and all to hype up the issue, blame the democrats in any shape, way, fashion somehow.

But, I guarantee you this that republican leaders are getting the shots in secret.

Eventually enough republicans in the red states will die and then they may see the light, when long established voting patterns are totally changed around, due to the reduced number of 'red' voters, and 'blue' voters start winning in some places. Heaven forbid!

Multiply 200,000 by several years or so, across republican strongholds and look at the numbers. And I suspect that this number could go up if a new and virulent variety of COVID hits and republicans don't flock to get the vaccines, shots.

[onecaliberal]

4. It's already happening.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. I'm not surprised. This is Sad and Pathetic. I'd prefer to win elections the good ol' hard way, by

convincing others to vote for our candidate(s), not wishing them to die instead.

Like I said, when will it be enough, to convince the 'reds' to listen to their doctors, and get the shots (and ignore those like desantis who is advocating already that those over 65 not get the shots, WHAT!)

[onecaliberal]

6. I don't know and sadly my compassion for th has waned.

If you want to play stupid deadly games; you might get yourself killed. No one is forcing these choices on them.

[Lonestarblue]

8. I remember reading when the Covid vaccines were first available that one problem with the

advice to check with your doctor was that 25% of people do not have a primary care physician. I don’t know if that’s still the case, but that’s a lot of people.

[Rizen]

3. This is also a good argument for Republicans having lower IQs

than Democrats. Studies have been done showing the smartest people were the first to get vaccines.

[Model35mech]

7. Unfortunately, beliefs in medicine aren't just about science

There are multiple confounders that impinge on whether or not scientific understanding wins vaccine argumentation

Medical beliefs, especially belief in big medical events, interface with other big things besides science in our society... business, politics, populism to name a few in general.

Of these I have to say that populist political prejudices have serious impact on society that too often receives over-coverage for the wrong reasons. And not everything in science makes good Youtubes. Day to day science is pretty boring stuff wherein repetition builds 'N' that decision making so largely depends upon. It's not at all the sizzly thing around which 40 second news are made.

Rather, some of the hottest sizzle exists in popular distrust of the educated in general, and particularly for politically empowered educated bureaucrat scientists it runs rampant. Every educated person in charge of Public Health becomes a target of that distrust when it crosses low hanging high voltage power lines of the haters. The media loves creating coverage of the haters because their activity is intended to and it does succeed at generating sizzle. And that sizzle is the sound of frying the brains of the general population, the politicians eyeing their populist base, preachers trying to look empowered to their congregations, and in the conflicts that have broken between the populists and pretty much all the plans of educated, experienced most often competent Public Health Authorities.

If you live here n the US you know that everyone sitting on a high horse is as much a target for criticism and ridicule as they are positioned to lead a cavalry charge on a national pandemic response. As a nation we resent people who tell us what to do, on the false principle that we shouldn't be subjected to other people's opinions regarding our personal, religious or political beliefs. Who are you to tell me I shouldn't be swallowing a sheep wormer to cure my Covid? Who are you to cost me my time at work because I have to be at home doing things for which I'm ill prepared, such as providing all day parenting care and education to my children? Forget messing around house parties... you sure as hell have no authority to tell me not to go to my megaChurch.

If it was only a doubt about the science, that would difficult but not unsolvable.

But it is not, not by many miles.
 

[erronis]

10. Good post. Perhaps summarized - jealousy that the others are smarter than me.

[housecat]

9. The last line says it all. The death party has no qualms about killing their own.