One of the leading matters being discussed right now regarding the Corona Virus is the emergence of a Vaccine. President Trump is predicting that a Vaccine should be available by the end of October or the beginning of November. Dr. Fauci is also optimistic and he predicts that a Corona Virus Vaccine which will be, to use his exact words, ,,Safe and Effective'' would be available by the beginning of the year (2021).
The question which neither one of them, or anyone else is addressing is, what constitutes the definition of ,,Safe and Effective,'' to use, again, Dr. Fauci's words.
We were taught and generally it is accepted, that such words need to be quantified in some way or another.
For example, ,,Safe.'' how safe? 100% safe? 90% safe? 80% safe? 50% safe? How does Dr. Fauci exactly describe safe, or, more precisely, how does he quantify it? Many Vaccines are safe, but some are more safe than others. Some Vaccines are considered by certain people, including medical professionals not to be safe. Indeed, not very long ago, not very long ago at all, there was a raging debate in some States whether vaccination of children for certain types of flu can be compulsory. Many parents were (and still are) opposed to having their children vaccinated against the flu. Many adults are. Many people intentionally avoid being vaccinated against the flu and/or other types of communicable diseases. We are entitled to know from Dr. Fauci, not just Dr. Fauci, but anyone and everyone else who is involved in the development of these Vaccines as to how safe the Corona Vaccine would be, not in general, vague terms, but specifically, using numbers, using percentages.
Let's set aside safety aside for a moment. How about effectiveness? Dr. Fauci says that the Corona Virus will be ,,Effective.'' Again, the word ,,Effective'' is a vague concept. How effective? 100% effective? 80% effective? 50% effective? 40% effective? Again, nobody appears to want to come forward and answer these questions. Are these questions important? We would like each to consider the answer to that question for oneself, but here are the facts we know. No Vaccine is 100% effective. That fact is disputed by no one. Some Vaccines, not many, not many at all, can be as high as 80% or 90% effective. Such Vaccines are considered exceptionally good. Many Vaccines are far less effective, some, as low as 40% or 30%. Dr. Fauci himself stated that a Corona Virus Vaccine might be 50% effective. That doesn't sound like a very impressive number, but even at 50%, it raises more questions than it answers.
Again, we would like to go to CDC numbers to which we had alluded earlier and which were published through 17 June 2020. As we stated earlier, 80% of Corona Virus fatalities have been 65 years old or older through that period. 90% of Corona Virus fatalities were 55 years old or older. Corona Virus fatalities for infants and children were statistically insignificant.
More importantly, the CDC figures further show that 94% of the Corona Virus fatalities succumbed with co-morbidities. That, we find an awful statistic. In analyzing that statistic, it further shows that at least through 17 June 2020, the total number of people who died in the United States of the Corona Virus under the age of 55 and who had no co-morbidities was less than 200.
So, to us, a logical question would be, what is the effectiveness of the Corona Virus Vaccine for people who are over 65, and/or over 55, or at any age, for that matter, who are suffering from another disease which would result in a co-morbidity, in the event that person contacts or is infected with the Corona Virus. Dr. Fauci does not answer that question. Nobody is answering that question. And that would be a very, very, very important question, as the total number of deaths caused by the Corona Virus (and co-morbidities), is now approaching 200,000 in the United States alone.
All this is going on, without any serious concern, so far as we can discern, how much sanitary conditions in Rest Homes and Hospitals might have something to do with Corona Virus fatalities.
Also, given the severity of this epidemic, there is very little effort in the United States, one could almost say, token effort, towards ,,Therapeutics,'' in plain English, drugs, towards treating those who become infected with this horrendous disease, especially when it comes to elderly people and, more specifically, elderly people who are suffering from another threatening condition.
We have mentioned several of these ,,Therapeutics,'' a less fancy word for that would be drugs, which have been dismissed one after another, or, as is the case with Remdesivir, really, not given the importance that it would seem to deserve, given the dire situation concerning fatalities. Equally, there has been no enthusiasm on embarking on progress made in other countries, through various methods, Favipiravir in Japan, now being used in numerous other countries, and containing methods such as Herd Immunity. We may not know how effective those things may be, although we suspect that there is a great deal of information already out there, but to hang on to meaningless catchphrases, such as ,,Gold Standard'' in order to avoid scientific evaluation of everything and anything, seems to border on a certain level of irresponsibility. Rome is burning, in this case, literally, some American cities are in flames and Dr. Fauci seems to be obsessed with rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.
With all of the consequences that the United States and the world have endured over the recent period of a little more than six months, economic, societal and quality of life consequences, we believe, it is not too much to ask, to expect better than that.
