Put aside conspiracy theories
On June 8, 2022, Timothy Moore wrote a letter to the editor pointing out Catholic monk Alexis Bugnolo’s belief that multiple mRNA vaccines exhaust the immune system and would cause more than 2 billion deaths around the globe in “two or three, maybe five years.” Instead of responding with facts and pointing out the unreliability of the source, I waited for the predicted apocalypse.
The end of 2024 marks the fourth anniversary of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine’s release, and we are 2 billion deaths short of the prediction. However, solid evidence attributes over a million people in the U.S. lost their lives to COVID-19 and vaccines are estimated to have saved over 2 million lives while preventing many more hospitalizations and potentially mitigating the effects of long COVID.
We should set aside nonsensical conspiracy theories based on nonexpert opinion and deal with the real problems that are looming over the horizon, like the avian flu. Whereas COVID-19 mortality rates were a bit less than 1%, in larger outbreaks, bird flu killed 50% of those infected. Unlike COVID-19, which disproportionately kills the elderly, the mortality rate of bird flu seems to be higher in children and young adults.
My reason for writing is to alert readers that bird flu has been popping up around the U.S. in dairy cattle and some poultry. More worrisome, Washington state is near the top of the list with states of most human infections. Luckily, vaccines for the bird flu exist. Should there be an outbreak and the vaccine becomes available to the public, I urge everyone to get vaccinated.
Bugnolo’s beliefs aside, another vaccine will not overtax the immune system. Dr. Paul A. Offit, an internationally recognized expert in the fields of virology and immunology, and colleagues, estimate in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics 2002;109(1):124-129 (tinyurl.com/8svfjn8c) that even an infant’s immune system has the capacity for 10,000 simultaneous and distinct vaccinations. The new administration is shaping up to be filled with unqualified people, so inoculate yourselves from the disinformation that is to come. Should bird flu become pandemic, get yourself and your children vaccinated.
Mark G. Kuzyk
Pullman
