'Pandemic of the Unvaccinated' Propaganda Campaign
In July, 2021, CDC officials began spreading the phrase “pandemic of the unvaccinated” with the help of media and Big Tech giants. Despite no evidence aside from the words of hospital administrators, and against the global correlation data and nations suffering worse outbreaks in proportion to vaccination, the phrase caught on spurring a combination of fear and derision of those remaining in the control group of the illegal global experimental vaccine campaign.
Timeline
July, 2021
July 16, 2021 – COVID-19 cases are continuing to spike in communities where vaccination rates are low, leading to what CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, called “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”..
She continued, “The good news is, if you're fully vaccinated, you're protected … our biggest concern is we are going to continue see preventable cases, hospitalizations, and sadly, deaths among the unvaccinated.”
When asked if breakthrough infections – illness caused by COVID-19 in vaccinated people – is contributing to the spread of the Delta variant, infectious disease expert Anthony S. Fauci, MD, said it is unlikely.
Research shows the viral load among those who are vaccinated is so low that transmission is unlikely, but, he said, there is not sufficient clinical data on that yet.
White House COVID-19 Response Team
“Unvaccinated Americans account for virtually all recent COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths,” said Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator. “Each COVID-19 death is tragic, and those happening now are even more tragic because they are preventable.”
August 2021
North Carolina HHS
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services yesterday released new data in the weekly respiratory surveillance report showing that unvaccinated people were 15.4 times, or 1,540 percent, more likely to die from COVID-19 during the four-week period ending Aug. 21, 2021. This comes as the state hit a pandemic high on Aug. 26 with 912 adults in the ICU with COVID-19. The number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators also reached a record high at 574.
This week’s respiratory surveillance report is the first to provide age-adjusted death rate data for COVID-19. Adjusting for age is a way to make fairer comparisons between vaccinated and unvaccinated people because the vaccinated population is older than the unvaccinated population and older people are more likely to die from COVID-19. Data is preliminary and is subject to change as additional cases and deaths are reported. https://web.archive.org/web/20210827175603/https://www.ncdhhs.gov/news/press-releases/2021/08/27/adult-icu-patients-hit-record-highs-pandemic-new-report-shows-unvaccinated-people-are-more-15-times
CNBC
CDC study shows unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid Published Tue, Aug 24 2021 by Berkeley Lovelace Jr.
Unvaccinated people are about 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 than those who are fully vaccinated, according to a CDC study released Tuesday. The new study also found that unvaccinated people were nearly five times more likely to be infected with Covid than vaccinated people. The data is in line with comments from federal and state health officials, who have been saying for weeks that millions of unvaccinated Americans have been putting themselves at serious risk.
September, 2021
2021 September 1 - By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press
This summer’s coronavirus resurgence has been labeled a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” by government officials from President Joe Biden on down…
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has tried to call attention to the damage done by misinformation and disinformation. But for many vaccine opposition has become ingrained.
A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in July found that 45% of adults who had not yet received a vaccine said they definitely would not get it. Nearly 2 in 3 (64%) unvaccinated adults said they had little to no confidence the shots are effective against mutations like the delta variant, although data show vaccination dramatically reduces the risk of serious illness, hospitalization and death.
Yet top officials don't seem to be ready to retire or amend a favored catchphrase.
“As I’ve said before, the pandemic of the unvaccinated is a tragedy that is preventable,” Biden declared in a recent remarks on his administration's COVID-19 response.
Asked Wednesday whether the sound bite still accurately reflects the evolving pandemic, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said unvaccinated people continue to account for the “vast, vast majority” of those hospitalized. “So it hasn’t changed our messaging,” she added.
2021 September 28 Imagine you’re injured, but as the paramedics wheel you toward the hospital emergency room, your anti-vaxxer neighbor rushes past you and reaches the doctors first, demanding treatment because he or she has a serious case of COVID-19.
Does your neighbor’s anti-vax stance, or their intent, matter?
It could be a scene from the “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” currently breaking health systems in states like Alabama, Mississippi, Montana, Florida, Texas and Alaska. It’s an avoidable tragedy, but somehow a mystery to many of America’s willfully unvaccinated who, in their hour of COVID-19 need, find themselves desperately seeking help from the same medical professionals they chose to ignore. Some are so committed to their willful ignorance and selfishness that they would rain abuse, threats, and accusations upon those working to save them.
But what of the threat they have posed to others, from children under 12 still waiting for a vaccine, to the immunocompromised who remain at risk? Before their panic set in, were vaccine-refusers motivated to consider their impact on other patients, or on exhausted medical professionals, overwhelmed by legions of fellow anti-vaxxers flooding emergency rooms?
White House
Remarks by President Biden on Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic - September 09, 2021 Even as the Delta variant 19 [sic] has — COVID-19 — has been hitting this country hard, we have the tools to combat the virus, if we can come together as a country and use those tools.
If we raise our vaccination rate, protect ourselves and others with masking and expanded testing, and identify people who are infected, we can and we will turn the tide on COVID-19.
It will take a lot of hard work, and it’s going to take some time. Many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated, even though the vaccine is safe, effective, and free.
You might be confused about what is true and what is false about COVID-19. So before I outline the new steps to fight COVID-19 that I’m going to be announcing tonight, let me give you some clear information about where we stand.
First, we have cons- — we have made considerable progress in battling COVID-19. When I became President, about 2 million Americans were fully vaccinated. Today, over 175 million Americans have that protection.
This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. And it’s caused by the fact that despite America having an unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for almost five months free vaccines have been available in 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million Americans who have failed to get the shot.
CNN
As the US reached another major vaccine milestone – more than 75% of adults have gotten at least one shot, according to the White House – there's a growing question of how to deal with the unreachable vaccine opponents who won't get the shot no matter how dangerous that is for their families, neighbors and random people they meet. The hardest nuts to crack are either boldly declaring their opposition to the shot – claiming a deeply held belief – or walking quietly among us, hiding it from the world.
In Florida, one doctor told patients she wouldn't see them in person after September 15 unless they're inoculated, according to WTVJ in Miami. Only 10% to 15% of her patients would be affected. The edict from Dr. Linda Marraccini goes against the spirit of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' efforts to protect the vaccine-hesitant from any kind of requirement.
Protection from the state. Another governor trying to protect people's right to avoid the vaccine is GOP Gov. Doug Ducey in Arizona. Republicans who control the state government passed a law precluding cities and counties from imposing vaccine requirements. The city of Tucson, in an effort to preempt the law, which goes into effect September 29, ordered city workers to get the shot by August 24 or be suspended without pay. Around 300 employees – a small minority of those employed by the city – did not meet the deadline, according to reports at the time.
Can Big Tech fix it? Apple, Google, Samsung and others are all working on their own versions of a safe vaccine verification repository, according to CNN's Samantha Murphy Kelly, who also points out the criticism that some of the existing apps aren't up to snuff. They are “allowing users to upload photos of their vaccine card – or of anything – and leaving the onus on business owners to determine if it's real. (To date, countless counterfeit vaccine cards have been sold on the dark web and US border patrol has seized thousands of fakes.)”
The dystopian alternative is the Saudi government's phone app, which tracks Saudis' locations at all times and is required to verify vaccination at malls, schools and the grocery store, according to Bloomberg. Americans seem unlikely to ever agree to that kind of intrusion. But with their emphasis on freedom to be maskless and vaccineless in parts of the US, the entire country will pay a price, in lives and infections.
=== PNAS National Academy of Science === September 28, 2021
How the unvaccinated threaten the vaccinated for COVID-19: A Darwinian perspective - Emanuel Goldman - Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers
The real danger is a future variant, which will be the legacy of those people who are not getting vaccinated providing a breeding ground for the virus to continue to generate variants. A variant could arise that is resistant to current vaccines, rendering those already vaccinated susceptible again.
Progress we have made in overcoming the pandemic will be lost. New vaccines will have to be developed. Lockdowns and masks will once again be required. Many more who are currently protected, especially among the vulnerable, will die.
This dire prediction need not occur if universal vaccination is adopted, or mandated, to protect everyone, including those who are already vaccinated.
https://web.archive.org/web/20210922041316/https://www.pnas.org/content/118/39/e2114279118
November, 2021
New York Times
2021 November 11 - Germany’s Fourth Covid Wave By Katrin Bennhold ‘A Pandemic of the Unvaccinated’
Germany once set an example for how to manage the coronavirus. Now, deep pockets of vaccine resistance are helping drive daily infections to new heights.
BERLIN — The University Hospital of Giessen, one of Germany’s foremost clinics for pulmonary disease, is at capacity. The number of Covid-19 patients has tripled in recent weeks. Nearly half of them are on ventilators.
And every single one is unvaccinated.
“I ask every patient: Why didn’t you get vaccinated?” said Dr. Susanne Herold, head of infectious diseases, after her daily round on the ward on Thursday. “It’s a mix of people who distrust the vaccine, distrust the state and are often difficult to reach by public information campaigns.”
Politifact
Scientific evidence and studies show that unvaccinated people are more than five times more likely than vaccinated people to catch COVID-19, and over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19.
Vaccinated people can still catch COVID-19 — no vaccine is perfect — but they contract it at a much lower rate. A New York Times analysis found that a vaccinated American’s odds of getting a breakthrough case of COVID-19 is 1-in-5,000 a day. We reported in September that it could be even lower than that — according to a calculation of CDC data, the chances were about 1-in-5,000 per week, or about 1-in-35,000 per day.
European Commission
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday said the fourth wave of COVID-19 slamming Europe was “a pandemic of the unvaccinated” and urged people to get inoculated or a booster shot.
Speaking to the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, von der Leyen cited large and worrying disparities in different EU member countries' vaccination rates. In Bulgaria, slightly more than 29 percent of adults are fully vaccinated, compared to more than 90 percent of adults in Portugal and Ireland.
“The pressure of the pandemic is not over,” von der Leyen told Parliament. “Today we are in a better situation thanks to the availability of vaccinations, which protect.”
December, 2021
UN with G7 Leaders
2021 December 17 US President Joe Biden is urging Americans to get vaccinated or boosted amid a surge in cases linked to the Omicron coronavirus variant, warning of a “winter of severe illness and death” for those who are yet to get inoculated for COVID-19.
Biden’s appeal on Thursday came as the Group of Seven countries called Omicron the biggest threat to public health and the United Nations chief called for an end to global vaccine inequity.
“It’s here now, it’s spreading, and it’s going to increase,” Biden said, referring to the Omicron variant “For the unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death. For themselves, their families and the hospitals that will soon be overwhelmed.”
He added, “The only real protection is to get your shot.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/17/biden-warns-of-winter-of-illness-death-for-us-unvaccinated https://web.archive.org/web/20211217053511/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/17/biden-warns-of-winter-of-illness-death-for-us-unvaccinated
Gov Jared Polis - Colorado
When it comes to Americans who refuse to get coronavirus vaccines, President Biden hasn’t been shy about expressing frustration. But he can’t hold a candle to a fellow Democrat, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who recently declared “it’s your fault” if you’re unvaccinated and hospitalized.
It’s not the first time Polis has delivered a blunt message about the pandemic, but it’s notable for the timing. The surge of the delta variant has filled hospitals coast to coast and still swells the American death toll by more than 1,000 people daily.
Washington Post
Biden says unvaccinated face ‘winter of severe illness and death,’ encourages Americans to get booster
President Biden, during a meeting of his coronavirus task force, issued a dire warning to Americans who haven’t yet received their vaccine as the nation prepares to battle the omicron variant.
“For [the] unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death,” Biden said.
Biden urged Americans to get their coronavirus shots, whether it is their first one or a booster. The omicron variant, he said, is in the nation, and it is “going to start to spread much more rapidly at the beginning of the year, and the *only real protection is to get your shot* “There’s good news- If you’re vaccinated, you have your booster shot, you’re protected from severe illness and death, period,” Biden said. “Booster shots work. … Boosters are free, safe and convenient.”
“So go get your shot today,” he said. “If we do this, we’re going to keep schools and businesses open. … And I want to see everyone around enjoy that.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/16/covid-omicron-variant-live-updates/ https://web.archive.org/web/20211217081807/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/16/covid-omicron-variant-live-updates/
Vermont
Those who are unvaccinated are some 15 times more likely than those who are fully vaccinated to be hospitalized if they contract COVID.
Vermont is a national leader in its vaccination rate, testing rate, hospitalization rate and death rate.
Vermont has the highest rate of vaccination for those 65 and over.
Human Services Secretary Mike Smith, who is retiring at the end of the year, noted Tuesday that over 21,000 children 5-11 have either begun their vaccine regimen or have signed up. This is about 47 percent of that population.
College Campuses
Despite a vaccine mandate, Cornell University suffered a massive COVID-19 outbreak in December.1)
Evidence Withheld
- Dec 22, 2021 Tampa Bay Times: Why won't Florida, CDC release state's breakthrough COVID data?
January, 2022
United States
Chief Medical Officer of El Camino Hospital in California revealed in a staff memo that at least 57% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients were fully vaccinated, which is barely less than the local vaccination rate.2)
Biden insists this is STILL the 'pandemic of the unvaccinated' and warns of a 'challenging' next few weeks
This continues to be a pandemic of the unvaccinated.'
Biden delivered his remarks - his first on COVID-19 since Dec. 28 - as the omicron variant gripped the nation, forcing businesses and schools to close, and airlines to cancel hundreds of flights.
He tried to balance a sense of urgency in persuading 35 million unvaccinated Americans to take action, with a message that the latest wave bears little resemblance to the early months of the pandemic.
These coming weeks are going to be challenging. Please wear your mask in public to protect yourself and others. We're going to get through this.'
Earlier in the day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated it guidance for when many people can receive a booster shot, shortening the interval from 6 months to 5 months for patients who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.3)
College Campuses
Cornell's COVID-19 dashboard once again shows high positivity rates (above 5%) during the first week of January.4)
USA Today
Biden to the vaccinated: 'You are highly protected.' Biden to the unvaccinated: 'Be alarmed.' January 4, 2022 by Jorge L. Ortiz, John Bacon and Celina Tebor
Addressing the country before a meeting with the White House COVID-19 response team, Biden once again exhorted Americans to get vaccinated and boosted and to wear masks in public to avoid spreading and catching the coronavirus.
“We have the tools to protect people from severe illness due to omicron – if people choose to use the tools,’’ Biden said. “There’s a lot of reason to be hopeful in (2022), but for God’s sake, please take advantage of what’s available.’
Vaccinations, however, remain the strongest line of defense against the virus, even with omicron’s increased ability to cause breakthrough infections.
“You can still get COVID, but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll become seriously ill,’’ Biden said. “If you’re vaccinated and boosted, you are highly protected. Be concerned about omicron, but don’t be alarmed. And if you’re unvaccinated, you have some reasons to be alarmed. You’ll experience severe illness in many cases.’5)
Pennsylvania
“It’s affecting the whole hospital in terms of everything,” Fockler said. “We are treating patients that we would not be treating in the past because we have no place to send them.”
All the hospitals link the surge to low vaccination rates.
“This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Csikos said, explaining that 83% to 90% of those admitted with COVID-19 have not been fully vaccinated.
At Conemaugh Memorial, about 88% of those admitted during the first week of December were not fully vaccinated.
“Being vaccinated against COVID-19 continues to be our best defense against serious illness, hospitalization and death,” the Conemaugh statement said.6)
United Kingdom
The UK Vaccine Surveillance Report for Week 517) shows that the vaccinated population accounted for 68% of Covid-19 cases between 6th December, 2021 and 2nd January, 2022, and 59% of those hospitalised, whilst the not-vaccinated population accounted for 32% of cases, and 41% of those hospitalised.8)
Taiwan
In mid-December it was reported that 79% of new COVID-19 cases were breakthrough cases.9)
Additional Technical Discussions
James Lyons-Weiler walks through the “switchpoints” for vaccine efficacy at which greater or fewer COVID-19 patients would be unvaccinated, with attention to the rapidly evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants.10)
2022 Targeting Babies Vaccinate the World
Op-Ed: COVID won’t become endemic until we have a vaccine for kids under 5
Los Angeles Times By Nina Shapiro - May 1, 2022
Last week, Moderna became the first manufacturer to officially ask the Food and Drug Administration to approve its COVID vaccine for children under 6 years old. One of three companies with authorized COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, Moderna made the request a month after saying its data showed efficacy for two doses given to kids. This comes a few months after the FDA delayed its review of a vaccine for young children from Pfizer, which has not yet requested authorization, until that company collects more data.
As with all things COVID, sentiments about vaccinating kids are strong and split. Millions of families with young children are counting the minutes until their infants and toddlers can get shots. Most, however, seem inclined to pass or wait — as of this January, just 31% of parents with kids under 5 in one survey said they would get their child the vaccination immediately after one was authorized.
Right now, vaccines for kids might feel unnecessary even to families initially eager for their arrival. As we’ve emerged from the Omicron winter surge, and as we muddle through the yet-to-be-understood rise of the BA.2 subvariant that’s driving up cases but not hospitalizations or deaths, an estimated 3 in 4 U.S. kids have already had COVID. While we do not yet know exactly how prior infection affects immunity from future infection, nor the risk of long COVID, data indicate at least temporary protection, at least within a given surge.
But the reality is, having a vaccine available to young kids is the only way for us to even begin to get close to COVID being endemic. Infected children spread this illness to vulnerable elders, immunosuppressed playmates and, clearly, to one another. Moderna’s recent data add to the wealth of evidence showing that vaccines provide a critical layer of prevention. Until every age group has access to this protection — which also helps shield their larger communities — we’re kidding ourselves that we have a handle on COVID as a regular, predictable illness. 11)