The COVID-19 vaccines that were rushed to market have serious problems. This will become more clear over time, and the fallout will be devastating.

Meanwhile, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has recommended people get vaccinated, and many people have done so. I have no problem with this recommendation. The Church has always recommended vaccination with past vaccines. The Church is anxious to keep temples open and to continue the work of the Gospel. There are many high-risk people who should get vaccinated.

Regardless of what happens with the vaccines, and as I say the information coming out is very negative, the Church is still true. The prophet is still the prophet. Nothing has changed. I want to make sure that I make it clear that my faith does not depend on the Church’s position on COVID vaccines. Your faith should not depend on that either.

In the meantime, it is important that readers of this blog are aware of the problems with the vaccines so they are prepared.

I already warned in this recent post that the antibody protection provided by the vaccines is fading, and in many locations there are more cases of the virus and hospitalizations and deaths among the vaccinated than the unvaccinated.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Senate held a hearing today on adverse reactions to the COVID 19 vaccines. Here is a partial list of people who testified:

• Cody Flint, an airline pilot from Cleveland, Mississippi, who accumulated 10,000 hours of flight time was diagnosed with left and right perilymphatic fistula, Eustachian tube dysfunction and elevated intracranial pressure following Pfizer vaccination.
• Ernest Ramirez, a father from Austin, Texas, whose only son collapsed playing basketball and passed away from myocarditis following Pfizer vaccination.
• Amy and Abby Alvo from Los Angeles, California, whose daughter suffered an adverse reaction from her first dose of Pfizer vaccine, having been denied a medical exemption twice, she will be kicked off her collegiate cheer team if she is not fully vaccinated.
• Doug Cameron, farm operations manager from Idaho, permanently paralyzed following vaccination.
• Kyle Werner, a professional mountain bike racer from Boise, Idaho was diagnosed with pericarditis following vaccination.
• Suzanna Newell, a triathlete from Saint Paul, Minneapolis, was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and reliant on a walker or cane to walk following vaccination.
• Kelly Ann Rodriguez, a young mother from Tacoma, Washington is reliant on a walker following vaccination.
• Maddie de Garay, a 12-year-old Pfizer clinical trial participant from Cincinnati, Ohio, is confined to a wheelchair and feeding tube.
• Brianne Dressen, an AstraZeneca clinical trial participant from Utah, co-founded react19.org, a patient advocacy organization dedicated to increasing awareness of adverse events.
• Dr. Joel Wallskog, an orthopedic surgeon from Mequon, Wisconsin, was diagnosed with transverse myelitis following Moderna vaccination.

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From the Deseret News:

“Dr. Anthony Fauci isn’t quite ready to say you’re safe to celebrate Christmas and the winter holidays without taking proper precautions…”

“Dr. Anthony Fauci has revealed a number of things over the last year — when you can spend time with your family, what’s next in the COVID-19 surge and how to stay safe in the coronavirus pandemic. Now, Fauci has revealed why people don’t like him. Fauci recently told ”Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace that he is a polarizing figure because he supports “science, data and hard facts” rather than conspiracy theories.”

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Effective headlines for a religious media market? Simply good journalistic strategy?

For sure. And maybe something more…

It’s one thing to regard the word of a living prophet as especially trustworthy – even as a revelation of higher wisdom (which is a good thing). It’s quite another to take that prophetic counsel as justification for portraying the current thinking of a single health authority as equally trustworthy – so much so that normal journalistic duties (like asking hard questions, and showing even a pretense of critical examination and scrutiny) are laid aside. Such is the sorry state of virtually all health journalism in America – unfortunately, including at the Deseret News.

You can do better than this, Deseret News! We are grateful for all of the good work you do on a regular basis.

If there was ever a time to make sure that you have enough food storage, a clean water supply and extra medicines on hand, it is now.

Nearly a year ago I warned that supply chain disruptions caused by lockdowns and mandates would create chaos, and now we are seeing increasing shortages. Even CNN was forced to admit the supply chain worries. Here is what I wrote in November 2020:

Let’s discuss supply chain disruptions, which sound rather pedestrian but are essential to understanding the devastating impact on the world’s poor from the response to the pandemic. You may have noticed that many of your favorite products in the United States are not available in the stores right now. And this is in a relatively free market for consumer goods. I cannot buy my favorite beverages all the time, and many kinds of meats are often not available. I am a big user of Lysol, but it is impossible to find it on the shelves these days. Interestingly, you can find Lysol on Amazon Prime, but it is five times its normal price.

Whenever there is a disruption in the global supply chain, this means that many products that used to be inexpensive become more expensive (think of the Lysol example above). The world’s poorest people spend 60 to 70 percent of their income on food. So, if food becomes scarce, richer people (like most Americans) can usually find it, and they may have to spend a bit more putting dinner on the table. But what happens to the world’s poor? Instead of spending 60 to 70 percent of their income on food, they must spend 100 percent, and they must borrow. And when the lockdowns go on for months (as has happened in 2020), the poor simply run out of money and begin to starve to death.

When the global supply chain is disrupted because factories are closed or meat packing plants are closed, this inevitably means that the world’s poorest people in places like Yemen, Malawi and Haiti are the hardest hit of all.

This is why it is essential that governments allow people, especially the young and healthy who are not as likely to die from COVID-19, to continue to work and produce — it actually helps the global supply chain, which helps the poor.

So what has happened in the last year? The results are devastating for the world’s poor:

Lockdowns and movement restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have led to decreased incomes globally. The GFPR reports that global poverty is estimated to increase by about 150 million people, or 20 percent above pre-pandemic levels. In Africa south of the Sahara, the recent trend of economic growth has been interrupted, with millions more people falling into extreme poverty over the course of 2020. Several African countries are now facing significant fiscal crisis as a result of the pandemic and the resulting economic impacts. In Latin America and the Caribbean, both urbanization and high obesity rates have resulted in rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus; in addition to these health impacts, a heavy reliance on informal employment in the region has translated into a significant loss of incomes and livelihoods as movement restrictions disrupted labor opportunities. The extent of impacts in Asia has varied, but the region has seen reduced incomes due to labor disruptions and a loss of remittances.   

Let me emphasize this point: 150 million people worldwide in poverty because of panic about a virus with a 99.7 survival rate. The response to the pandemic — fueled almost entirely by relatively rich people who can afford to stay home and sit on Zoom calls — has been a declaration of war on the world’s poor.

Isaiah 3:15: “What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.“

To be perfectly clear: if you support lockdowns and mandates, you are guilty of grinding the face of the poor because of your irrational fears.

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