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The World Health Organization has retracted its plans for authoritarian control over pandemic response, responding to public pressure by revising to an advisory role, acknowledging droplet and airborne transmission. This retreat is a significant victory against overreaching regulatory powers.
Mainstream media, notably the New York Times, concedes the likely lab origin of the COVID-19 virus, exemplifying a shift in narrative. This acknowledgment validates suspicions held by many regarding the virus's engineered nature.
The British Medical Journal highlights vaccine-related excess deaths in Western countries, unsettled by the observed patterns of mortality post-vaccination. The revelation challenges the narrative of universal vaccine safety and necessitates a deeper examination of vaccination effects.
Scientists are deploying mRNA vaccines for H5N1 avian flu, signaling a shift towards mRNA platforms for flu pandemics. The experimental mRNA vaccines' effectiveness in preventing severe outcomes raises caution due to potential hazards and uncertainties surrounding mRNA vaccine technology.
The podcast discusses the transmission dynamics of the H5N1 virus, highlighting that infections in humans primarily stem from contact with infected birds or contaminated environments. It emphasizes that the virus does not easily spread between humans, focusing on the evolutionary implications of its limited human-to-human transmission potential. The episode delves into the potential for H5N1 to evolve into a human pandemic based on its zoonotic origins and transmission patterns.
The podcast sheds light on the diverse range of mammals affected by the H5N1 virus outbreaks, including terrestrial and marine mammals globally. It raises questions about the detection methods for the virus in various animal species and discusses the implications of infections in captive animals, such as dolphins, with a focus on the challenges of linking virus presence to disease manifestations.
The episode explores the potential biases and challenges in conducting clinical trials for new mRNA vaccines, highlighting the limited availability of unvaccinated control groups due to prior exposure to mRNA vaccines. It points out the complexity of establishing true placebo groups and discusses the implications of prior vaccine exposure on assessing the safety and efficacy of new vaccine candidates, emphasizing the need for careful consideration in trial design and interpretation.
In this 228th in a series of live discussions with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying (both PhDs in Biology), we talk about the state of the world through an evolutionary lens.
In this week’s episode, we discuss the WHO, International Health Regulations, and this week’s rally in Geneva. Also: major concessions in the Covid narrative. And: avian flu (H5N1). Finally: on the joys of motorcycling in the Alps with one’s son.
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Mentioned in this episode:
Tedros tweet: https://x.com/DrTedros/status/1796993038926897205
Chan in the NYT on Covid origins: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/03/opinion/covid-lab-leak.html
The Telegraph on excess deaths in 2020 – 2022: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/04/covid-vaccines-may-have-helped-fuel-rise-in-excess-deaths/
Mostert et al 2024. Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates of January 2020 to December 2022. BMJ Public Health 2024;2:e000282. https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/bmjph/2/1/e000282.full.pdf
The WHO on avian flu: https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/influenza-h5n1
McCollough Substack on avian flu, June 4: https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/breaking-publication-proximal-origin
Hulscher et al 2024. Proximal Origin of Epidemic Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Clade 2.3.4.4b and Spread by Migratory Waterfowl. https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202406.0060/v1
Murawski et al 2024. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in a common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in Florida. Communications Biology, 7(1)476.: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-06173-x.pdf
Elsmo et al 2023. Pathology of natural infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1) clade 2.3. 4.4 b in wild terrestrial mammals in the United States in 2022. BioRxiv, 2023-03.: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.10.532068v2.full.pdf
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