If you know any anti-vaxxers, be sure to thank them.

If you know any anti-vaxxers, be sure to thank them for winning Darwin Awards, which helps improve the intelligence of the human species.

Here are excerpts from an article that appeared in the February issue of Scientific American Magazine.

How the U.S. Lost Years of Life
Many countries saw drops in life expectancy during the pandemic, but some populations have suffered more than others By Tanya Lewis on February 1, 2023

Over the past century people have been living longer lives around the globe. Then COVID hit.

Now, nearly three years into the pandemic, with highly effective vaccines widely available, life expectancy in many middle- and high-income countries has started to bounce back.

But in the U.S., it is still dropping. A study last year found that life expectancy in most Western European countries recovered in 2021—most likely the result of high vaccination rates that reduced mortality, particularly among the elderly.

But the U.S. has continued to see declines, in part because of lower vaccination ratesas well as a devastating opioid epidemic.

Despite being one of the richest countries in the world, the U.S. has seen life expectancy fall to a level not documented since 1996, according to an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And the effects are not felt equally: Native Americans, Black people, Latino people, and men in general have died at disproportionately high rates during the pandemic, from both COVID and other causes.

So yes, anti-vaxxers, we who have paid attention to the science are are smart enough not to believe the QAnon, FoxNews, Trumpist anti-vax blather, than you for winning Darwin Awards and thereby improving the human gene pool.

We’ll miss you. My only regret is that you are forcing your innocent children to win Darwin Awards, too. But that is the way evolution works. The children inferior parents pay the price for their parents’ ignorance.

Understanding Anti Vaxxers And Their Opposition to Vaccines
Scientists are certain vaccines work, yet the anti-vaxxer movement keeps growing.
Gabriella Canal

In 2013, there were nearly 4,000 pertussis cases in Texas. Otherwise called the whooping cough, this was the largest outbreak of the “100 day cough” since 1959.

That year also saw around a 12% increase of parental vaccine refusal compared to 2006, according to a survey published in the journal Pediatrics.

Is there a correlation? A review funded by the National Institutes of Health found that yes, the two issues were related.

But there’s another disease that has public officials far more concerned — measles. Left alone, measles can lead to brain damage and death. And like the whooping cough, it’s also on the rise.

The highly contagious measles virus was declared to be eliminated in 2000, due to an innovative vaccine program. Fifty years before that, more than 85,000 people were infected, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

And now, it’s making a comeback.

With more than 45,000 children in Texas opting out of their school vaccinations as of last fall, the state is bracing for an outbreak.

Why are parents knowingly withholding their children from vaccination? What is behind their vaccine hesitancy? They’re part of what’s called the “anti-vaxxer” movement. Anti-vaxxers believe there’s a connection between vaccination and autism, as well as other brain disorders, and are concerned about long term side effects, despite there being no scientific evidence supporting that theory.

The CDC estimates that more than 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among children born in the last 20 years will be prevented because of vaccinations.

And an estimated 1.4 million children under 5 worldwide still die each year due to lack of access to vaccines.

But as the “anti-vaxxer” movement appears on the national stage and documentaries like Vaxxed gain support from movie stars like Robert De Niro, the risks it poses to the health of the country are no longer hypothetical.

“It is ironic that in the anti-vaccination community, the very people who are denying protection to their children by foregoing vaccination are healthy and alive today because they, and possibly their parents, were vaccinated,” Jay Olshansky, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Illinois said.

Well, who wouldn’t prefer to believe Robert de Niro over the medical establishment? He’s a celebrity, isn’t he?

‘The only logical choice’: anti-vaxxers who changed their minds on Covid vaccines
Nearly one-third of US parents are opposed to vaccinating their kids against Covid – so one-time vaccine skeptics are helping families find evidence-based answers.

Vaccine hesitancy was a growing problem even before the pandemic, particularly among parents. Now, nearly one-third of American parents are opposed to vaccinating their children against Covid-19.

Although parents still have a lot of questions about vaccines, advocates say that answering them can help. Online support and in-person community groups can help address longstanding hesitations, some of which arise from poor experiences in the medical system.

For example, parents say they are still waiting for more information to come out on the Covid vaccines before deciding whether to vaccinate their children.

There is plenty of information available, but  when you don’t wantoo

What’s missing is that, in the US right now, millions of children in that age group have been vaccinated and are followed closely with V-Safe and other databases to show the safety of the vaccine.

Parents also believe that Covid is mild in children and poses a low risk to them. But kids can suffer from long-term effects – and continued transmission also affects their emotional wellbeing.

In the US, more than 167,000 children have lost a caregiver to the virus. We’re seeing this massive epidemic of not just Covid but kids becoming orphans before their time.

Here are a few notable Darwin Award winners. You can read about them at the link, below.:

Notable Anti-Vaxxers Who Died From COVID-19
Bilal G. MorrisWritten By Bilal G. Morris , Senior Editor
Posted January 13, 2023

Vachik Mangassarian, actor
Ex-Washington State Trooper Robert LaMay
Kelly Ernby
Marcus Lamb
Bob Enyart
Marc Bernier
Phil Valentine
Dick Farrel
Tod Tucker
Dr. Jimmy DeYoung Sr.
Caleb Wallace
Herman Cain

It seems unfair that nearly all the Darwin Award winners are conservatives. But rather than feeling jealous or resentful, I thank each of them for their ultimate sacrifice in improving the human genome.

I also would like to thank the right-wing conspiracy theorists who tell the public vaccines cause diseases, thereby expanding the pool of Darwin Award winners.

You live in our memory, if not in the real world.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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The Sole Purpose of Government Is to Improve and Protect the Lives of the People.

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