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Anti-Vaccine Rally Is an Absolute Horror Show
An anti-vax rally took place in New York City this week in response to the new “vaccine passport” system taking effect in the Big Apple. Several weeks ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that proof of vaccination would be required for people in the city to enter bars, restaurants, gym, movie theaters, Broadway shows and more. Unsurprisingly, this has led to backlash from the anti-vax folks in the city, who now won’t be able to enjoy the same amenities as their vaccinated neighbors. The rally must have been somewhat of a superspreader event, as there were no masks in sight in the crowd. One speaker called the vaccine “an experimental injection,” which makes especially no sense now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full FDA approval. Another speaker compared “discrimination” of the unvaccinated to discrimination against people on the basis of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity. While these people appear committed and it seems like nothing will get them to change their minds on the vaccine, the hope is that hesitant people who are winnable will finally get the shots in order to enjoy everything New York City has to offer.
Ron DeSantis Approval COLLAPSES Over COVID Hellscape
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, seen by many as a rising star in the Republican Party, has witnessed a sharp decline in his approval numbers as the state struggles to get the COVID pandemic under control. A recent Political Matrix / The Listener Group survey found that only 43% of Floridians approve of DeSantis’s handling of the pandemic, whereas 54% disapprove. The survey also found that if DeSantis was running for reelection today against the Democrat vying to take his job, Charlie Crist, Crist would win with 57% of the vote as opposed to DeSantis’s 43%. The ban on mask mandates DeSantis set into law via executive order appears to have backfired on the Florida governor, as about 62% of Floridians support temporarily requiring masks for students and staff in public schools. The Sunshine State has consistently been reporting over 20,000 new infections in the month of August and well over 100 Floridians are dying of COVID every day. Florida has notoriously tried to shield the real data from coming out about how much the virus has ravaged the state, but it’s getting harder and harder to cover up as hospitals fill up and case rates get out of control.
From yesterday’s show:
Lunatic "Doctor": COVID Vaccine Isn't REALLY FDA Approved
This week, the Food and Drug Administration gave its full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19. This has many in the anti-vaxxer crowd upset, as one of their key talking points during the vaccine rollout was that the vaccines were merely “experimental” because they were approved under emergency use authorizations. The news promoted Steve Bannon, who now hosts a show on Real America’s Voice called “The War Room,” to have Dr. Gina Loudon on to unveil the next chapter in the right’s anti-vax propaganda. Loudon is not a medical doctor, but rather has a PhD in human and organization systems from an online university. Louden made a dubious claim on Bannon’s show, which is that “this is not really an FDA approved shot.” The reason Louden gave was that during the clinical trials, “they lost the control group in the middle of the study.” What Gina is referring to is the fact that people in the control group for the Pfizer vaccine were eventually given the actual COVID shot instead of just a placebo. What happened was the vaccine was determined to be so effective months into the study that it became considered unethical not to give the placebo group the real shot, as there was a risk that some of those unvaccinated people in the control group could have gotten sick and died of COVID. This is something not unique to this COVID vaccine and it’s something that’s long been a topic in medical ethics. To assert that the Pfizer is “not really FDA approved” is not just misleading, it’s outright lying to the audience.
From yesterday’s show:
Would It Be Fair to Treat Vaccinated Patients First?
Members of the audience have been writing in asking whether people who are unvaccinated for COVID should be refused treatment when they come to hospital with a serious case of the virus. Of course, that’s not going to happen in an emergency setting, as that would violate the Hippocratic Oath for medical professionals to do no harm. A more interesting question is whether vaccination status should be considered during medical triage. This is something that may need to get answered sooner than later, as some areas of the country are running out of ICU beds because of the influx of unvaccinated COVID patients. All other risk factors being equal, if there is one person suffering from coronavirus who is vaccinated versus someone who has the same symptoms but isn’t vaccinated, who should the hospital prioritize? There are a growing number of people who say medical staff should prioritize the vaccinated person. Not only has the vaccinated person taken the necessary precautions to prevent themselves from getting sick, they’re also much more likely to take the advice of doctors and nurses when they (hopefully) recover and leave the hospital. These are difficult questions of medical ethics to grapple with, but when dealing with limited resources, it’s something that has to be thought out.
More on the show:
--The California gubernatorial recall election could lead to radical Republican Larry Elder winning if more Californians don't start paying attention and making sure to vote
--Notable discussions from the David Pakman Show subreddit, including about Rudy Giuliani, the 2020 election, and the 2022 midterms
--New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's replacement, Kathy Hochul, formally acknowledges an additional 12,000 COVID deaths that were previously reported
--25-year-old Ty Garbin, who plotted to kidnap Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, is sentenced to more than 6 years in prison
--A judge rules that Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott cannot enforce his ban on mask mandates
--COVID cases in South Dakota quintuple after the Sturgis motorcycle rally
--Voicemail caller asks how David was able to enjoy his vacation despite not having any of the products and services sold by TDPS advertisers
--On the Bonus Show: The Bonus Show technical update, Delta Airlines will charge unvaccinated employees $200 extra for health insurance, the possibility of endless COVID vaccine boosters, much more...
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