this is going to be a long thread. CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota invited @bradbbaca onto a panel discussion with four people who are declining the vaxx. Brad asked me if I'd been asked, since we both were quoted in an Atlantic article about people who aren't getting the vaccine.
He decided to refuse to go on, but I agreed to go in his place and CNN agreed to have me on. I was surprised when I realized that the discussion was not live, but prerecorded. I had also not been told that a doctor was going to be coming in towards the end of the discussion.
I am recollecting to the best of my knowledge b/c I believe much of the exchange will be edited out. I explained my reasons for not getting the vaxx, first and foremost that I have natural immunity from having had covid & didn't want to take the vaxx from someone who needs it
Ms. Camerota argued that I could still "carry the virus in [my] nose" which I said was no more true of someone who has natural immunity than has had the vaccine. We did some back and forth about that, and I cited several studies, including a recent one from Israel and one
discussed in Nature, indicating that natural immunity is as or more protective as that derived from the vaccine. I pointed out that vaccine passports in Israel and the EU recognize natural immunity. At some point, Ms. Camerota suggested that I had politicized things
(or that my side has, I can't remember) and cited my opposition to mask mandates. I retorted that it was the Democrats who had politicized masks, not me -- in fact, I used to be a Democrat. I stated that there was nothing inherently Democrat or Republican about masks.
Ms. Camerota then claimed that the flu disappeared b/c of masks and people following stay at home orders, which I pointed out didn't really make sense b/c if those measures were effective we wouldn't have seen covid spread as much as it did. I suggested that the flu
may have been misdiagnosed as covid, or that another phenomenon had occurred in which one virus replaces another. Eventually, Ms. Camerota brought on an ER doctor to "correct [our] misinformation" [or a similar phrase]. The dr. began by claiming that I had
spread misinformation that has been circulating on social media about natural immunity, which lasts only a few months, based on a study from N. Korea. I admit I somewhat rudely interrupted the dr. and said that was absolute nonsense, and went back to the numerous studies I had
cited earlier, and referred to epidemiologists Martin Kulldorff and Jay Bhattacharya who have been quite clear that natural immunity is long lasting and as robust as that derived from a vaccine if not more so. The dr. backed off, acknowledging that they knew more than he did
on the subject, but that he had seen people in the ER suffering and dying from covid. I interrupted [again, I admit I was rude, which I attribute in part to 14 months of having to deal with similar nonsense] that had nothing to do with how we should form policy, and whether
or not someone should get the vaccine. He agreed that one could not determine policy based on anecdotes like this, and also that it could be reasonable to decide not to get the vaxx if one has natural immunity. Again, I am creating a record, to the best of my recollection
because I doubt CNN will air the whole interview.
sorry, South Korea. obviously.
sorry, I meant to say towards the beginning and now it's too late - CNN did not ask me on initially. @bradbbaca believes that they asked him b/c he was described as a truck driver and would fit with their Trump/MAGA narrative, whereas I was described as an attorney.
Whether or not this is true I cannot say.
dammit. I also forgot the part where I asked Ms. Camerota to explain why Florida and California had similar outcomes when Florida has been open for nearly a year, and she failed to respond.
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