Thread by @DrEricDing

EPIC—“I wanna talk about this whole not getting vaccinated and then running to the hospital when you get the virus-thing. ➡️ If you don't trust doctors enough to take their advice and get the vaccine, then why do you trust doctors once you catch #COVID?"❗️

2) “Freedom” does not mean the freedom to recklessly endanger others. But that’s what anti vaxxers and anti maskers are basically doing in a deadly pandemic.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1425747735366492161

3) I want to talk about “freedom” more — my family had immigrated to America 🇺🇸 for all its many freedoms—which are amazing. But freedom to smoke on planes ✈️ and restaurants aren’t allowed anymore because SECOND HAND SMOKE kills! Your right to smoke ends at someone else’s nose👃

4) Secondhand smoking 🚬 cause increased risk of cancer, heart disease, strokes, death. It even causes cancer in NEVER SMOKERS—which clearly implicates the secondhand exposure from other smokers. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30208628/

5) And for stroke, the evidence for secondhand smoke is unequivocal— “There is evidence of a strong, consistent and dose-dependent association between exposure to secondhand smoke and risk of stroke, suggestive of a causal relationship”

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21422014/

6) Moreover, “with disproportionately high risk at low levels of (secondhand smoke) exposure suggesting no safe lower limit of exposure” for secondhand smoke and stroke.

So clearly clearly “freedom to smoke” means to recklessly cause strokes and cancers in others. Not okay!

7) Also the “freedom to smoke” by a pregnant mom ⬆️ risk of offspring meningitis!

“Secondhand smoke, particularly passive foetal exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy, significantly increases risk of childhood invasive meningococcal disease”. ⚠️
bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…

8) This kicker—“It is likely that an extra 630 cases of invasive meningococcal disease annually in children <16 are directly attributable to SHS exposure in UK 🇬🇧 homes” (again “particularly passive fetal exposure to mother’s smoking during pregnancy”)….But but but FREEDOM?!?!🤦🏻‍♂️

9) Freedom also does not include freedom to deliberately spread vaccine misinformation — aka disinformation!! That is reckless endangerment of the worst kind!

https://twitter.com/stuartjdneil/status/1425719801213816833

10) Even if an unvaxxed person doesn’t goto the hospital, infected people still have substantial drop in IQ! 1-3 points even if “mild” COVID. See thread 🧵 on detailed large study.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1419873294023602176

11) Freedom to not vaccinate or mask@means it holds our entire pandemic response back… and PROLONGS the pandemic… ergo less freedom and more pain and suffering for longer. The path to more freedom sooner is to mask and vax now!

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1425660416252944384

12) And for those harping on breakthroughs- yes they are annoying and we still need to mask up and ventilate, but breakthrough cases/hospitalizations are not nearly as severe as what have happened if you didn’t get vaccinated. And don’t let anti vaxxers use it as excuse.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1426115497364496386