COVID-19 / Myths

First, so there is no confusion, let’s limit verifiable sources to the CDC and WHO and any they suggest. I say this now because I want to eliminate our president as a source of information. I’m not sure if he doesn’t understand, or just enjoys lying, but reasons are irrelevant, results are. Yesterday he went on national television and announced that there was a vaccine being tested in Washington, and that it was the fastest any such tests had ever come to fruition. This, clearly, was meant to calm people down and let them know a cure was forthcoming. The problem is, it’s not true. At least not in any meaningful sense. The National Institute of Health is in phase one testing of a possible vaccine that may, or may not, work on humans. The initial tests, based on years of international corona virus related research and not slapped together in a few weeks, showed some promise in animals.

I’ll let NIH tell you the whole story.

A Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine designed to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) in Seattle. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is funding the trial. KPWHRI is part of NIAID’s Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium. The open-label trial will enroll 45 healthy adult volunteers ages 18 to 55 years over approximately 6 weeks. The first participant received the investigational vaccine today.

The study is evaluating different doses of the experimental vaccine for safety and its ability to induce an immune response in participants. This is the first of multiple steps in the clinical trial process for evaluating the potential benefit of the vaccine.

The vaccine is called mRNA-1273 and was developed by NIAID scientists and their collaborators at the biotechnology company Moderna, Inc., based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) supported the manufacturing of the vaccine candidate for the Phase 1 clinical trial.

“Finding a safe and effective vaccine to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2 is an urgent public health priority,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “This Phase 1 study, launched in record speed, is an important first step toward achieving that goal.”

So, to be clear, that’s six weeks from when they get the study going. Not six weeks from today. Yes, it will be fast tracked, but there are two more phases required before it can be made available to the public and those phases, if everything goes perfectly, are at least a year down the road. Then it needs to be manufactured, distributed, and people need to get their shots.

The president also said there are millions of test kits. This is kind of true. Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) is manufacturing the test kits, but the government’s distribution of them has been spotty at best. As of yesterday less than 60,000 could be accounted for out of the initial million.

One thing that is true is that we have “two big white ships with red crosses” on them being provisioned for medical assistance. One will be in the Pacific Ocean and the other in the Atlantic. But, the part that got left out is they are not going to treat the virus, are six weeks away from deploying, and are only designed to provide extra hospital beds. About 2,000 each.

That’s good news for the medical communities directly on the coasts. And that’s about it.

As to some of the alleged cures, please don’t try them. I wrote about drinking bleach to cure AIDS back in 2008 and cited the nice people at Crooks and Liars. As the nice people at FOX 8 (Cleveland) reported, drinking bleach cures nothing and can cause serious illness or death.

Touching copper or silver accomplishes nothing. And, if it’s not clean, may give you a disease. Which, if you missed the memo, is the opposite of a cure.

Alex Jone’s toothpaste is a scam.

Colloidal silver liquid containing silver particles can, in fact, be dangerous to your health, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The nice people over at Healthline have the 411.

• Misinformation about COVID-19 is spreading online, including many fake cures or treatments for the disease.
• At least seven companies have been warned by the Food and Drug Administration for fraudulent products to treat COVID-19.
• The products cited in these warning letters include teas, essential oils, tinctures, and colloidal silver.

As anxiety over the potential spread of the novel coronavirus has increased, so have the fake treatments and cures for COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.

This prompted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to send warning letters this week to seven companies for selling “fraudulent COVID-19 products” that claim to prevent or treat the disease.

The products cited in these warning letters include teas, essential oils, tinctures, and colloidal silver. The FDA stated that “there are currently no vaccines or drugs approved to treat or prevent COVID-19.”

The FDA approval process requires companies to show that their products not only work the way they say they do, but also that they are safe. This involves backing up their claims with well-designed scientific studies.

None of the companies warned by the FDA have gone through this process.

The agencies issued letters to Colloidal Vitality LLC, GuruNanda LLC, Herbal Amy Inc., Quinessence Aromatherapy Ltd, The Jim Bakker Show, Vivify Holistic Clinic, and Xephyr LLC dba N-Ergetics.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen M. HahnTrusted Source said in a news release that the agency “considers the sale and promotion of fraudulent COVID-19 products to be a threat to the public health.”

The agency will continue to monitor online sources for other fraudulent products, “especially during a significant public health issue such as [the novel coronavirus].”

The warning letters are just the first step. The agency said it will take additional steps against companies if they continue to market unapproved products.

The FTC is also warning consumers about email and phone scams related to COVID-19.

This includes emails claiming to be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), or other government agencies.

Just for the record, government agencies will never call you for any reason unless the call was scheduled in advance.

Also, there is no reason for you to stop eating ice cream. And, while garlic is good for you in general, and always delicious, it has no effect on COVID-19 or any other virus.

All Homeopathic remedies are fake. I’ll just keep that one simple.

So, what do you do?

Listen to the Google.

DO THE FIVE

Help stop coronavirus

1. * HANDS Wash them often
2. * ELBOW Cough into it
3. * FACE Don’t touch it
4. * FEET Stay more than 3ft apart
5. * FEEL sick? Stay home

Messenger, Skype, and Instagram all offer free video conferencing services you can use to stay in touch.

All that said, stay calm, stay inside, and stay safe. This will pass, civilization will continue, and we’ll adjust.

In the meantime, you can get real time updates on the spread of the virus just by CLICKING HERE.