COVID conspiracy theorists are mirroring the Left’s partisan game
Kimberly Ross
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When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed after a hit during a game on Jan. 2, the internet erupted with concern. Almost immediately, conspiracy theories were part of the dialogue. The young man’s condition was assumed to be a possible side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine, such as myocarditis, based on nothing but bias and speculation.
Nearly three years after the pandemic began, rushing to judgment has become far too routine. And doing so is not only wildly irresponsible but also not based on fact.
STOP BLAMING THE COVID-19 VACCINE FOR DAMAR HAMLIN’S CARDIAC ARREST
The most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a total of 268,556,888 Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, and 229,359,062 have completed the primary series. This is 80.9% and 69.1% of the U.S. population, respectively. These are not small numbers.
According to the CDC, myocarditis and pericarditis are serious side effects that have been reported following mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. But the cases reported are rare and largely mild. As a study done in England and shared by the American Heart Association showed, “The overall risk of myocarditis — inflammation of the heart muscle — is substantially higher immediately after being infected with COVID-19 than it is in the weeks following vaccination for the coronavirus.” These facts make the hysteria and fearmongering deeply frustrating.
In recent weeks especially, it seems any sudden death or unexpected health event is being attributed to COVID-19 vaccination. Immediately following Hamlin’s on-field health crisis, Charlie Kirk wrote on Twitter: “This is a tragic and all too familiar sight right now: Athletes dropping suddenly.” Elsewhere on Twitter, an account called Died Suddenly exists solely to claim that sudden deaths of anyone from the average citizen to well-known athletes are because of the vaccine.
Even news sites such as The Blaze join the fear fest with articles such as “20-year-old college tennis player dies in his sleep; no cause of death announced.” To be clear, there’s no proof these sudden deaths are because of the vaccine, even if the deceased was fully vaccinated. This doesn’t seem to matter, though. As long as seeds of doubt are planted and anger at COVID policies or public officials remains, the job is done. This is not how it should be.
There is nothing wrong with investigating deaths. There is nothing wrong with questioning what we put in our bodies. But it does no good to jump on the train of suspicion. This behavior makes individuals seem less trustworthy. It certainly does not give legitimacy to conservative voices when a groundswell of panic and anger, not accuracy, seems to be the ultimate goal.
The pandemic and reactions to it have created even more animosity between the competing sides in the culture war. For too long, the Left promoted the idea that those who got COVID were somehow morally bankrupt individuals. Surely, an infection meant flippant behavior and a lack of concern for fellow human beings. Over time as more have gotten sick, despite mitigation efforts, that idea has faded. It was always wrong to assume moral failing was the reason for sickness.
There is no difference between mocking illness in those who were unvaccinated and hysterically claiming untimely deaths or cardiac events are because of vaccine side effects. In both instances, cultural partisanship treats human beings as nothing more than pawns who matter little beyond being a tool for one’s confirmation bias.
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Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.