When news broke that the Official Covid Narrative was picked up for a Second Season there were many doubters. Why would people care about this thing once they were vaccinated? Would people really put up with their kids being masked for another year? Don't people know the hospitals are basically empty?...
Boy were those folks wrong! Here we are in July, masks are back! The virus has a "new form", and every new Covid “case” (regardless of symptoms) is a ready made death panic!
I'd like to remind you all of what I wrote would happen in July back in the Covid Season 2 Preview:
July - "Viral Independence" and "Zero Covid" - Joe Biden will hold a bizarre socially distanced press event on the White House lawn and claim we must move towards complete "Viral Independence" and that means a concerted effort to reach "Zero Covid" worldwide.
"Zero Covid" has been a talking point for months in epidemiologist circles, but it's always remained under the surface. In the summer of 2021 it will be mainstreamed. The mantra will be that "No One is Safe, Until Everyone is Safe", and the only way we can create this safe society is to eradicate the virus entirely. This means that even if cases are low we can't lift mask mandates or go back to the way things were.
There will be tremendous pressure placed on anyone who has yet to be vaccinated. The public will be actively told to shun the unvaccinated from society as "they are the impediment to a safe world." There will be a rise in cases across the south (including Southern California) and this will be used as a reason why we can't just return to normal. "Normal was Never Good Enough".
The blame for the southern rise in cases will be laid at the feet of anti-lockdown governors and anti-vax conservatives even in California.
Reality: The Covid vaccines are incredibly effective, but they aren't equipped to eradicate a virus like Sars-Cov-2. Their main purpose is to act as strong protection from mild to moderate symptoms with good protection against severe symptoms and death. Covid Zero is a quixotic quest dreamed up by a public health establishment high on their own supply. It may not even be possible given our current technologies and certainly not in the short term. To achieve it will mean ongoing restrictions for years. Above all it is unnecessary as the virus won't be more than a bad cold in the coming years, but as long as any Covid case is treated as a serious hazard and followed by tracing, testing, and quarantine the Covid panic won't end.
I wasn't perfect, but I think I nailed the important parts. The public health pro's might not be calling in "Zero Covid" but their unstated goal still appears to be to eradicate the virus. Good luck...
More importantly we are still treating every Covid case as a serious hazard, and just wait until Covid really resurges in the fall, what then?
That's why I think it's important that we get AHEAD of the narrative:
Next up is Schools. They need to be Open. Fully, all year long, regardless of Covid prevalence, but I don't think people realize that school closures are still completely on the table in blue states and cities. That needs to be fought hard and parents need to be prepared for that fight.
Here's some of what I predicted about schools that already seems more likely to come to pass.
August - School Must be Opened "Safely" - As summer wanes school will again become a major topic of discussion, and again it will be apparent that little was done over the summer to prepare for a normal school year, but there is a reason for this: Safety!
We all know kids need to be in school, but it must be safe. And that means that even though all the teachers are vaccinated, cases are low, and hospitals empty, we still need kids to be masked, constant surveillance testing, and more restrictions that make kids suffer.
There will be constant fearful stories on the risk posed to children, from "New Variants", etc. however spuriously sourced, and the mantra will be that until every child is vaccinated we can't let our guard down!
Many school districts on the West Coast will still not be fully open, with some simply running "Zoom in a Room" with kids and teachers in separate rooms interacting through screens. Masking of children will be ubiquitous over half the county.
Reality: By this point the science will have been in for over a year. Schools are safe! No restrictions of any kind are needed whatsoever!, especially given that every teacher who wants a vaccine will have had one. Masking is a farce to begin with, but particularly for elementary school children. The stories of variants that adversely affect children are some of the most vile fake news of this entire saga, and there is not an ounce of truth to them.
Next, I see a strong push for Covid booster shots in the fall as the CDC grows even more nervous about the vaccines. Some might not be too worried about this, but while many in the population were willing to take a shot to move on past this craziness, I think a larger segment of the population will refuse booster shots. With a growing push for vaccine mandates how can we condone forcing the public to take bi-annual booster shots?
This isn't a hypothetical either. The University of California mandates the Covid vaccine for all students, (who quite frankly do not need it) and the fine print of that mandate already states that the mandate extends to all future booster shot rounds... That's insane!
Here's some of what I predicted that we'd see:
September - Booster Shots - Those vaccines that have been hyped up all year, turns out they're out of date, there are "New Forms of the Virus", and while there might not be much of any proof of lower vaccine efficacy against these variants, we can never be too careful. But big pharma is here to save the day with an updated booster shot to protect us again!
There will be a massive campaign to roll out these shots across the county before a potential fall wave hits the country. Fall wave you say?, I thought we had Zero Covid? Well by now it's clear that the virus is hanging around.
Reality: Of course the virus is hanging around, it's endemic. But even as cases will be constantly highlighted, what won't be shown is just how much less dangerous this virus is. Also key is that given the way we count Covid deaths we will never run out of deaths to count if we are so inclined.
Don't expect this panic to end unless we all start pushing back harder.
The entire Covid Narrative: Season 2 Preview which I drafted back in April is available if one wishes to see what the road ahead will bring.
Anyway 0 and 2...