Is The Overton Window Finally Shifting?

A year ago in March 2020, the Overton window of what is considered socially and politically acceptable had abruptly shifted in a highly authoritarian and even totalitarian direction due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the response of our "leaders" to it.  What was once unthinkable had become unquestionable (and vice-versa) within a matter of days to weeks, almost overnight.  And once in place, the new restrictions (lockdowns, quarantines, business restrictions, school closures, gathering bans/limits, mask mandates, travel restrictions, etc.) have proven VERY difficult to undo in the climate of incessant and exaggerated fear that the authorities just kept on stoking, regardless of effectiveness or lack thereof and regardless of the very real collateral damage as well.  It felt like the ruling Pharisees had slammed the proverbial gates of heaven in everyone's faces and sent everyone a one-way ticket to hell, never to return again.  Or so it seemed, at least.

(Diagram courtesy of Wikipedia)

But it now appears to be finally shifting back in the direction of liberty and civil/human rights.  Little by little, and then eventually all at once at some point in the hopefully not too distant future.  As of March 6, 2021, several states (17 already, and growing) are now abandoning this whole ship of fools and doing what Florida already did back in September and South Dakota already did last May--going cold turkey (or nearly so) later this month if not already.  Once the first cracks and fissures in the facade appeared several months ago, it was only a matter of time before the proverbial dam would inevitably burst.

The last straw was most likely when they moved the goalposts for the gazillionth time recently when the establishment had the GALL to claim that we will still not going back to the true normal anytime soon even though we have all of the following now:  1) not one, not two, but THREE authorized vaccines now, 2) massively scaled-up virus testing since a year ago, 3) we KNOW how to effectively treat and prevent COVID now and have for a while, and 4) the virus has been in rapid retreat since January 2021, and even earlier in some places.  And President Biden went back on his word and extended his famous "100 days of masks" to all of 2021 and perhaps even beyond (who was whispering in his ear this time?).  So one can see how this would cause millions of people to say, "Enough already!", thus marking the "social end" of the pandemic now or in the very near future.  The establishment clearly overplayed their hand this time, and bit off far more than they could ever chew. 

The lockdown and mask zealots and technocrats, now clearly on the defensive, are probably having a collective heart attack right now, or at least soiling their trousers, but tough noodles for them!  They've already had their proverbial day in the sun for a whole year now (that was only supposed to be two or three weeks to "flatten the curve", remember?) and now it's long past time to start actually living again as humans qua humans.  To the wretched New Abnormal we say, "Good riddance!"  And God willing, may a century of liberty follow after we all say, "Never Again!" and really mean it.

UPDATE:  See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here for good additional links on the topic.  And while it should clearly go without saying, we will say it louder for the people in the back:  THERE IS NO "PANDEMIC EXCEPTION" TO THE CONSTITUTION!  Ditto for the written and unwritten constitutions of many other countries which just so happen to be at least partly based on--guess what--the US Constitution as well.  The Founding Fathers, who lived through FAR worse disease epidemics than this one, and thus clearly would have carved out such an exception if they had seen fit to do so (but clearly did not), must really be spinning in their graves right now!

Oh, and by the way:  Lockdowns and shutdowns are among the most neoliberal public policy measures one could ever possibly devise, which have succeeded in making the rich richer, the poor poorer, and further hollowed out the already-shrinking middle class.  No wonder the oligarchs love them so much.  And since they tend to hurt people of color more so than white people, these classist policies are also quite racist as well. (Remember, impact > intent.)  In fact, they strengthen the entire kyriarchy as well, and for women they have basically been "patriarchy on crack" due to their disproportionate job losses, the double and triple burden faced by mothers when schools and daycares are closed, the isolation from the support of other women, and increased domestic violence as well.  Thus, lockdowns and shutdowns are a one-stop shop for neoliberalism, and all the more reason to end these highly toxic policies yesterday.

The TSAP proposes adding the following constitutional amendment (inspired by various folks on Twitter) to both federal and state constitutions, just to be crystal clear:

• All stay-at-home orders lasting more than 24 hours are prohibited.
• All nighttime curfews lasting more than three consecutive nights are prohibited.
• All forced school closures lasting more than one week are prohibited.
• Voluntary school closures may last longer, but any public school closure lasting more than two weeks shall be subject to a forced reopening or withdrawal of state and federal funding at the governor's discretion.
• All forced business closures shall constitute a "taking" as per the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the owners and employees must receive just compensation for the period of closure (including retroactively).  Places of worship shall also be compensated accordingly.
• Capacity restrictions below 100% lasting more than two weeks, or below 50% for any duration, shall be treated as partial closures, and prorated accordingly for the purposes of compensation.
• No state of emergency declared by any executive may ever last more than 60 days, or 90 days tops, without the express and democratic authorization of the respective legislature.  If not authorized, such a state of emergency shall become null and void after the deadline.  That is, we must repeal the highly dangerous and autocratic law MSEHPA section 405(b) yesterday.

In other words, this can never happen again.

The Best Roadmap Out Of Lockdown: Cold Turkey

As we have noted in our previous articles, particularly "Case Closed: Lockdowns Don't Work", "The Difference Between Naive And Stupid", "How To End The Pandemic In ONE WEEK Without Lockdowns, Masks, Or Vaccines", and "We Need To Do Both", the True Spirit of America Party (TSAP) has never really been a fan of lockdowns and related restrictions, and only for a few months (April-August 2020) grudgingly supported mask mandates (with nuance) as an alternative to lockdowns.  We have, alas, learned the hard way that not only do these restrictions not work very well if at all, but they are in fact worse than useless, doing more harm than good.  

There is nothing "woke" or progressive about these fundamentally illiberal and authoritarian policies, and anyone who still supports them now, a year later, cannot honestly identify as such.  There is nothing even remotely communitarian about these socially corrosive measures, and certainly not the least bit libertarian either.  Nor is there anything particularly conservative about tossing the hard-won wisdom of the ages out the window like so much garbage and instead knee-jerkedly going full medieval-and-Orwellian-dystopian-hybrid.  Thus, the only leaders who honestly support these policies for even one more day are technocrats, oligarchs, authoritarians, or all of the above.  And their followers and lackeys are either stupid, ignorant, insane, brainwashed, and/or corrupt.  Sorry, but the truth hurts.

As our British friends across the pond have noted on the site Lockdown Sceptics, a study of 170 countries found that the correlation between a country's Government Stringency Index and the COVID case and death rates is in fact the opposite of what it would be if these policies actually worked.  That is, the greater the stringency, the worse the case and death rates on average.  And given how it is non-linear in that the perverse correlation particularly with deaths is strongest with stringency scores above 60/100, then logically the best (or least-worst) "roadmap" out of lockdown is to simply go "cold turkey" and end all (or practically all) restrictions right away, full stop.

Yes, really.  And here is how to do it, folks:  Simply set a "quit date" no more than a week or two in the future, and commit to that date no matter what.  Remember, these policies are generally worse than useless, even for the sacred cow of travel restrictions (except perhaps during a very narrow window at the very beginning of the pandemic, and that train has long since left the station), and there is currently no imminent threat of overwhelmed hospitals anywhere now.  The worst is basically over in most places, in other words.  Thus, on that quit date, and not a single day later, any and all pandemic-related restrictions imposed after February 2020 shall lapse and become null and void immediately and in full, period.

Should exceptions be made?  Perhaps a "Rule of 500" or some even larger number could exist for very large gatherings lacking numbered seats for a little while longer.  Enhanced hygiene, ventilation, and perhaps temperature checks in some places would likely still be de rigeur as well for a while.  Enhanced precautions in hospitals and nursing homes would likely remain to some extent as well for a while too, as is the case in Florida currently.  But the overbearing, omnipresent, and almost entirely unprecedented restrictions that would have been utterly unthinkable a year ago in February 2020 would nonetheless be gone for good, never to be reimposed again.

Public schools, and in fact any schools receiving federal and/or state funding, will be required to reopen for full in-person instruction no later then the Monday following the quit date, or else have such funding immediately and indefinitely revoked until they do.  And they must remain fully open except for very brief closures (no more than two weeks at a time, if even that) if and only if they actually experience bona fide school-related outbreaks and/or they are located in a severe bona fide local "red zone".

And of course, individuals and businesses would still be free to voluntarily put as many restrictions as they wish on themselves going forward, just like they always were.  After all, each person's own definition of acceptable risk and their calculus of cost vs. benefit will be different.  But no longer would anyone be able to use the inherently coercive power of government to force others to do so against their will anymore.

That means that the powers that be will have to (gasp!) use education and persuasion instead of coercion and (gasp!) stop treating adults like children.

As for the supposedly scary new mutant strains of the virus, if anything that is a stronger argument against lockdowns and related restrictions, since these restrictions would actually be more likely to concentrate and incubate these strains (which will inevitably escape and spread further), when it would really be better to dilute, dilute, dilute them instead.  Note that Florida, who basically went cold turkey as of September 25, 2020, and even hosted the 2021 Super Bowl, has still seen cases, hospitalizations, and deaths plummet since January nonetheless.  And their cumulative death rate has been better than the national average and most lockdown states as well.

Furthermore, since we know that the virus is seasonal and most likely endemic now, that implies that if we don't want to get slammed yet again next winter, it would logically be best NOT to artificially suppress it during the spring and summer.  That is in fact when we should be building up our immune systems through the inevitable natural exposures, not mollycoddling and overprotecting them with extraordinary (and ultimately futile) measures, nor should we be wrecking them with the unholy lockdown trinity of anxiety, isolation, and vitamin deprivation.  The same goes for seasonal flu as well, which may come back with a vengeance next winter after being temporarily displaced by COVID.

And yes, we still need a robust COVID relief package yesterday, even more robust than the paltry one still being debated now.  Even the most arch-conservative or hardcore libertarian can understand that the Takings Clause of the US Constitution would logically require the government to compensate We the People for any losses (both direct and indirect) resulting from these government-imposed lockdowns and restrictions.  And while nearly all of the restrictions were imposed by state and local governments, the fact remains that the federal government (including even 45 himself at first) effectively green-lighted such restrictions, and furthermore they, unlike our now largely bankrupt state and local governments, have the power to simply print the money as needed.

So what are we waiting for?  To paraphrase President Ronald Reagan, "Mr. Biden, tear down this plexiglass!"

MARCH UPDATE:  Looks like no sooner did we post this than several states (16 already, and growing) are now abandoning this whole ship of fools and doing what Florida already did back in September and South Dakota already did last May--going cold turkey (or nearly so) later this month if not already.  Once the first cracks and fissures in the facade appeared, it was only a matter of time.  The lockdown zealots and technocrats are probably having a collective heart attack right now, or at least soiling their trousers, but tough noodles for them!  They've already had their proverbial day in the sun for a whole year now (that was only supposed to be two or three weeks to "flatten the curve", remember?) and now it's long past time to start actually living again as humans qua humans.  To the wretched New Abnormal we say, "Good riddance!"  And may a century of liberty follow after we all say, "Never Again!" and really mean it.

And once again, yet another study finds that lockdowns are basically a lose-lose proposition. It is practically axiomatic now that lockdowns do more harm than good.  What next, a study that finds that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west?

We Need To Do Both

If you are confused about how to save America, you are NOT alone.  To fix this country we need to get out of this nasty rut we are stuck in ASAP.  And to do this, we need to not only reopen the country by ending the lockdowns and restrictions OR only firehose the economy with federal money, we need to do BOTH.  

Yesterday.  In fact, yesterday is not soon enough!

If we keep these restrictions for any longer while hoping to just paper over the massive holes in our economy and society with newly printed money, that will not work in the long run, as we will just keep on damaging the economy and society.  Likewise, if we attempt to reopen with a bang without injecting federal dollars into the economy, it will be a big disappointment since the damage is done and has not been repaired.  Either way, it is like pushing on a string--or like pushing an elephant up the stairs.

As we have already noted in a previous article, we can effectively end the pandemic in ONE WEEK tops without lockdowns, masks, or vaccines, full stop.  Simply send everyone an Indian-style $2 Ziverdo kit (Zinc, Ivermectin, and Doxycycline), and as Karl Denninger notes, the Doxycycline is optional and can be substituted with Vitamins C and D (and if we had our way, also add Niacin, Thiamine, and Quercetin as well).  And for the few severe or critical cases that still occur despite this, there is always the MATH+ Protocol (and even cheap steroid inhalers) to fall back on.  In fact, early use of steroid inhalers seems to reduce the number of severe cases by 90%!  Problem solved.

(In India, adding Vitamin D to the Ziverdo Triple Therapy mix is also known as Quadruple Therapy.)

Oh and by the way, did you know that we are basically at the holy grail of herd immunity in the USA (if not also globally on average) already?  Why else would virus cases be plummeting starting weeks before fully vaccinating a significant chunk of the population, in the middle of winter, even in states and countries with little to no restrictions?  Even with those supposedly scary new mutant strains allegedly running rampant for weeks, no less.  If it can't be due to seasonality, vaccines, or restrictions, then it MUST be due to naturally acquired herd immunity.   Too bad we had to climb a mountain of corpses to get there thanks to the incompetence and malfeasance of our "leaders" who suppressed the treatments and prophylaxis that actually work while throwing the wisdom of the ages out the window like so much garbage.  And that's to say nothing of all the collateral damage deaths caused by the lockdowns and panic.

(NOTE:  The sharp decrease in cases predates the reduction in the PCR test cycle threshold in many places, and was in fact followed by decreases in hospitalizations and deaths, so it can't be entirely due to sleight of hand unless one concedes that all of the data were nearly 100% false from the very start.  Either way, the case for restrictions crumbles.)

Thus, no reason not to end all restrictions and open up right away, full stop.  That is, no more restrictions than we had a year ago in February 2020, other than those that individuals and businesses voluntarily choose to put on themselves.  But again, the damage is already done at this point, even if we don't do any further damage going forward.  We must then do the Herculean task of healing the existing damage done.  Fortunately, the federal government has just the technology to do that--the printing press, or its more modern equivalent, a computer with a keyboard.  Money is simply an accounting entry these days, so make the entry and be done with it.  Yesterday. 

(And before anyone predictably cries "inflation!", the truth is that deflation is actually a much, much bigger risk nowadays in the age of secular stagnation.)

The recent paltry stimulus is just barely scratching the surface of what is needed.  We will need an ongoing Universal Basic Income for all (at least $2000/month per adult and $1000/month per child for the first three months, followed by at least half those amounts per month thereafter). We will need single-payer Medicare For All. We will need to expand Social Security.  We will need to increase funding for schools.  We will need free higher education as well.  We will need a Green New Deal to create millions of good jobs while saving the Earth at the same time.  And we will ultimately need some sort of debt jubilee as well.  Seriously, now is NOT the time to be pikers!

So what are we waiting for?

UPDATE:  As the ever-insightful Bill Sardi notes, we can now add the amino acid lysine to the rapidly accumulating list of treatments and prophylaxis for COVID-19.   It may be the biggest game-changer of all.

Updated Report Card For The Pandemic

It is 2021 now, and we at the TSAP think it is time to issue updated grades for each country on how they handled the pandemic.  These will be updated further over time.  Grades are based on a mixture of per-capita COVID death rates, overall excess deaths, economic damage, and policy measures.  All grades are on a curve, normalized with the European average set at C.  Here is the current list:

Taiwan:  A+ (very best in the world)
Hong Kong:  A
Iceland:  A
Norway:  A
Finland: A

Nicaragua:  A

South Korea:  A
Japan:  A-
New Zealand:  A-

Uruguay:  B+

Denmark:  B+
Germany:  B+

Australia:  B+

Austria:  B
Canada:  B

Belarus:  B

Russian Federation: B
Singapore:  B-

Slovakia:  B-

Portugal:  C+

Austria:  C+
Switzerland:  C
Netherlands:  C
Sweden: C

France:  C
USA: C- (overall, varies by state)

Brazil:  C-

Argentina:  D (don't cry for us now!)

Czechia:  D-

Peru:  F (formerly worst in the world)

Slovenia: F
Italy:  F
Spain: F
UK:  F (two lockdowns is dumb, but three?)
Belgium:  F (worst significant country in the world, twice!)

China:  F (though they really deserve a Z, for infecting the whole world!)

Countries that avoided a full lockdown and still got good results automatically get higher grades than those who achieved the same results with a full lockdown.  And further demerit points are deducted for unusually stringent and/or long-lasting restrictions compared to the world average.

(Entries in green are countries that never forcibly shut down in any meaningful way, while those in orange did so only very briefly, very locally, and/or used a very light touch overall.)

For US states, a partial list of states' grades:

Vermont:  A
Wyoming:  A
Hawaii:  A

Washington State:  A

Utah:  A

Oregon:  A

Iowa:  A-
Arkansas:  B

North Carolina:  B

California:  C
Florida: C
Georgia:  C
South Carolina:  C
Texas: C
Maryland:  C
Virginia:  C
Wisconsin:  C

DC:  C-

Arizona:  C-

South Dakota:  D+

North Dakota:  D+

Illinois: D
Michigan:  D

Louisiana:  D

Pennsylvania:  D

Connecticut:  D

Rhode Island:  D-

Massachusetts:  D-

New York:  F (second worst in the world)
New Jersey:  F (worst in the world)

Interestingly, non-lockdown states generally outperform most non-lockdown states.  Note how Florida and California both ended up about average despite polar opposite approaches to their epidemics. 

  

That's why you don't call the winner at halftime. 

All of these grades are of course subject to change in the coming weeks and months.  But at this point, they probably won't change very much.

How To End The Pandemic In ONE WEEK Without Lockdowns, Masks, Or Vaccines

DISCLAIMER:  The following article references third-party sources and is intended for general information only, and is NOT intended to provide medical advice or otherwise diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, including (but not limited to) COVID-19.  Consult a qualified physician before beginning any sort of treatment or prophylactic regimen and/or if you know or suspect that you currently have COVID-19.  Anyone who takes or does anything mentioned (or alluded to) in this or any other TSAP article does so entirely at their own risk and liability.  The TSAP thus makes absolutely no warranties, express or implied, and is not liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages resulting from any act or omission on the part of the reader(s) or others. Caveat lector.

See also our previous articles here, here, and here as well.  Also, special thanks to Bill Sardi, Dr. Gareth "Gruff" Davies, Dr. Dmitry Kats, Dr. Mikko Panunio, and Swiss Policy Research, et al. whose research this article draws upon and cites in the links throughout.

It's January 2021, and the COVID-19 pandemic is now over a year old, with still no signs of ending anytime soon according to the official narrative.  The much-awaited vaccines are finally here, but they are unfortunately far too slow to end an established pandemic quickly enough, and questions still remain about their safety and effectiveness.

But according to the ever-insightful Karl "Ticker Guy" Denninger, there is apparently a way to effectively end the pandemic within one week or less.  Yes, really.  It would not only cure existing cases, but also quickly cause an over 80% reduction in transmission that would thus push the R-value so low that the epidemic would be impossible to sustain itself.  And it does NOT require lockdowns, masks, restrictions of any kind, expensive new drugs, or vaccines:

The Ziverdo kit contains Zinc, Ivermectin, and Doxycycline.  And it apparently works very well as both treatment and prophylaxis.  Make it OTC and send to everyone.  Denninger notes that the Doxycycline (antibiotic) is optional, especially for children whose baby teeth it stains, and if it were up to him he would substitute Vitamins C and D instead, making it even cheaper still.  And we at the TSAP would add Quercetin to the mix, as well as Thiamine (Vitamin B1) and Niacin (Vitamin B3), and make the Vitamin C the liposomal variety.  Problem solved.

Quickly, safely, and cheaply.  $2 per kit × 330 million Americans = $660 million, the size of a negligible rounding error on the nearly $5 trillion federal budget.  A real no-brainer.  Apparently, this has been known for months now, yet ignored by the powers that be (who thus have massive blood on their hands).

For example, the recently updated MATH+ protocol (for hospitalized patients) and the new I-MASK+ protocol (for early treatment and prophylaxis) both from the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), both currently include Ivermectin.  See also the recently updated protocol by the Swiss Doctor as well.  And the EVMS protocol strongly echoes these ideas as well, as does the newly-updated and famous Zelenko Protocol.

One other thing that people may not think of (and is not part of any of the other aforementioned protocols) is Niacin (Vitamin B3).  Dr. Dmitry Kats, apparently discovered months ago niacin (as nicotinic acid), at about 20 cents per 1000 mg dose, actually does work as prophylaxis and even as a practically overnight cure for COVID.  It has to be the immediate-release, "flush" kind in order for it to work, since the classic "niacin flush" reaction is a feature, not a bug.  And niacin has numerous other health benefits as well, while being practically harmless when used as directed.  Certainly better than Gilead's Remdesivir (which is really just a "bunk niacin" and apparently the world's most expensive failure at $5000/dose) and better than even Regeneron's shiny new monoclonal antibody cocktail.  And yes, Dr. Kats ran a very impressive double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial himself with niacin alone.  (Though of course, we would still recommend Vitamin C, Vitamin D, thiamine, zinc, and quercetin along with it anyway.)  The censors, however, are not at all pleased with his findings.  Gee, I wonder why?

Talk about a game-changer!  It seems that everything else is a mere sideshow in comparison.

As for long-haulers (those suffering from longer-term COVID after-effects), many of the reported symptoms sound a lot like those of deficiencies in several of the aforementioned key nutrients, particularly Vitamin D (in general), Vitamin B1 (dysautonomia and recurring fevers), and zinc (loss of smell and taste).  Correcting these deficiencies would likely work very well to promote healing.  And according to Dr. Dmitry Kats, there is also at least anecdotal evidence as well that niacin (Vitamin B3) can be beneficial as well in healing from remnant COVID damage, which is not really surprising given how well it works to treat acute COVID (as he discovered in his aforementioned RCT study).

The famous Dr. Joseph Mercola also has a great article about Niacin, largely echoing what Dr. Kats has been saying for months now.  The article also notes the many benefits of the other B vitamins as well in relation to COVID.  Food for thought indeed.

Of note, Ivermectin also seems to work for long-haulers as well, to the tune of 94%.

And of course, wash your hands, clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces, cover coughs and sneezes, stay home if you are sick, and avoid contact with people who are sick.  Vulnerable individuals (over 65, immunocompromised, and/or with underlying health conditions) should really avoid crowds as much as possible.  In other words, use common sense. 

Also remember to ventilate, ventilate, ventilate indoor spaces, and avoid packing too many people in as well.  This is especially important during "broken immune system season", formerly known as flu season.

As for the massive test "casedemic" superimposed on top of the actual pandemic, that can be easily solved by reducing the PCR cycle threshold to between 30 and 35, and/or switching to lateral-flow rapid testing instead.  Additionally, mass testing can be phased out in favor of more targeted testing as well.

So what are we waiting for?

UPDATE:  The ever-insightful Bill Sardi recently pointed out that giving severe, deathbed COVID patients a thymus gland hormone called thymosin alpha-1 raises T-cell counts and dramatically slashes death rates by nearly two-thirds.  Note that this miraculous treatment only works when actually sick, thus it is not for prevention, but it works very well will no side effects.  It also works well against cancer, by the way.  While the pure stuff is rather pricey and can be hard to get, bovine thymus gland extracts would likely have similar benefits and can be purchased as dietary supplements.  And the effect can also be mimicked and/or enhanced with zinc supplements as well, which we should really be taking regardless as both treatment and prophylaxis.  Our white blood cells don't work properly without zinc, and zinc also stops viral replication too.

T-cells appear to be at least as important as antibodies, if not more so for this virus.

As for prophylactic nasal sprays, some are in development as we speak, though not yet commercially available.  Until then, fortunately there is already one that is likely to block the virus while yielding additional health benefits in the meantime.  It is called Xlear, a natural, drug-free saline nasal spray with xylitol and grapefruit seed extract.

(Probiotics might also be promising too.)

And yet another study via meta-analysis confirms the effectiveness of Ivermectin, and even helps elucidate the mechanism by which it works.  Apparently, it blocks a particular enzyme, and thus stops the virus from replicating, kinda like zinc does but with a different enzyme.  In the USA, unfortunately it is not yet available OTC except for veterinary use, or for topical use against head lice.  But President Biden, if you're listening, you of course could change that with a stroke of your executive pen.  Yesterday.

Another safe and promising treatment and prophylaxis, Bromhexine, is available OTC in most countries, but unfortunately NOT available in the USA at all.  Like the drug camostat mesilate does, but much more cheaply and safely, it apparently blocks the TMPRSS2 protein that the virus needs to unlock the cells' ACE2 receptors, thus inhibiting cell entry.  (A protein whose relative lack in prepubescent children also seems to explain their largely being spared the worst of the disease as well as being less likely to spread it.)  That, of course, can also be fixed with a stroke of Biden's executive pen as well.  Yesterday. 

For Vitamin C, very high, "Klenner-sized" doses may be in order, especially for serious cases.  In his book Curing the Incurable, Dr. Thomas Levy discusses its curative potential for virtually all viruses, many bacterial infections, and even some poisons as well.  No reason think COVID would be radically different in that regard.  And not for nothing, high-dose IV Vitamin C is indeed a key part of the MATH+ Protocol.  Note that liposomal Vitamin C can also be used as an alternative to IV use early on, since it makes very high doses possible to absorb orally.

As for the study that supposedly finds that Vitamin C and zinc don't work, well, the ever-insightful Bill Sardi does an excellent rebuttal of that study.  And don't forget to take your Quercetin too, which is known to synergize with both zinc and Vitamin C.

Back to Vitamin D, don't forget to also take it with magnesium and Vitamin B12, which apparently enhance absorption and thus its benefits according to a new clinical trial.  For prophylaxis and very early treatment, D3 is best taken in several thousand units daily, or tens of thousands of units weekly.  And for serious, critical, or otherwise late-stage patients, remember that the active form calcifediol (25-hydroxyvitamin D) would work better, since regular Vitamin D3 takes time to convert to its active form.

And the evidence for Vitamin D just keeps on piling up, with the latest impressive study.  A 60% reduction in death rates and an 80% reduction in ICU admissions is certainly nothing to, ahem, sneeze at.

Be sure to also check out the amino acid lysine as well, which is now emerging as a dark horse in treating and preventing COVID-19 as well.

Additionally, Dr. Thomas E. Levy has a new, FREE e-book out titled Rapid Virus Recovery, whose central idea has also been echoed by Dr. Joseph Mercola, namely the use of nebulized hydrogen peroxide against the virus.  A nebulizer can be bought in a drugstore for less than $40, and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide for as little as one dollar.  If you find that idea floats your boat, please do use caution, follow the instructions, and be sure to to properly dilute the hydrogen peroxide solution before nebulizing it.

And even failing all that, we now know that there are always cheap steroid inhalers to fall back on, that cost next to nothing in nearly every country except of course the USA where the Big Pharma racketeers mercilessly gouge their prices.  In fact, like that Texas doctor pointed out last summer, early use of steroid inhalers seems to reduce the number of severe cases by 90%!  Let that sink in.  Problem solved.

Worried about the supposedly scary new mutant strains of the virus?  Worry not, since unlike vaccines and antibody treatments, the aforementioned protocols are NOT strain-specific and thus would work for ALL strains, full stop.  But if you are still concerned, then the best thing to do is to NOT support ANY degree or kind of lockdowns since in practice those just concentrate and incubate these new strains which inevitably escape and spread further, when it's really better to dilute, dilute, dilute so they don't become the dominant strains anywhere.  Seriously. 

FINAL THOUGHT:  When we say to end the pandemic, that is NOT to be confused with the mirage of "Zero Covid", which frankly makes about as much sense as "Zero Flu".  Like it or not, the virus is here to stay, but by doing the above we can easily accelerate the process by which it stops being a pandemic and becomes just another endemic nuisance like--and about as scary as--seasonal flu or the common cold.

Still More Evidence That Lockdowns Don't Work And Do More Harm Than Good--So Why Do They Still Exist?

In case you are still not convinced that lockdowns are worse than useless, after we have repeatedly presented evidence since April 2020, there is even more evidence now a year into the pandemic.

A recent study that compared more-restrictive NPIs (i.e. mandatory stay-at-home orders and business closures) to less-restrictive NPIs, and (unlike some studies) teased out the the effects of the latter from the former, did not find significant benefits on the course of a country's epicurve from the former, and perhaps even a perverse effect.  And another study finds an uncanny resemblance between the shapes of the epicurves of each virus wave in nearly every country in the world regardless of what they did for the most part.  This also works when comparing states and localities as well, by the way.  And worse, yet another study finds that the harms of lockdowns may very exceed the supposed benefits by a factor of TEN.

But hey, we could've told you that nine months ago.

In other words, with very few exceptions, the strictest lockdown countries and states sure "flattened the curve" all right--VERTICALLY.  If such extraordinary restrictions are applied too late, it is like gasoline on the fire.  And when applied earlier, it may delay things a bit before exploding sooner or later, but the more it does when it does.  But ultimately, it does not make much if any difference in terms of the progress of the virus once it becomes widespread enough.  Thus, early lockdowns are unnecessary compared to less-restrictive NPIs, late lockdowns are truly worse than useless, and both cause unnecessary and utterly preventable collateral damage.

So what do we call doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

QED

UPDATE:  Still another study, this time in the Northern Jutland region of Denmark where some areas had strict lockdowns while others didn't, finds no detectable difference in COVID rates between lockdown and non-lockdown locations.  Lockdowns apparently did not stop or even slow down transmission of the virus.  If the results of that natural experiment are not the final nail in the coffin for lockdowns, we really don't know what is.

And the UK?  Well, COVID infections were apparently already dropping before Lockdown 2.0 went into effect, and already rising again before the lockdown was relaxed.  Thus, the correlation with cases and deaths is most likely spurious and unrelated, and the lockdown clearly didn't do a lick of good.  But of course that didn't stop Boris from implementing Lockdown 3.0, which will likely last longer than the first two lockdowns combined.  The first time was naive, the second time was stupid, and the third time is truly the very height of thick-headedness!

And yet again, true to form, early evidence suggests that for Lockdown 3.0, infections also already peaked before that one would have had any sort of effect either.  In other words, the powers that be have a tendency to impose or tighten lockdown restrictions right around the peak, and then take credit for declines in cases that would have occurred regardless.

Oh, and school closures?  Yet another study came out showing that the lockdown zealots were wrong and that we at the TSAP were essentially right all along, namely that keeping schools open and fairly normal, even in times and places of significant community spread, and even without masks, does NOT lead to disaster for students, teachers, or anyone else.  And again, we could have told you that nine months ago.

Meanwhile, the collateral damage continues to mount, and will do so for many years to come. 

If only we had stuck to the wisdom of the ages that prevailed before March 2020, instead of throwing it all out the window like so much garbage.

STOP PRESS:  Be sure to also check out the ever-insightful Toby Young's excellent rebuttal to turncoat Christopher Snowdon's pro-lockdown piece, and Young's second rebuttal to Snowdon's rejoinder as well.  He debunks, debones, slices, dices, and juliennes the perpetually flimsy case for lockdowns, and pretty much lays waste to its remains.

Oh and by the way, Sweden, who famously eschewed lockdowns and barely even wore any masks, had a lower excess death rate for 2020 than most of Europe did.  Their COVID death rate was about average for Europe while their excess all-cause mortality was in fact better than average.  Kinda like how wide-open Florida did better than the USA average.

Best Explanation Yet Of The Oligarchs' And Technocrats' "Great Reset"

In case you didn't know the real reasons behind the oligarchs'/technocrats' so-called "Great Reset", please see this eye-opening video by the ever-insightful Catherine Austin Fitts.  Spoiler alert:  it isn't really about a virus, so much as about power and control.

A cashless society in which currency as we know it is replaced entirely by digital central bank "currency" that can be turned on and off at will by the oligarchs in charge, to totally control the masses, and ultimately usher in their necrotechnocratic dream of slavery and transhumanism?  What could possibly go wrong?  (As per Murphy's Law...)

It can be described as the ultimate triumph of wetiko.  That is, the virus of the mind and cancer of the soul, far worse than any physical virus, that is also known as EVIL.  One that unfortunately too many people accept as the banality of evil.

All the more reason for We the People to demand a return to normalcy and a halt to these Machiavellian machinations.  And yesterday is not soon enough!

Of course, it is not enough to simply oppose the Great Reset, lockdowns, and all that jazz.  The forces of good must present alternatives that pre-empt any perceived need for such machinations.  We must unveil the treatments and prophylaxis that we have noted would bring the actual COVID-19 pandemic to a halt almost overnight.  We must expose and reform the sketchy statistics and testing used to create it the massive casedemic superimposed on it.  And we must implement without delay the progressive priorities such as UBI, single-payer Medicare For All, debt jubilee, free college, and so on before the evil oligarchs and technocracy beat us to it and pervert and weaponize these otherwise beneficial ideas.  Conservatives may disagree with that last point, but this battle cannot be won by conservatives alone, as it transcends the whole left-right political spectrum.

UPDATE:  Apparently, the Canadian province of Ontario is possibly planning to eventually put some restrictions on people who choose not to get the COVID vaccine, and perhaps require proof of vaccination to enter some places.  This is how it starts, people, and we must oppose this kind of coercion 100%, full stop.  Fortunately, in the USA we have at least some governors like Ron DeSantis of Florida who have already ruled out any such mandates in their own states, throwing a major monkey wrench in the Machiavellian machinations of the necrotechnocracy.

And finally, it should be crystal clear by now that We the People are in an abusive relationship with our government, and have been since the pandemic was first declared (if not even earlier, albeit to a lesser degree).  All of the red flags are there, even if they may be disguised to appear green at first.  Lockdowns and related restrictions and propaganda essentially perfectly match the Duluth Model Power And Control Wheel as well as the Biderman's Chart of Coercion.  Let that sink in, folks.  Really makes you think.

UPDATE:  Looks like the YouTube censors took down the video, unfortunately.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Has A Kill Switch. Let's Use It, Yesterday!

DISCLAIMER:  The following article references third-party sources and is intended for general information only, and is NOT intended to provide medical advice or otherwise diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, including (but not limited to) COVID-19.  Consult a qualified physician before beginning any sort of treatment or prophylactic regimen and/or if you know or suspect that you currently have COVID-19.  Anyone who takes or does anything mentioned (or alluded to) in this or any other TSAP article does so entirely at their own risk and liability.  The TSAP thus makes absolutely no warranties, express or implied, and is not liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages resulting from any act or omission on the part of the reader(s) or others.  Caveat lector.

What if there was a way to end the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic quickly and harmlessly, within a matter of a few weeks at most, without resorting to lockdowns or shutdowns of any kind, and without the need for any sort of vaccine?  Eradication of this soon-to-be-endemic virus is of course practically impossible since that train has left the station long ago, but it can be quite easily reduced to a mere nuisance like the common cold or seasonal flu going forward.  

Of course, in the long run, both "herd immunity" and attenuation (weakening) of the virus itself will do the trick, as an inevitable result of mass natural infection, and we're already pretty damn close, but what do we do in the meantime to make this a far less risky proposition since the virus is, you know, rather nasty and even deadly for some people?  Enter antiviral prophylaxis of some sort.  According to a very good model originally designed for pandemic influenza, this will not only "flatten the curve", but actually CRUSH the curve down hard, more so and faster than even the very best vaccines ever could, as the latter take too much time to roll out en masse and kick in.  And a solution couldn't come soon enough.

So what would this prophylaxis be?  Here is our "kill switch" to sharply reduce not only bad outcomes such as deaths, but also viral transmission as well:

• Vitamin D, first and foremost.
• Vitamin C (preferably liposomal)
• Zinc (including lozenges)
• Quercetin (a zinc ionophore)
• Niacin (Vitamin B3) 
• Thiamine (Vitamin B1)
• Inositol (Vitamin B8)
• Vitamin A (use with caution)
• Melatonin (at night)
• And last but not least, a multivitamin containing selenium, magnesium, copper, and Vitamin E

Really?  Sounds too easy, right?  We thought so too at first, but the evidence just keeps on piling up.  These things all enhance the immune system, tone down the body's harmful overreactions, and/or directly neutralize the virus itself.  And they are safe enough to recommend to the general population, not only those who are designated as "high risk" or "high exposure" (though certainly a fortiori for such folks). And they, among other things, all featured quite prominently in a previous article we wrote about treatment and prophylaxis for COVID-19.  And of course, they also work for many other viruses in general as well.  It is amazing how many people are deficient in many of these nutrients, and also how many of the various symptoms and after-effects thought to be linked to the virus itself may actually be the result of such deficiencies at least in part.

That alone should keep the vast, vast majority of COVID patients out of the hospital.  And for any severe cases that still occur, we already know how to easily treat the most likely complications of secondary bacterial infections, cytokine storms, and blood clots, using antibiotics, corticosteroids, and blood thinners.  And we also know now that ventilators kill more people than they save, and that less invasive means of oxygen therapy work quite well in fact, especially if you don't lay the patients on their backs.  In other words, this is actually a very manageable disease, and the specious idea that it is somehow unmanageable is simply a self-fulfilling prophecy driven by panic and misinformation (if not outright disinformation).

For example, check out the recently updated MATH+ protocol (for hospitalized patients) and the new I-MASK+ protocol (for early treatment and prophylaxis) both from the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC).  And see also the recently updated protocol by the Swiss Doctor as well.

To further out-ninja this virus, redirect it away from vulnerable people, and reduce the herd immunity threshold and overshoot, we should take some lessons from the countries that had very low death rates without (or independently of) lockdowns:

• Wash your hands, don't touch your face, cover coughs and sneezes, stay home if sick, avoid people who are currently sick, and all that jazz. Vulnerable people should avoid crowds as much as possible.  You know, common sense, basically.
• Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces frequently, including your phone.
• Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate indoor spaces as much as possible.
• Do temperature checks to enter public buildings and workplaces, and perhaps for public transportation as well.
• When doing contact tracing, do backward rather than forward tracing.  That works much better given the stochastic nature of this virus.
• When it comes to gatherings of any kind, remember that SIZE MATTERS, as the risk of virus exposure and spread increases exponentially with the number of people present.  This is especially true in enclosed spaces for prolonged periods of time.
• Use face masks judiciously, not superstitiously.  They are filters, not barriers.  Change/clean them as frequently as possible so they don't backfire and become fomites (germ carriers).
• And most importantly, take the proper precautions to stop the nosocomial spread of the virus within hospitals and nursing homes, which account for the lion's share of deaths in many countries, but some countries managed to solve nonetheless.

In other words, take the same precautions you would if you found out that there was a flu outbreak and/or a norovirus outbreak in your neighborhood, community, or workplace.  Because the way it spreads is similar to both types of viruses--and like the latter one, don't neglect the fecal-oral route of transmission.

Of course, thus far we are referring to the actual pandemic, that is, the one that actually produces significant excess deaths.  We haven't discussed how to also quash the massive testing "casedemic" that has been superimposed on top of it.  Here's how to tackle that one going forward as well:

• Reduce the cycle threshold for PCR testing to 30 for standard sensitivity, and perhaps 35 for high sensitivity testing.
• Confirm all positives with a retest before reporting results, especially positives with a cycle threshold >25.
• Test sensitivity is rather overrated, apparently, at least in terms of a tradeoff with speed and frequency.
• Do not include positive antigen (i.e. rapid) tests in reported "cases" unless also confirmed by PCR.
• Do not mix in positive antibody test results as new "cases", as that is comparing apples and oranges.
• Do not count multiple positive tests of the same individual as separate "cases", unless they are at least several months apart.
• Consider restricting virus testing to symptomatic individuals only, except in very sensitive environments such as hospitals and nursing homes.
• Report COVID hospitalizations as such only if the patients are there because of the virus (think CLI, ILI, shortness of breath, and/or pneumonia), not just because they tested positive after being admitted for something unrelated.
• Make sure all deaths designated as COVID deaths really are from COVID. That is, no motor vehicle accidents, gunshot wounds, alligator attacks, deaths of despair, etc. with merely incidental positive tests.
• Report cases by specimen date and deaths by date of death.

And just like that, goodbye pandemic!  And by ending lockdowns and other restrictions and going back to true normal sooner rather than later, we will also prevent any further collateral damage that is the actual root cause of so many excess deaths and so much misery we have seen so far this year.

And there you have it.  Consider this our silver bullet, and golden ticket out of this horrible nightmare for good.  Yesterday is not soon enough.  So what are we waiting for?  Let the real healing begin!

UPDATE:  After perusing some of the links in this article, the reader may wonder why we did not list bromhexine as a treatment and prophylaxis despite it looking rather promising.  The reason is simply because it is unfortunately still not available in the USA, despite it being safe and readily available OTC in almost every country in the world.  And this article is written primarily for an American audience.

One can also add resveratrol to the list as well, as it helps normalize the immune system, and was also found to show effectiveness against a far deadlier member of the coronavirus family, namely MERS.

As for long-haulers (those suffering from longer-term COVID after-effects), many of the reported symptoms sound a lot like those of deficiencies in several of the aforementioned key nutrients, particularly Vitamin D (in general), Vitamin B1 (dysautonomia and recurring fevers), and zinc (loss of smell and taste).  Correcting these deficiencies would likely work very well to promote healing.  And according to Dr. Dmitry Kats, there is also at least anecdotal evidence as well that Niacin (Vitamin B3) can be beneficial as well in healing from remnant COVID damage, which is not really surprising given how well it works to treat acute COVID (as he discovered in his RCT study).  Apparently, a good chunk of Long COVID can be considered a virus-induced form or offshoot of pellagra (niacin or NAD+ deficiency), and many of the symptoms of both match up, thus curable with niacin.

As for prophylactic nasal sprays, some are in development as we speak, though not yet commercially available.  Until then, fortunately there is already one that is likely to block the virus while yielding additional health benefits in the meantime.  It is called Xlear, a natural, drug-free saline nasal spray with xylitol and grapefruit seed extract.

See also "A Rational Path Forward" by the folks at Rational Ground as well.

The Difference Between Naive and Stupid

Well, it's official.  Several European countries are now back to lockdown once again.  It seems nearly every country not named Sweden or Belarus is blindly copying one another to one degree or another now just like before.  And even on this side of the proverbial pond, there are still plenty of folks eager to copy them if allowed the chance.  They clearly didn't learn the first time that lockdowns simply don't work, and do far more harm than good on balance.   

The first time they did it, they were naive at best, but the second time is just plain stupid.  The first time was an argument from ignorance, while the second time is an argument from thick-headedness.

Hey geniuses, wanna know why you are getting a second wave of the virus now?  Let us count the ways:

1.  You are testing much more than during the first wave, often many times more.
2.  You are using such a high PCR cycle threshold that creates far too many false positives.
3.  You are still quite liberal with what you define as a COVID death.
4. "Mitigation fatigue" is all too real, and viruses gonna virus regardless.
5.  And last but not least, your lockdowns the first time merely postponed the inevitable.  Really.  Whether you shaved off a little bit from the first wave (like the UK) or nearly suppressed the first wave entirely (like Czechia), guess what?  You are getting right now exactly what you had postponed earlier, except now during flu season.  A real genius move, guys. 

And before you say "But Sweden is getting a second wave too!", take a look at the hard data on Worldometer or Our World In Data.  Cases are apparently way up in recent weeks, yes, but hospitalizations are only modestly up, and deaths are still largely crawling along the baseline, having had no excess deaths since July and on track to have a below-normal flu season.  Whatever their second wave, it does not appear to be particularly deadly, and they are currently in a much better position than nearly all the rest of Europe as they head into winter.

UPDATE:  And yes, COVID-19 apparently does have a strong seasonality to it in both the USA and Europe, which is of course a double-edged sword.  As for Sweden, deaths are apparently up, but still no excess deaths since all-cause mortality remains largely in the normal range per EUROMOMO.  After all, "excess" is relative.  And also, where did the flu go?  It seems that in practically every country, including Sweden, it seems to have mysteriously vanished for some reason.  Things that (should) make you go, hmmmm.

As for Finland and Norway, who still have some of the lowest COVID death rates in the Western world, keep in mind that both countries were actually LESS stringent than Sweden for the majority of the pandemic (i.e. from May until early November).

The UK's Lockdown 2.0 and the subsequent perpetual lockdown-in-all-but-name appear to have not done a lick of good at all in terms of the number or timing of COVID cases, hospitalizations, or deaths.  It appears to be at best irrelevant to the virus, if not perverse.

Banning all or practically all mixing between households, especially at this very late stage of the pandemic, is utterly risible if it weren't so tragic.  News flash, for most of the pandemic there has been, and still is today, far more transmission within households than between them, and not primarily driven by children or asymptomatic spread either.  Once the proverbial genie is out of the bottle, such government overreach is simply a cruel joke.

And meanwhile, several US states are in fact backsliding towards lockdown once again, with practically all states except Florida and South Dakota tightening restrictions at least somewhat since September.  Riddle me this:  if it worked so well the first time, why are we doing it again?  If it did NOT work the first time, why are we doing it again?

In fact, going into the holiday season, Florida is actually doing better than the national average now in spite of barely any restrictions since September 25, and both North and South Dakota have peaked and declined organically since mid-November despite mild/late (ND) or no (SD) restrictions, around the same time as the stricter Midwestern states.  California, on the other hand, is not doing so hot at all.

Even Georgia, notably first out the gate to lift restrictions and reopen in general and also first out the gate to reopen schools statewide, was not the disaster that was predicted, and seven months later they are....average compared to the rest of the country.  And sadly while both Dakotas are now cumulatively among the top ten worst states in terms of deaths per capita, the timing of their admittedly severe but very late outbreaks and decline of same does not show any relevance to policy measures.

JANUARY 2021 UPDATE:  Looks like Sweden did unfortunately have low to moderate excess weekly deaths for several weeks in a row in late November, December, and early January per EUROMOMO.  But they still had far less than they did during their first wave and significantly less than most European countries did during their second wave, especially the UK (again), Spain (again), Belgium (again), Italy (again), France, Portugal, and much less than Czechia and Slovenia as well.  And it began much later as well.  2020 seems to have been Sweden's worst year for all-cause deaths since 2012, and fairly comparable to 2015, while some other countries in contrast had their worst year in decades.  And it looks like Sweden's second wave is almost over now, with cases now plummeting despite it being the middle of winter.  Meanwhile, Florida and California are both shaping up to be about average among US states on a cumulative basis despite taking polar opposite approaches to their epidemics, kinda like how Sweden and France are both around the European average as well.  As the old saying goes, that's why you never call the winner at halftime.

Regardless of what NPIs were done, it appears that the winter wave is now in rapid retreat worldwide in nearly every country, well before the vaccines would have had much if any effect.  Reducing the cycle threshold for PCR testing and/or making testing more targeted per revised WHO guidance has likely played a role in many countries and US states, but enough naturally-acquired herd immunity to bend the curve down has also most likely been achieved as well.

Note that other endemic coronaviruses (i.e. common cold viruses) tend to peak seasonally in January or so and then sharply decline afterwards.  Thus, the decline of this virus will most likely continue through the spring and summer as well, give or take a possible March secondary peak in some places perhaps.

(And again, where did the flu go?  Hmmmm....)

So what do you call it when you do the same thing over and over and expect different results?

The TSAP Supports The Great Barrington Declaration

More than six months after the COVID lockdowns and related restrictions began in March, it is becoming increasingly clear that that such an unprecedented "strategy" wasn't really the wisest idea, to put it mildly.  In fact, it was not even really a strategy so much as a panic move that was only supposed to last two or three weeks and was based on the (later revealed to be false) premise that it was somehow utterly necessary to keep hospitals from being overrun.  Fair enough, I guess.  But then they subtly moved the goalposts to a pipe-dream "zero COVID" strategy with no end in sight, which quite frankly makes about as much sense as a "zero flu" strategy.  If that isn't mission creep, I really don't know what is.  And such a sledgehammer approach really hasn't worked very well, and has had far too much collateral damage.  The "cure" was worse than the disease.

That's why a group of distinguished infectious disease experts (Prof. Sunetra Gupta, Prof. Martin Kulldorf, and Prof. Jay Bhattacharya) have come up with the Great Barrington Declaration, which calls for a change in strategy to what they call Focused Protection, in which young and healthy people (who are statistically at similar or less risk from COVID as they are from seasonal flu, traffic accidents, etc.) essentially go back to the true normal and build up herd immunity while carefully protecting older and more vulnerable people (who are at far greater risk) in the meantime, and still respecting human rights.

Sweden basically did such a strategy for the most part, as did some US states like South Dakota, and to a lesser extent Florida, Georgia, Texas, etc.  And despite being hit rather hard, they did not turn out worse than many of the strictest lockdown countries and states, but rather closer to the middle of the pack. Controversial and imperfect as that strategy may be, honestly in the long run it is really the only way out of this pandemic nightmare for good at this point, and we just have to accept that.  It is simply an inevitable outcome, and any safe and effective vaccine will come too late.  As for treatments, they apparently already exist, and many have existed for decades now.

(For more practically detailed versions of this general strategy, devised months ago, see here and here by Bill Sardi, as well as here by Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai.)

Objections can be very easily debunked here, by the way.  It is not a left-wing vs. right-wing thing, or even solely for libertarians, as a strong communitarian case can also be made for such a strategy as well.  Thus, it is more properly thought of as a humanitarian imperative that transcends politics.

Thus, the TSAP hereby supports the Great Barrington Declaration, with the caveats that its words not be misinterpreted and that such protections of the vulnerable be largely voluntary, nuanced, and not too heavy-handed.  It's not that COVID-19 shouldn't be taken seriously (it should be!), but we need to keep things in proportion, as a disproportionate response does far more harm than good in the long run.

As the authors of the declaration so eloquently say, "Public health is not simply the absence of disease.  Together we can restore it in full.  Do it now!"  And we at the TSAP couldn't agree more.

So what are we waiting for?  Let's stop making the perfect the enemy of the good, and get real already.

UPDATE: Dr. Mikko Panunio of Finland adds that Vitamin D may very well be the silver bullet we've all been looking for, reducing not only death rates from COVID but also likely slowing the transmission of the virus as well according to recent studies, effectively creating a sort of quasi-herd immunity in the meantime.  Thus, recommending Vitamin D supplements to the general population would be an excellent and highly practical addition to the Great Barrington Declaration strategy for returning to the true normal sooner than later.  This advice echoes Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai's and Bill Sardi's advice (which also notably include Vitamin A, Vitamin C, zinc, quercetin, selenium, etc. as well as Vitamin D) given months ago.  Too bad it took over six months for such an idea to even begin to enter into the mainstream, as far too many lives have been cut short and/or ruined from both COVID as well as the wrongheaded countermeasures that did more harm than good.

And regardless, it bears repeating:  the critics' apocalyptic estimates of mass death that would allegedly result from the Great Barrington Declaration strategy relative to the status quo can be very easily debunked by noting that 1) the status quo at best delays the inevitable and still presents us with all of the exact same dilemmas the critics rail against, but with added collateral damage on top of it, and 2) yet another study confirms that the actual infection fatality rate of 0.1-0.3% is globally far lower than the doomsayers claim it is, more like a really bad flu season, albeit with very wide variation and nuance.  Even the WHO inadvertently admitted as much.  And as of October 8, the WHO did a startling about-face and now strongly discourages the use of lockdowns due to their truly massive collateral damage.

Most ironically of all, the Great Barrington Declaration strategy is not at all unorthodox, but rather simply a reversion to the scientific community's time-tested pandemic playbook which prevailed for nearly a century up until the powers that be panicked and summarily threw it out the window in March 2020.  And in that playbook, large-scale quarantines and closures were dismissed as ineffective and counterproductive for these types of pandemics.  It is only because the Overton window shifted so much and so quickly that yesterday's heresies became today's orthodoxies practically overnight.  And now is our chance to shift it back to its rightful place, and yesterday is not soon enough.

Please note that the authors of the GBD have added an informative FAQ for clarification and more detail.  It should go without saying of course, but neither the TSAP nor the GBD authors advocate or condone anyone deliberately getting infected or infecting others.  Fortunately, the idea that this is a widespread practice (via "COVID parties" or otherwise) is apparently just another urban legend.  Which is good, because we want the effective herd immunity threshold to kick in at as low a level as possible, with as little overshoot as possible, thus minimizing total casualties of all varieties.  So keep calm and carry on, but still keep washing your hands, don't touch your face, stay home when you're sick, stay away from anyone who is sick or thought to be infected, and all that jazz regardless.  That is, use common sense.

See also "A Rational Path Forward" by the folks at Rational Ground as well.

As for how long immunity lasts, see here.

2021 UPDATE:  See the rebuttal here to the specious claims against the GBD.