Had COVID? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime - "Ellebedy’s team tracked antibody production in 77 people who had recovered from mostly mild cases of COVID-19. As expected, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies plummeted in the four months after infection. But this decline slowed, and up to 11 months after infection, the researchers could still detect antibodies that recognized the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein."
A long-term perspective on immunity to COVID - "when the authors obtained samples 4 months later (11 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection), the number of such plasma cells had remained stable in all but one of the individuals analysed. Those plasma cells did not proliferate, which classifies them as bona fide memory plasma cells. Their numbers equalled those of memory plasma cells found in the individuals after vaccination against tetanus or diphtheria, and which provide long-term immunity to those diseases."
We must stop ignoring natural immunity - it’s now long overdue! - "There is now growing body of literature supporting the conclusion that natural immunity not only confers robust, durable, and high-level protection against COVID-19, but also better than vaccine induced immunity"
All this is for natural immunity alone. For those who have completed a primary vaccination series as well as gotten infected, immunity is going to be even more robust
COVID Vax 5 Times More Protective Than Natural Immunity
Maybe those who have gotten vaccinated but not been infected should be subject to Covid Apartheid (VDS in Singapore) to "protect" them
Do you need a second booster shot? An epidemiologist scoured the latest research and has some answers - "In one study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists assessed the rates of infection and severe illness after a fourth dose – or second booster – among more than a million people ages 60 and older in Israel. The researchers found that after a fourth dose, the rate of COVID-19 infection was two times lower than after a third dose. However, this protection quickly waned after six weeks. They also found the rate of severe disease was four times lower compared to those who received only three doses. It’s important to note, though, that hospitalizations among both groups were very low. Importantly, another study assessed the effectiveness of a fourth dose among younger health care workers in Israel. The results confirmed that antibody levels dropped significantly five months after the third dose. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of the fourth dose was no different from the effectiveness of a third dose in this population of younger health care workers. In other words, there may not be meaningful benefit of a second booster of the same formula for young, healthy populations... The combination of being both vaccinated and having experienced a COVID-19 infection is called “hybrid immunity.” More than 35 studies have shown that hybrid immunity offers complimentary and broad protection. This is because immunity from the vaccines targets the spike protein – after which the COVID-19 vaccines were designed – and infection-induced immunity aims more broadly at the whole virus. So, it is not unreasonable to skip a second booster with a confirmed infection of omicron. This doesn’t mean that people should purposefully get SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But it is clear that hybrid immunity is a viable path to protection."
"Science" in Singapore is very different from in the rest of the world
Covid worsens asthma in children; booster after infection not as beneficial vs Omicron - "Among people who were previously infected with the coronavirus, a third dose of an mRNA vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna may not boost their protection against the Omicron variant of the virus, according to new data. Researchers studied nearly 130,000 people tested for Covid in Connecticut from November 2021 through January 2022, including 10,676 with Omicron infections. Roughly 6% to 8% had been infected with previous versions of the coronavirus, according to a report posted on medRxiv ahead of peer review. Two doses of an mRNA vaccine did help protect against Omicron among people with prior infections, but “we did not detect an additional benefit of receiving a third booster dose among this population”... A separate study from Canada, also posted on medRxiv ahead of peer review, similarly found that more than two vaccine doses “may be of marginal incremental value” for protecting previously-infected individuals against Omicron. The message, Lind said, “should be that (1) people should get two doses of mRNA vaccine regardless of if they have had a prior infection or not, that (2) people without prior infections should get a booster dose and that (3) people with prior infections should consider a booster dose, especially if they are in a high risk group for life threatening complications, but recognize that it may not provide significant additional protection against infection above two doses.”"
Second COVID-19 booster not recommended for people aged 60 to 79, but jabs will be offered if requested: MOH - "The EC19V has also recommended a booster dose for recovered persons aged 12 and above who have completed their primary vaccination, in view of waning immunity. This booster should not be delayed beyond nine months after completing the primary vaccination series, and should be received at least 28 days after the infection. From Jun 1, these recovered persons will need to receive the booster dose within nine months of their last primary vaccination dose, in order to maintain their vaccinated status... Dr Mak said this recommendation takes into account recent evidence that the immune protection in recovered people can vary significantly between individuals and wanes over time. "We cannot assume that a recovered individual will have enhanced immune protection after their recovery from an infection compared to a non-infected individual at a comparable time point following their vaccination"... Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that further booster shots will be required as COVID-19 becomes endemic - the only question being that of timing. This is the consensus among scientists around the world, and MOH and the EC19V agree... A "worst-case scenario" would be a variant that is more deadly and more transmissible than Omicron, he warned. "We may then need to hunker down for six months or more, while scientists develop a new variant-specific vaccine. And this is one of the worst-case scenarios that we need to be psychologically prepared for.""
Covid apartheid is being relaxed, but this is two steps forward, one step back
Wonder what "science" they are looking at to shove a second booster down Singaporeans' throats, with more on the way, as well as pretending natural immunity is useless. GIC must have invested a lot of money in Pfizer and Moderna
Looks like Singapore doesn't believe the vaccines work, since they are prepared to lockdown again
Martin Kulldorff on Twitter - "Lockdowns have protected the laptop class of young low-risk journalists, scientists, teachers, politicians and lawyers, while throwing children, the working class and high risk older people under the bus"
California forgot transgender people in vaccine equity push - Los Angeles Times - "This kind of vaccine hesitancy in the transgender community is common, yet, even on International Transgender Day of Visibility, which was on Wednesday this year, it has been invisible... What data does exist shows that those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer are at higher risk of becoming severely ill from COVID-19, thanks in part to a higher prevalence of underlying health conditions. According to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, LGBTQ people report higher rates of heart disease and obesity than straight people. We’re also more likely to be smokers... California, like most states, has focused most of its vaccine equity efforts on closing income, race and ethnicity gaps, with scant attention paid to sexual orientation or gender identity."
Nothing will ever be enough for liberals, since grievance mongering is their bread and butter
Weird how if trans people are vaccine hesitant, the government needs to hold their hands. But if white conservatives are vaccine hesitant, they are selfish plague rats who deserve to die
The Black community is right to be suspicious of the medical establishment right now | Salon.com
Weird. I thought it was selfish, irresponsible and downright dangerous to excuse vaccine hesitancy
Paraic O'Donnell on Twitter - "Pausing to salute these baby welders who are doing their part to keep key industries running."
The inhumanity of covid hysteria
Thread by @akheriaty on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "Japan's ministry of health is taking a sensible, ethical approach to Covid vaccines. They recently labeled the vaccines with a warning about myocarditis and other risks. They also reaffirmed their commitment to adverse event reporting to document potential side-effects. Japan's ministry of health states: "Although we encourage all citizens to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, it is not compulsory or mandatory. Vaccination will be given only with the consent of the person to be vaccinated after the information provided." "Please get vaccinated of your own decision, understanding both the effectiveness in preventing infectious diseases and the risk of side effects. No vaccination will be given without consent." "Please do not force anyone in your workplace or those who around you to be vaccinated, and do not discriminate against those who have not been vaccinated.""
Damn "covid deniers"!
E.U. Says the Emergency Phase of the Pandemic Is Over - The New York Times - "The European Union said on Wednesday that it was moving out of the emergency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, while focusing on vaccination, pandemic surveillance and testing in preparation for a possible new pandemic wave in the fall. The move comes as the number of deaths and hospitalizations across Europe has dropped significantly because of the prevalence of the less severe Omicron variant, as well as high immunization levels. Three quarters of Europeans are fully vaccinated, and over half have received a booster shot. As the burden on health care systems by the disease has decreased in recent weeks, several E.U. nations have dropped coronavirus restrictions, creating a confusing patchwork of measures across the bloc."
Time to slam the EU for being dangerous spreaders of misinformation
M'sia will ban the sale of tobacco products to individuals born after 2005 - "the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) said that the ban would affect businesses, The Star reported. According to Free Malaysia Today, the chamber also predicted an "uncontrollable black market" for tobacco products if the ban took place. Its executive director, Shaun Cheah, reportedly said that the chamber criticised the "arbitrary setting of policies" which will drive consumers to "unregulated hazardous black market sources". "Malaysia's tobacco black market currently commands 57 per cent share of the total tobacco market, making the country number one in the world for illegal cigarettes""
John Duffield on Twitter - "Jacinda Ardern is bringing in a law which says that anyone born after 2008 will never be able to buy cigarettes in their lifetime - regardless of their age. She is a literal dictator."
"Just remember. In the People's Republic of New Zealand tobacco is very bad but enforcing the drugs laws is racist.…"
After the farce of covid lockdowns and covid apartheid, this is nothing.
First, they came for the "unvaccinated"...
Konstantin Kisin on Twitter - "They're not demonising the unvaccinated to get more people protected against COVID. Nearly 93% of adults in England have COVID antibodies. Politicians want the majority to blame the minority for one reason and one reason only: so we don't blame them."
Ben Davis on Twitter - "They locked you in your homes for a year, destroyed businesses, damaged relationships, prohibited you from seeing your loved ones, banned you from attending weddings, birthdays, and funerals, and you’re going to let them convince you that the “unvaccinated” are your enemy?"
Robert W Malone, MD on Twitter - "I am going to speak bluntly. Physicians who speak out are being actively hunted via medical boards and the press. They are trying to deligitimize and pick us off one by one. This is not a conspiracy theory - this is a fact. Please wake up. This is happening globally.
I was labeled as a "terrorist" in the Italian press when I was in Rome for the International COVID Summit. My crime? Advocating for early treatment of COVID-19 disease. I suggest that merits a bit of meditation."
TheRealTachyon on Twitter - "Can confirm. In Alberta the CPSA sent out a letter to physicians threatening them with disciplinary action or loss of medical license for:
-Publicly questioning covid or vaccination policy
-Trying alternative medical treatments on patients
-Giving medical exemptions!"
"The science" and "the experts" are unanimous - because anyone who questions them is silenced
Bernie's Tweets on Twitter - "AUSTRALIA - The army is now transferring positive Covid cases and contacts in the Northern Territories to ‘Quarantine Camps’ by army truck. So it wasn’t a conspiracy theory then. #COVID19 #Australia"
Covid-19: Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is “likely” responsible for deaths of some elderly patients, Norwegian review finds - "The Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine is “likely” to have been responsible for at least 10 deaths of frail elderly people in nursing homes in Norway, an expert review commissioned by the Norwegian Medicines Agency has concluded... The group noted that more thorough assessment of the benefits and risks of vaccination could have been made for some very frail elderly people, particularly during the first few weeks of the vaccine’s use. People with a very short life expectancy have little to gain from being vaccinated, it said, noting a genuine risk that the time of death will be brought forward and that they will experience adverse reactions to the vaccine in the last days of their life. The benefits of vaccination for very frail people with very short life expectancy should therefore be carefully assessed against the associated risks, and it may often be better not to vaccinate... officials suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine because of concerns about blood clots, and in April the Norwegian Institute of Public Health recommended no further use of that vaccine.3 Geir Bukholm, director of the Division of Infection Control and Environmental Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, said, “Since there are few people who die from covid-19 in Norway, the risk of dying after vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine would be higher than the risk of dying from the disease, particularly for younger people.”"
Why is Norway so ignorant of "the science"? They need to be ostracised as a nation for being "covid deniers"
We need more scepticism, not less - "John Ioannaidis, a world renowned Stanford epidemiologist, also questioned the lockdown and failed to see how long the pandemic would go on for. But the attacks on Ioannaidis have gone beyond criticism. One fellow epidemiologist even said that scientists like him shouldn’t voice their dissenting opinions in public. Speaking to the Washington Post, Steven Goodman, a colleague of Ioannidis at Stanford, said debate about lockdown should have stayed with the scientists: ‘Debates among scientists about the evidence are healthy. But if conducted in public the rules change. They can confuse people and undermine the consistent messaging needed for public health.’ This view that only an elite is capable of nuanced discussion would not have seemed out of place in the time of William Tyndale, the radical Protestant who translated the Bible into English – the language of the common people – in the 16th century. His attempt to make the scriptures accessible to the masses was fiercely opposed by the religious establishment in his day. Of course, scientists who make consistently bad predictions should be challenged. But we should also be very careful not to punish people for getting things wrong. That is how science works. People form hypotheses that are proved or disproved... critics of Gupta ignore the key things she has got right. For instance, she was completely correct to warn of lockdown’s disproportionate impact on the poor – particularly in the developing world. This warning has even been echoed by the World Health Organisation, which has advised governments not to use lockdowns as their primary method of controlling the virus. Critics of lockdown have also been right to warn about worsening mental health, damage to children’s education and increases in domestic abuse. I worry that the bullying and hectoring towards lockdown sceptics will lead people to conform out of fear rather than conviction. The debate has become stiflingly moralised: people on one side are good, the other side bad. There is also a startling lack of empathy for how different people might be coping during lockdown... We have foregone so many freedoms this year. Please please please can we keep freedom of inquiry?"
Of course, covid hystericists get a free pass to fearmonger in public
Debt-saddled restaurants desperate for a re-open with staying power | Toronto Sun - "They have seen this horror movie before: Reopening, Part Four... But there is no guarantee. “We’re not making money. We’re dying. We’re bleeding. It’s like death by a thousand cuts. It really is,” said Ginger Robertson, co-owner of The Edmund Burke, on Danforth Ave., and Off the Hook, on Broadview Ave. She does not understand why restaurants were singled out, while places like the Eaton Centre and food operations at airports continued to have crowds. “The inconsistencies are killing us,” she said “It’s been really heartbreaking to have to tell people for the fourth time that you don’t have work for them.”... The restaurateur said he has run up $200,000 in debts during the pandemic. “We are getting financially crushed for the greater good while the rest of society — especially the public sector — hasn’t got a financial worry in the world.” Using debt as life-blood is a move some 80% of restaurants had to make in order to survive, according to Restaurants Canada... Nearly half (43%) of those in debt said it will take more than 18 months for their business to recover. Both Danforth restaurant owners are hoping this was the last lockdown. But they just are not sure... Markakos is just slightly more optimistic “unless some other crazy variant comes along.” “The other frustrating thing,” he said. “Outside of Ontario and Quebec, is there anywhere else on Earth you can’t go out and have a meal?”"
From January
LILLEY: Ford owes restaurants apology for bizarre reopening decision | Toronto Sun - "Ontario’s chief medical officer, Dr. Kieran Moore, warned the population against the dangers of allowing children to yell “trick or treat” on Halloween. on Saturday night — a full three weeks before Halloween when children should be careful of yelling “trick or treat” outside — there were nearly 12,000 people yelling and cheering inside Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena as the Leafs hosted the Senators. While the fans cheered on restaurants in Ottawa and Toronto were left wondering why they were at half capacity or less... Welcome to the “science” guiding Ontario’s reopening."
From October
When the establishment is hypnotised by masks
LILLEY: Science Table top doc tells restaurant workers 'stop moaning' | Toronto Sun - "The arrogance and utter lack of compassion that some parts of the expert scientific community have shown during the pandemic was on full display... One of the lead scientists on Ontario’s self-appointed and self-important Science Table told restaurant workers and owners to “stop moaning” as he called for their incomes to be cut dramatically... “What’s the problem with going back to 25% capacity in a restaurant?” Juni asked. “Life will continue.”... I’m pretty sure this academic researcher who has not missed one of his generous government-funded paycheques during the pandemic thinks little people who don’t earn the high salary he does are just moaning as they worry about their future. It’s well past patio season in Ontario and putting restaurants down to 25% capacity will mean job losses and business closures. I’m not sure Juni, sitting in his plush Toronto home conducting TV interviews demanding others suffer, really understands this. His comments were a stark contrast to the comments from the actual head of the Science Table earlier in the day. As he released the Science Table’s latest modelling, Dr. Steini Brown said decisions have to consider the impact on people’s livelihoods... We saw in the recent report from the Canadian Medical Association that thousand of people have died as a result of the impact of public health restrictions. There are those who died as a result of missed surgeries, treatments or diagnostics and then there is the opioid overdose crisis. Opioid overdose deaths in Canada went from an average of 10 per day prior to the pandemic to 20 per day in the early months of 2021. Substance abuse, driven by despair, is a real issue that elected officials need to consider as they weigh next moves. Juni doesn’t need to consider issues like this, he sits in his ivory tower producing models that are wrong more often than right while asking people below him to pay the price for his mistakes."
Opinion | How Much More Can the Restaurant Industry Take? - The New York Times - "The week before Christmas, one member of our 41-person staff tested positive for Covid, forcing us to close for the weekend. Over two days, our restaurant lost over $38,000 in revenue. Inspecting our walk-in fridge, I saw thousands of dollars worth of foie gras, white truffles and ducks that had been dry aging for two weeks. I felt a sickeningly familiar sense of uncertainty and fear. I was one of many chefs and owners who felt that old angry exhaustion once again as restaurants big and small confronted yet another challenge... The biggest challenge has been deciding when to reopen, which hinges on the health of our team. On that recent weekend we closed because of the positive Covid case, only five of our employees could secure an appointment for a Covid test. After a long search, I wound up with a cart full of at-home tests and a new membership to Sam’s Club. All told, my chef-partner Aaron Phillips and I spent just shy of $800 on 106 tests. My staff burned through half of them by the following Wednesday, allowing us to safely reopen. Lazy Betty has been lucky. We made smart investments at the start of the pandemic and our reservation policy allowed us to closely manage our food and labor costs. We share our service charges with the front- and back-of-house, which has helped us retain staff. We’ve also delayed paying back our investors and distributing profits to owners to increase our operating capital by roughly 50 percent, which we’ve spent on pandemic-related upgrades. Others haven’t been so lucky. Some chef friends tell me they are considering another career. No one would fault them... Supply-chain lapses, the rising price of goods and the labor shortage have driven up costs — yet diners still expect prepandemic prices. We need them to continue coming in to eat with the understanding that higher prices are necessary if our industry is to survive."
From December
Living with covid means not shutting down over what is, to vaccinated people, less deadly than the flu
Moral panic about “covidiots” in Canadian newspaper coverage of COVID-19 - "Moral panics are moments of intense and widespread public concern about a specific group, whose behaviour is deemed a moral threat to the collective. We examined public health guidelines in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canadian newspaper editorials, columns and letters to the editor, to evaluate how perceived threats to public interests were expressed and amplified through claims-making processes. Normalization of infection control behaviours has led to a moral panic about lack of compliance with preventive measures, which is expressed in opinion discourse. Following public health guidelines was construed as a moral imperative and a civic duty, while those who failed to comply with these guidelines were stigmatized, shamed as “covidiots,” and discursively constructed as a threat to public health and moral order. Unlike other moral panics in which there is social consensus about what needs to be done, Canadian commentators presented a variety of possible solutions, opening a debate around infection surveillance, privacy, trust, and punishment. Public health communication messaging needs to be clear, to both facilitate compliance and provide the material conditions necessary to promote infection prevention behaviour, and reduce the stigmatization of certain groups and hostile reactions towards them."
'Don't tell me what to do': How Canada underestimated the anti-vaccine community - "Says Driedger: “It’s this tension, right? We’re starting to see this now, of course, within vaccine decisions and it’s so easy to get into a, ‘What’s wrong with all of these people? These people who aren’t accepting of the vaccines. The vaccine is what works, we know it works, what’s their problem?’” “And often that’s really a white liberal discourse in many respects,” said Driedger, an expert in public-health risk communication. “There is often a lot of power and privilege within society, and particularly for white society.”... Van Bavel is co-author of a global study published this week that found a shared sense of national identity leads to more support for public-health measures. “If people don’t feel a need to support their country, or see themselves as an alienated subgroup, then it might undercut their willingness to get vaccinated,” he said. What worries Caulfield is that the debate over vaccine mandates is increasingly becoming about ideology, misinformation and polarization. “It’s never about the science — it’s about silencing and censorship.”... Once the pandemic dust settles, “we may end up with hesitancy not only for the COVID vaccines, but for other vaccines proven effective.” Health leaders need to reflect on what could have been done better, he said. Mistakes were made around science communication. Some of the language emanating from public health was too dogmatic, Caulfield said. “It didn’t reflect the uncertainty and evolving nature of the science.” The message “take the first vaccine you’re offered” was changed to mRNA’s are the preferred shots. “Stick with the same vaccine for your second dose was changed to ‘get an mRNA vaccine if your first dose was a viral-vector vaccine,’ or, ‘it’s okay to mix Moderna or Pfizer because they’re basically the same,” Driedger said. “All of these moments start to undermine trust in the recommendations made and the reasons behind them.”"
In other words, demonising the unvaccinated makes them even less likely to get vaccinated. But since they are demonised for political purposes, it's a small price to pay. Governments need scapegoats for covid's spread, since that cannot be controlled
KINSELLA: Delving into the minds of the millions of unvaccinated | Toronto Sun - "government pandemic communications have ranged from incoherent to incomprehensible. Remember our erstwhile federal minister of health demanding that we don’t wear masks? And then flip-flopping and insisting that we do? Or her insinuation that anyone who wanted to close our borders was a crypto-racist, and then reversing herself on that, too? Or the politicians and the alleged public health experts saying AstraZeneca was safe, then withdrawing it, then saying it was safe again, then withdrawing it yet again? All in a period of a few weeks? With our leaders and experts so often publicly contradicting each other — and themselves — it should surprise no one that enthusiasm for getting a potentially life-saving jab would drop precipitously. Millions lack confidence in vaccines simply because they have lost confidence in the very governments who are pushing vaccines... Plenty of other factors have contributed to our collective failure to achieve the elusive herd immunity. Geography, education, fear of deportation and lack of access to regular health care are all in the mix, too."
From August. Weird, I thought the vaccines were never designed to bring immunity?
Canadian company under fire for job advert only hiring unvaccinated - "“Please DO NOT apply if you have taken any vaccines for COVID-19,” the Souris River Canoes’s job posting said. “We will only be considering unvaccinated individuals.”"
Of course, hiring only the vaccinated is not just fine but good
GRANT: I'm a doctor who supports vaccines but opposes lashing out at the unvaccinated | Toronto Sun - "While we want everybody at risk to be vaccinated, we are making a mistake if we choose to see bad people, rather than a bad decision. A bad decision can be changed, but a bad person is bad by character. What reason does a “bad” person have to keep the social contract? This loss of connection and feeling of alienation is manifesting with the increasingly loud and disruptive protests around the world. We must avoid the trap of thinking all people who are unvaccinated are anti-vaccine. Or that all anti-vaccine people are irrational. The unvaccinated are our co-workers, neighbours and friends. They continue to contribute to society, as they always did... If we were to only offer healthcare to people who have never had too much to drink, have always driven below the speed-limit, or who never eat junk food, we wouldn’t be doing a whole lot of health care. I certainly wouldn’t qualify... I want to leave my last paragraph for the politicians, media outlets and Twitter trolls: If you really, really want more people vaccinated, meet them where they are, acknowledge and understand their fears, be honest, compassionate and patient. Understand also that there are those who will never agree."
Ontario judge declines to impose COVID-19 vaccines on children - "An Ontario judge says he is not prepared to accept as fact that vaccinating children against COVID-19 is what’s best for them simply because it’s encouraged by the government, noting a number of factors – including the children’s own preferences – must be taken into account. In a decision issued last week, Superior Court Justice Alex Pazaratz rejected a father’s motion to have his two younger children – ages 12 and 10 – vaccinated despite their mother’s and their own objections, and cautioned against dismissing certain viewpoints without evidence... Pazaratz warned against allowing personal attacks, rather than debate based on evidence, into the judicial system. He also cautioned against applying judicial notice in cases “where expert opinion is unclear or in dispute,” noting the government has historically been wrong on many issues, including the residential school system. The judge further noted that health directives have “constantly changed” during the pandemic as new information emerged."
Israel Detects First Case of Florona, A Combined Infection of COVID & Influenza - "A doctor at Cairo University Hospital, Dr Nahla Abdel Wahab, told media sources in the country that the double infection might be indicative of a massive collapse of the person's immune system"
When you need to pump up the fear
From 9/11 to COVID, Every Emergency Means Bigger Government - "For two decades, Americans have been governed by emergency. These emergencies have become excuses for permanent political power grabs, for restrictions on individual liberties large and small, for mass bureaucratization and mass expansion of government spending, trillions of dollars' worth of non-solutions to deep-rooted problems. With every crisis, government grows. And now the crisis is government itself. You can see this tendency in the response to 9/11... What did Congress do in response to a threat that exploited America's bureaucratic obesity and dysfunction? It created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a super-bureaucracy charged with organizing a gaggle of other bureaucracies, many of which had little or nothing to do with each other. The solution Congress proposed to the problem of too much bureaucracy and too little bureaucratic coordination was even more bureaucracy, at a higher level. And of course, it hasn't worked; DHS has been plagued by serious management and morale problems, by coordination issues stemming from the large portfolio of unrelated subagencies it oversees, and by wasteful spending. Terrorism, meanwhile, remains a real threat. It didn't solve the problem. It became the problem. And government grew and grew along the way. The DHS was not the only federal byproduct of 9/11. Congress also created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which proceeded to spend years harassing flyers who pose no threat, installing invasive scanners that nonetheless miss bombs shaped like pancakes, molesting children while failing to catch guns and bombs, and demanding that grandmothers strip off belts and shoes in exchange for the privilege of going from one place to another. In response to a genuine threat, Americans were treated to a new federal agency dedicated to mass groping. The emergency justified it. The emergency also justified two new wars, one of which we're still fighting today, and thousands upon thousands of casualties, not to mention more than a trillion dollars in spending to fund the war effort. No one is safer because of these wars; if anything, the opposite is true. But they have helped fuel a bigger, more powerful federal government, one that is more costly, more intrusive, more bureaucratized, operating on a permanent emergency footing, despite doing little or nothing to solve the underlying issue. The pattern set after 9/11 repeated itself, in a variant form, during the next great emergency, the 2008–2009 financial crisis. Again, the crisis was real—a mass collapse in the economy that put millions out of work and resulted in home values collapsing. People, especially ordinary middle-class people living on tight budgets, were suffering. So Congress, in its wisdom, used emergency powers to hastily set up a system—arguably unconstitutional—to bail out big banks. After Barack Obama became president, there was a stimulus package too, designed to fund "shovel-ready" jobs that didn't exist. Instead, Obama's stimulus ended up paying make-work projects and boosts to state budgets and official counts of jobs created or saved that made no attempt to actually count the number of jobs created or saved... The virus was used to justify any number of emergency measures—stay-at-home orders, forced business closures and strict capacity limits, restrictions on gatherings and personal mobility—many of which are still in place, in various forms... it's clear that the broad-based lockdowns and shutdowns that went into effect in March and April of last year were costly, ineffective, and deeply damaging to the country's social and economic infrastructure. And the federal response, especially from agencies nominally charged with defending public health, was marked by a succession of delays and failures, ineptitude and inaction, that doubtless made the pandemic's toll worse. The good news is that the terrifying death, hospitalization, and infection, numbers that have defined the pandemic so far are dropping, and dropping fast... Which means that the old justifications for emergency measures to fight the spread of the virus are rapidly disappearing. Yet politicians and policy makers do not seem especially ready to end emergency governing, or the general sense of alarm that has fueled so many emergency measures over the last year. As Ross Douthat argued in The New York Times this week, we are rapidly approaching something resembling normalcy, but our political and policy elites don't seem eager to embrace it... Biden is pursuing a massive stimulus package, framed as coronavirus relief, that has little to do with the coronavirus. Instead, much of the aid package is a wishlist of preexisting Democratic policy priorities, from bailing out pensions and padding Obamacare subsidies to raising the federal minimum wage to $15, that are either irrelevant to the crisis or would exacerbate it. Will we emerge from this crisis safer because of these measures? More nimble? Better prepared for a novel threat? It doesn't matter. It's an emergency... Something has changed in the relationship between the individual and the state. Something is changing. Little by little, day by day, with every new incursion on liberty, however minor, with every new support program for every business category and demographic group, always justified by extraordinary times and circumstances, the balance of power is shifting. The problem, of course, is that there is always something out of the ordinary, some crisis, some threat, that can be deployed in the name of expunging all risk and variability from daily life. Somehow, this always turns out to require an expansion of government control. We are witnessing this not only in the United States, but in much of the democratic world. In the United Kingdom, which is vaccinating faster than any other Western country, The Wall Street Journal reports that "advisers to the British government say that mask wearing or working from home may have to be reintroduced in winter time to curb outbreaks," and the U.K. Treasury is expected to propose continuing economic support throughout the coming year. The emergency never ends, because someone, somewhere, always needs the emergency to continue."
