Just start writing … I have been staring at this blank page for ages with not a clue where to start. The motivation I once possessed has long gone replaced by permanent exhaustion and brain numbness; frustration and anger. Humour. Anyone remember that? In a week in which two sisters saw fit to post a dance in front of their mother’s open coffin on Tik Tok, no further affirmation is needed to declare the world sick! In a week in which the Italy has become the first country in Europe to make COVID “Green Passes” mandatory for all workers, declaring that those who do not comply will be suspended without pay or face fines of up to 1,500 euros, what could be more dictatorial? In a week in which – following the enforcement of a similar measure, on Wednesday, in France – the Health Minister, Olivier Veran, declared, on Thursday, that approximately 3,000 health workers had been suspended for their failure to get vaccinated, is there any thought for the future? Where does this end? Are we, merely, to exist when, once, we were free?
‘More than have of Britons suffering from long Covid might not actually have it’. An article heading in yesterday’s Telegraph revealing the findings of a UK Coronavirus Infection Survey, courtesy of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which involved nearly 27,000 people who tested positive for the virus. Surprise! Surprise! The article lists the symptoms attributed to long Covid and they include just about everything: fever, headache, muscle ache, weakness/tiredness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, sore throat, cough … the list goes on and on, with the exception of, perhaps, hiccups!! Correct me if I’m wrong, but these ailments have been around forever in daily life; none is exclusive to long Covid. Susceptible to one or more, however – from now on – one must panic, believing that one has fallen victim to it! Run for the hills – or the golf course if the hope is to see a GP! No. Rather, engage some equilibrium. Remember common sense? Read around the constant scaremongering rather than falling victim to it.
Considerably more alarming is another article in today’s Telegraph. Courtesy of Caroline Criado-Perez, it is entitled, ‘Why didn’t doctors listen to women about the link between Covid vaccines and periods?’ The synopsis below is as follows: ‘A new study reveals that thousands of women experienced irregularities after their jab – yet the medical establishment seems disinterested.’ Help! Permit me to highlight ‘the best bit’ should you choose not to click on the link above and read the whole scary article …
‘Theorising that the body’s immune response to the vaccine could trigger a change in the menstrual cycle, Dr Male pointed out that more research is needed.’
‘More research is needed’. In context, four of the most frightening words. As more and more women began to come forward, following the vaccine, reporting irregularities in their menstrual cycle, they were dismissed. Furthermore, the refusal of these women to accept this as a ‘normal irregularity’ merely prompted the medical community to cite stress as the possible cause. Oh, of course, why didn’t I think of that? Thank you! Note, though, how interesting it is that any symptom – from diarrhoea to a sore throat – is attributed to long Covid and yet thousands of women reporting menstrual irregularities following the vaccine … well, that’s just pure coincidence, or stress; couldn’t possibly be linked.
Now, in simple terms: the propensity to attribute all common ailments to long Covid only serves to support the narrative of fear which is, of course, pro-vaccine; that of dismissing the reports of thousands of women who have suffered irregularities in their menstrual cycle following vaccination, however, constitutes a refusal to acknowledge a significant link which, if confirmed, could all but end the vaccine rollout. In short, it stinks!
‘Impossible to ignore …’ Third paragraph from the end, comes the news that the US National Institute of Health (NIH) ‘has now allocated $1.67 million to research a possible link between COVID-19 vaccines and the menstrual cycle, as well as how long any impact might last.’ Too little, too late. Not only is that figure dwarfed by the billions already spent by the NIH, to date, on COVID-19 research but what of the millions of women whose blind trust may, ultimately, have deprived them of having children? Will lack of research and ignorance as to long-term side effects be an acceptable excuse? Will those responsible for censoring the doctors who shouted from the rooftops the possible links to infertility be held to account? Many months ago, I was sent a link to a video courtesy of America’s Frontline Doctors. The female doctor in question was superb. Eloquent and informed, she was not anti-vaccination. Instead, she called for caution – particularly in the case of young women – with regard to a new type of vaccine (mRNA) whose rapid development prohibited knowledge of the long-term side effects; the possibility of infertility, for one. She was, effectively, silenced. America’s Frontline Doctors dismissed as impostors peddling false information for money. Why? In the absence of sufficient research, who had the right to make that decision; to deprive the public of another medical opinion?
‘This research comes too late for many of us …’. Sobering words and, sadly, resigned. I hope to God there is no link between infertility and the vaccine proven in the future but, in light of articles such as the aforementioned, clearly the narrative has been skewed with gaps in the long-term research too gaping to be deserving of public trust. ‘… perhaps most importantly, it might convince future medical researchers to study menstrual cycle impacts from the beginning of their studies, rather than as an afterthought.’ Oh, so calm. Oh, so serious. Oh, so scary …
‘We’re paying the highest tribute you can pay a man. We trust him to do right. It’s that simple.’
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird.’
This is Trish, signing off.
