Bob Enyart, Dick Farrel, Marc Benier, Jimmy DeYoung Sr., and Phil Valentine shared much in common, according to Forbes.com. They were all conservative. They were all radio broadcasters. And they all told their listeners not to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Now they share something else. They’re all dead. From COVID-19.
I thought of those five men as I read recent letters to the editor and a story about a recent anti-vaccination meeting of the Delaware Medical Freedom Alliance held in Rehoboth. One of the letter writers said that COVID-19 is “much less lethal than originally hyped for generally healthy persons.”
Here are the facts. During the last 10 years, the flu killed an average of 36,000 Americans a year. Since spring of 2020, COVID-19 has killed 769,000 Americans. That’s more than double what the flu killed in the last 10 years. Since the Delta variant became the dominant strain, unvaccinated Americans have died from COVID-19 at 11 times the rate of the fully vaccinated.
The death count continues to rise. The seven-day average last week was 1,134. On Nov. 19 alone, 1,891 people died. And the number of cases is ticking up in Delaware. We may be entering another wave. The best defense is getting vaccinated.
So look at the numbers and decide for yourself if COVID-19 is lethal. Readers should also consider the credentials of the DMFA panelists.
One was Dr. Kelly Sutton of California. The July 2, 2019 Express Digest includes a screen shot of Sutton advertising an “exclusive program” to help people get medical vaccination exemptions - $97.
Here’s a link from her twitter feed: “We Are Witnessing World Wide Planned Genocide, ‘Hitler on Steroids,’ w/ Dr. Zelenko.” The page includes an ad for Zelenko’s “Hydroxychloroquine Z-stack supplement.”
Ask yourself, why would the alliance bring a doctor all the way from California? One who has sold information about vaccine exemptions and who tweets links to conspiracy theories and quack cures? Why not a local doctor people know and trust?
Another panelist was Kevin Jenkins, CEO of the Urban Global Health Alliance. Check out the organization on Charity Navigator, which rates more than 195,000 charities in areas such as financial strength, accountability, results, etc.
The only thing Charity Navigator has about UGHA is that, according to IRS filings, it has less than $50,000 in annual income. UGHA supplied no other information.
Despite its impressive-sounding name, the Urban Global Health Alliance is very small and very unwilling to share information about itself. Not credible.
Many loud voices are raging against vaccines. Locally, we have members of the Delaware Medical Freedom Alliance.
Nationally, we have popular public figures such as quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who lied and put others at risk, and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who continues to take victory laps around the cemetery even as his state’s COVID-19 death count tops 61,000.
If you’re on the fence about getting the vaccine, check out the numbers first. If still in doubt, tune out the noise and listen instead to the silence coming from the radio broadcasters who died from COVID-19. In death, if not in life, they’ll steer you in the right direction.
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