LETTER: Having a BS detector on COVID and other issues

Ignore the distractions and concentrate on the prize, whether COVID-19, urban crime, border security or media (social, on-line and traditional) storylines. Always ask: Who benefits?

What will stop the pandemic? Masks? Social distancing? Lockdowns? Hand-washing? No. Vaccinations and antibodies stop pandemics. The first four are half-measures that attempt to slow the spread of infection with proven negative impacts to childhood education, societal mental health and local and national economies.

The only true winners from these policies are our authoritarian foreign adversaries and those who would sow domestic division for their gain.

Is it time to mandate the vaccine? Mandating the half-measures has had no proven positive effect in lowering the mortality of this virus. European schools were open in 2020 with no added mortality to school children and staff. Lockdowns hammered economies and mental health and the virus still found its way.

If you value your fellow man, your choice is clear: Your individual freedom to share this world with others depends on smashing this spiked COVID-19 ball with the vaccine. Do not wait for the government to make this decision for you. Get vaccinated now.

And do not forget the other serious games in play: crime, border security, media storylines sowing division. Who benefits? Is it an attention-seeking, fundraising political party? Is it a media outlet selling advertising or clicks? Or is it a foreign adversary distracting from its human rights crimes and genocide?