To Vax or Anti-Vax?!

Heyy, 

Over halfway through as we start the beginning of week number three of our new UK lockdown and with more news of the incredible efforts from pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer and now a home-grown drug produced by Astra Zeneca over in Oxford, the new coronavirus vaccine (vaccine's now) are now on their way. 

However, with a new vaccine on the horizon, I have noticed a new strange phenomenon. People actively shunning it. This new wave of people, who would have otherwise been described as "Karens" several months ago are now being heralded as "Anti-Vaxxers". As a side note, if you are not aware I am not against Karen's in any way, this is just the 2020 version of saying "you're being a douchbag". On the website, UrbanDictionary describes being labelled a "Karen" is a way of describing someone who makes solutions to others' problems an inconvenience to her although she isn't even remotely affected. For example - Karen complains that her favourite parking spot was replaced by a ramp for wheelchairs. She parks her car in the old spot anyway and shoots a vlog about it. Being a Karen. 

Anyway, after being sidetracked by "Karen-ism's", whilst I can understand the "Anti-Vaxxers" reasonings for not wanting or actively being against such an immunisation, I do not support it. Some people may simply be a bit unsure about whether or not they want one, or have genuine questions, for example around safety and side effects. It is understandable and I totally get what those people are mindful of, especially so when this virus is barely even a year old and already we have a magical new miracle drug for it?! But I am discovering that there are also people who are against vaccinations full stop - Known as 'anti-vaxxers' - And are part of the anti-vaccination movement.

But what is the anti-vaccination movement and how harmful is it really? The children's website describes finding a coronavirus vaccine is seen by many scientists and experts as a key way of tackling the pandemic and helping us return to normal life. 

Reading up online about anything you will find loads of articles for and against whatever your controversial opinion maybe - Hitler was a saint, blue/black dress vs. gold/cream dress or my personal favourite - The Queen of England is actually a lizard-person controlled by the Illuminati. This proves that regardless of your orientation you will make up your mind based normally on how you feel, not on the facts. And sometimes they can be hard to find online in a world of fake news and bogus articles. Finding a reputable article online from CBBC of all places in the media (news outlets are the one place I would only mildly trust what I am being spoon-fed, albeit a children's one). 

The kid-friendly website goes on to explain that the anti-vaccination movement is when people don't believe that some or all vaccines are a good thing, and do not want themselves, family members or other people to be vaccinated. But the anti-vaccination movement isn't something new and isn't just against a coronavirus vaccine. However those who make anti-vax claims usually don't have a scientific or medical background and claims can sometimes sound far-fetched, They want to try and convince people that vaccines aren't safe or to make them believe a conspiracy theory. This is something that has been going on for generations, ever since the scaremongering in the late '80s and early '90s when having the MMR jab for Measles, Mumps and Rubella was a huge no-no for Moms & Dads the world over. The NHS website now makes it clear in their guidance that the MMR vaccine is NOT linked to autism. After the Doctor who wrote the damning papers was struck off it was widely made available that there is no evidence of any link between the MMR vaccine and autism. There are many studies that have investigated this all made available in various links to lists of MMR studies and their findings on the Oxford University Vaccine Knowledge Project website. 

But even if a successful vaccine has been made and developed, enough people need to have it to make it effective. Some people who are curious or nervous about vaccinations might be put off having one because of what they hear from other people, or what they see online or on social media. They might already mistrust the governments or companies that are creating or giving out the vaccines. However further informing young (and a few older) minds, CBBC confirms that the UK government says it takes the issue of vaccine disinformation "extremely seriously" and social media sites are working with the government in order to tackle lies about the new coronavirus vaccine online. But this is a big task - and some say they have not done enough to label or remove posts on this topic that have been shared online for months. 

Would I take a vaccine if it protects me and my loved ones? If it meant we can go back to some sort of normality? If it meant I might have a fighting fucking chance of getting married in the next six months? Yes. Yes, I would. But I know I would not be first in line and that in itself lends itself to resting my worried little head about any fears surrounding its safety or efficiency. Who knows, I am sure it will be several months yet before people in my age group get anywhere near to the top of the list. 

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx

5G Fake News or a Food For Thought?

Evening All, 

Following our last catch-up last week, I eventually heard back on the contractual changes being put in place in order to action Furlough amongst employees. Thankfully I am not one of them and continue to serve both my country and my company for another few weeks at least. I am continuing to work in whatever capacity that I can but for the most part, this is doing my normal job, full time and fully paid! As long as I am doing something, my bit if you will, then I am happy. And as I said, with no kids, childcare issues at nil, twenty-minutes drive from the office and having never taken ill since working for the company I would like to hope that this will continue for as long as it can, and fingers crossed that is soon so we can all go back to normal. 

So as I now welcome in week number two as officially working from home and Day 19 in self-isolation (not by my choice I might add) I am starting to get into a bit more of a swing of it. Admittedly it is still weird and strange, working from home with my little desk set up with Mr Warehouse's gamer headset and a picture of the dogs in the corner. Odd to think that this is my new norm. Only a few weeks ago, life was normal. I was eating out and cocktails at restaurants with Miss Hackney and Miss SugarCoat, Cups of coffee and Cinema trips with Miss Tweedle-Dee - All just a distant memory. I never thought that life would be as different now. 

As a nation, we are still awaiting another chat with our dear Boris (Johnson, our Prime Minister, and a secret hunk of mine) although after coming down with the dreaded COVID-19 Coronavirus and being sent to ICU at London's St Thomas Hospital, I doubt that it will come very soon. That being said we, as the British Nation tuned in yesterday to listen to Liz (Queen Elizabeth II) talk us through what she described as a different challenge to those we have faced before. The BBC broadcast went on with the Queen who is now ninety-three bless her said the "painful sense of separation from their loved ones" that social distancing was causing for people reminded her of the experience child evacuees had during the Second World War.

Although the last week had got me thinking outside the box?! What happens if this was created? Manufactured? Constructed by a sick individual in order to gain financially or get their rocks off on the hundreds of thousands, if not millions by the time this goes out dying. Or worse - What if it is multiple people? An organisation? Illuminati maybe? No?!

A website called Wired.co.uk dived deep into the speculation that seems to be hitting social media around the links between 5G and the deadly COVID-19 Coronavirus. From an interview with an obscure Belgian doctor to apparent arson attacks in the UK, the conspiracy theory that 5G is somehow linked to the coronavirus pandemic has spread unlike any other and gained a huge following by celebrities alike including Dancing On Ice judge Jason Gardiner, Actor Woody Harrelson and Boxer Amir Khan. Even TV Darling Amanda Holden tweeted it before revoking it saying she "didn't know what it was about".

Now I know what you are thinking - What? Phone signals and 5G and Coronavirus flu? That is the most ludicrous link anyone can ever make, especially for someone such as myself who loves a Shane Dawson Conspiracy Series on YouTube! But hear me out as the more I read into it the more it seems plausible. It started with a Belgian newspaper (Het Laatste Nieuws) who published an interview they had done with Kris Van Kerckhoven, a GP doctor from a small town near Antwerp on 22nd January this year. 

Headlined with "5G is life-threatening, and no one knows it” which has now since been deleted from its website caused waves that have burned through social media and the internet. But it has not just remained online, oh no as the wild conspiracy theory has now broken out into the real world because not only did this Belgian Academic claim that 5G was dangerous, he also said it might be linked to coronavirus which was soon to sweep the planet. Obviously, at the time of publication, the outbreak was barely making international news. It wasn't relevant in the western world. So far the Virus had claimed just nine lives and infected 440 people with almost all of them in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The Belgian news article went on to state that since 2019, numerous 5G cell towers had been erected in and around Wuhan. 

Now Dr. Van Kerckhoven did caveat the statement with the notion that he had not checked all of his facts and that it should not be taken as gospel, however he had suggested the link and therefore the touchpaper was set on fire. Quickly picked up by anti-5G campaigners, Facebook and many other outlets linked to and quoted from the article. And so the snowballing and (forgive the pun) Chinese whispers started. Claims were made that this was proof of something very dark indeed happening with the rollout of 5G, an upgrade in mobile technology superseding its predecesors (3G and 4G), enabling faster browsing and allowing us to do things like watching videos, stream music or scroll through timelines, all whilst on the move. But this idea that Dr. Van Kerckhoven was peddling wasn’t new. In fact, it has been bubbling away quietly for a few decades. Someone's old chip shop paper you may say, especially when compared to the unfounded concerns about high-voltage power lines in the 1980s, mobile phones in the 1990s and that dreaded millennium bug that was going to end the world. 

Het Laatste Nieuws editor Dimitri Antonissen soon took down the article from publication and the website stating that “the quotes were unfounded and we regret the fact that the story was online for a few hours”. But it was far too late, the cat was well and truly out of the bag and running for the fucking hills. So? Does 5G worsen the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus by weakening your immune system? Is it true that 5G outright causes coronavirus-like symptoms? Is the coronavirus lockdown is being used as cover-up to install 5G networks that can tap into and listen to everything? Is that Bill Gates bloke in on it all? Or is it that this is all an Illuminati mass-murder plot to kill off the weak and vulnerable so as to control populations and ergo ease in the idea or a new world order?

Who Knows. Truth be told no one does, and honestly, most of it sounds like utter shite. But, just maybe, if someone wanted to create something so devastating, so awful - They probably could. And if they wanted to unleash a deadly virus on the world, what better time to do it?! Starting it off in China, one of the world most controlled populations, bursting at the seams with people, all ready to go home to their families for Chinese New Year. With no sea to cross and not much-limited travelling, it wouldn't take much for the infected to start travelling to other parts of the world. Where is easiest to get to without boat or plane from China - Europe. And in Europe right now we are in Winter, admittedly coming into spring but most people around this time will have sore throats or coughs. A normal cold you might think on any other year but this. Just a thought. Just an idea. Just a theory. But nevertheless, a theory that has infiltrated every level and type of celebrity culture and could be used as a clever cloak for the dagger that the governments of the world hold?!

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx