Posted on 02/10/2022 6:30:59 AM PST by Kaslin
Dr. Leana Wen, who appears on CNN frequently as a medical analyst, got tongues wagging earlier this week when she was asked by CNN anchor John Berman whether she supported the lifting of mask mandates across the country.
"I do," Wen said. "(T)he science has changed." She continued, "We know that vaccines protect very well against omicron, which is the dominant variant." Wen also announced her support for what she called "one-way masking." "We also know that ... even if other people around you aren't wearing masks, if you wear a high-quality mask, that also protects you."
If you've followed Wen throughout the pandemic, those comments likely come as a surprise. The biggest head-turner might well be her blithe statement that "the science has changed."
When frontline doctors and others questioned the official narrative about anything COVID -- the origin of the virus, the effectiveness of drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, the safety and efficacy of the vaccines -- Wen was on the bandwagon insisting that "the science is settled," even as the official narrative about the pandemic changed almost daily. Those who dared to continue to voice their views or ask their questions were denounced as cranks spewing "misinformation" and were censored and silenced by social media companies. (The ongoing brouhaha over Joe Rogan's podcasts on Spotify is proof that even as the official narrative "changes," only those "officials" approved to carry the new message will be permitted to say it.)
Wen's statements about the vaccines' protection against the omicron variant of COVID-19 are similarly inscrutable. According to studies published last December, the currently available vaccines are not as effective against the omicron variant as they had been against earlier versions of the virus. The CEO of Pfizer admitted in a January interview that two doses of his company's mRNA vaccine were "not enough for omicron," and that the variant was a "more difficult target" than earlier versions of the virus.
Wen went further. She opined that, with respect to the decision of whether to wear a mask, "the responsibility should shift from a government mandate ... to an individual responsibility by the family." When Berman challenged her with data about large numbers of cases in New Jersey, Wen pushed back, stating, "I don't think we should be looking at case counts at all at this point." She emphasized the mildness of the omicron variant and even equated the protection afforded by vaccination with the natural immunities provided by having contracted the virus.
Wen concluded by saying that the first mask restrictions that should be lifted are those for children. "There actually is a harm that we should be discussing, of children continuing to mask ... We should be intellectually honest and say that masking has had a cost, especially for the youngest learners."
These are remarkable turnarounds.
Last summer, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted mask mandates for fully vaccinated people, Wen's position was quite different. "We don't trust the honor system," she said. "The unvaccinated are now putting the vaccinated at risk." Wen insisted that everyone needed to wear a mask to protect themselves and others. And, she maintained, "Masks can get hot and uncomfortable, but there are no health effects to wearing them."
Wen also argued in very strong terms that the Biden administration should mandate taking the vaccines and should make life more difficult for those who chose to remain unvaccinated by taking their freedoms away.
What Wen says now, millions of Americans have been saying for months, if not longer.
It isn't the science that has changed here; it's the political calculus. We're moving into the third year of this pandemic and its restrictions. Americans are fed up and they no longer believe the media's constant fearmongering. In a Rasmussen poll taken last month, half of those polled said that they believe that the risks of the virus are being exaggerated. All across the country, people want an end to COVID restrictions. Parents are demanding that their children attend schools without face coverings. Businesses want to open without asking for vaccine "passports." (And it's not just Americans. The Truckers' Freedom Convoy 2022 in Ottawa, Canada, has garnered international attention and is breaking the stranglehold of the global COVID cabal.)
Democrats control the White House and both houses of Congress, and the public is increasingly blaming the country's woes on the Democratic Party. resident Joe Biden's approval ratings are his lowest ever. (Almost 60% disapprove of his presidency and more than half consider him the worst president in the country's history.) Recent congressional polls suggest strong support for Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections. Record numbers of women and minority candidates are running as Republicans. Democrats currently hold the House by only nine seats, and 29 House Democrats have announced they will not be running again this year.
None of this bodes well for Democrats in a midterm election year, and they know it.
What does any of this have to do with Wen?
Wen flunked out of Planned Parenthood. She was named CEO in late 2018 and abruptly fired less than a year later for daring to suggest that the organization would focus on aspects of women's health other than abortion, and for refusing to use "trans-inclusive language" instead of saying "women." She's been trying to reburnish her lefty bona fides ever since. If that means carrying water for the Biden administration when it is pushing vaccine and mask mandates, that's what she'll do. If polling numbers say that Democrats need to abruptly change course, she'll do that, too.
Like any other good little Democratic operative.
Proving yet again that a lot of folks spend a lot of money getting “educated” only for us to learn they don’t measure up to a 15 watt bulb.
It’s not the “science” that has changed, it’s the POLITICAL science that has changed.
if you wear a high-quality mask, that also protects you.”>>> This is good the “your mask protects me” bull is finally over. When required to where a mask in the stores i always used my shop mask which to some extent protects me not you. It is so good at protecting me that these 3m6000 masks are forbidden in the doctors office.
The science has changed = 20/20 hindsight which in this viral circumstance was unavoidable.
Developing herd immunities would also have a body count associated with it. As does any attack on any population produce body counts.
It is interesting how the “science” changed overnight. Particularly since there is very little to no evidence that the vaccines were effective against Omicron except to reduce the severity of the illness.
it’s the POLITICAL science that has changed.d
Feel free to say that as many times as you can because that is the real news.
Really? Hmm, my paper disposable masks are the same as the ones I picked up nearly two years ago. My fabric masks are the same ones I've had for over a year.
The virus has mutated and my immune system has no-doubt changed over time but the "science" behind infection hasn't changed.
WTF is she talking about?
...She continued, "We know that vaccines protect very well against omicron...
Oh, so she's just making **** up. Because many other sources are pointing out just the opposite. If it has been more than 60 days since your last shot you're probably not protected at all against omicron. Even double-vaxed and boosted people are showing up in hospitals... That is not protecting "very well" by any reasonable definition.
Obviously a lying POS shill for the leftist/fascist forces that just want to keep everyone listening and following without question. Question the nonsense this lady is spewing.
It’s Political Science!
Political Science Beats natural science every time.
This is a no win for the rats
The mask lunatics will be very unhappy
The vote stealers will not appreciate the removalof the covid hysteria
The narrative is being changed so PedoBiden can cancel some controls just in time for the upcoming fake 2022 “elections”.
This is all theater.
They aren’t doing very well on the inflation calculus.
Really? I saw an article the other day from Israel that 90% of the new cases are from people who have been vaccinated.
My personal, observation-based opinion is that the vaccines don't keep you from getting COVID, but if you are vaccinated and get COVID, it will likely be less severe than if you are not vaccinated.
I'm not opposed to being vaccinated, but I want it to be your choice and not the government forcing you to have chemicals injected into your body.
“We know that vaccines protect very well against omicron, which is the dominant variant.”
That’s funny.
Thirty days ago we knew that vaccines did not protect against Omicron very well.
NOTHING being claimed about covid has proven to be true. Nothing.
...good little Democratic operative.
_________________________
Wen is creepy.
For all this time, she has been stern and ominously wielding carrots & sticks.
For this appearance, she attempted to be sunny and pleasant in the hopes everyone would ignore the “>>>when we need to bring back the restrictions” comment.
All of these people are evil phonies.
And all of them are exchanging *mandate* for *restriction*.
Like they aren’t the same thing in the end. Mandate is focus grouping poorly.
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