One perspective from a friend that loves you

Good afternoon friends,

I hope you all are doing great and hanging in there. I'll try to keep this as brief as possible and please know I'm writing this out of a place of love and care for you all as friends. Lately, this world has gotten so polarized that everyone seems to be against each other for one reason or another. I'm also writing this from an apolitical vantage point, informed only from my education and experience in science and pharmacy.

It doesn't matter to me who on this email string has, or has not gotten the covid shot. We're all adults and can make our own choices based on our past experiences and the information we obtain. Everyone on this string has a different backstory of what they are going through today with work pressures, family pressures, underlying conditions, and personal beliefs. 

This email is more so for the sake of the children out there. Your own children or the children of your friends and other family members. Just as I'm doing here, I encourage you all to speak up and speak out. Unlike us adults, these kids do not have a voice. Adults will dictate what happens to them. You're welcome to forward this to families of other children you care about.

My plea to all of you is this - please strongly consider holding off on any shots for kids. I suspect it's only a matter of time before we see the narrative for children parallel what we saw for adults. First through coercion ("you're not a good parent unless..."), then through fear ("you child could die..."), and finally through mandate ("your child cannot...go to school...play in sports...). The science community has done a particularly amazing job at settling any fears about these shots while also stifling any dissenting views. They have distilled the thinking down to; "virus bad. vaccines are good. I need a vaccine". I want to leave you with a few facts based on my own education and knowledge on the topic. And, I encourage you to fact check these statements through reasonable sources. My intent is not to tell anyone what to think, but simply help them on how to think on their own. If you need help, I would be happy to point you to non-political science sources where you can find information.

1) You as a parent have full authority over your children. This is an unchanged and unchangeable truth of natural order, and fortunately something still true legally in this country. The State has no authority. The school has no authority. The regulatory bodies have no authority. No person or institution has one iota of authority over your children. 

2) The currently available shots are not vaccines. They are definitively gene therapies in how they work and what they do in the body. They are only termed vaccines under the recently revised (March 2021) definition of a vaccine by the CDC and dictionary sources. While I appreciate advances in science, I object to the re-defining of terms to soften the truth of the pharmacology and pharmacodynamics of a drug class. 

3) We do not know if these shots are effective or safe in the long term. Anyone who says they are safe is speaking out of turn. Anyone who says they are unsafe is also speaking out of turn. We simply do not know.

4) The effects of these shots are not localized and are not transient. They spread throughout the body. This is true for all the currently available products and I take greatest offense over the Johnson and Johnson viral vector product. Currently available drug therapies that use the same technology show evidence of their genetic material throughout the body even when administered to a specific locale. 

5) The risks of the virus to your children are negligible. You can pull your own sources and validate this. Even the narrative itself has pointed out the fact that children are relatively unaffected. 

6) There is no imminent threat in which we need to throw logic and critical thinking out the window and blindly follow the masses.

7) The Johnson and Johnson product (and AstraZeneca which is not available here yet) are NOT "normal", "typical" or "old school" vaccines. I've been shocked at the number of people who have told me their healthcare professionals have given them this insight specific to the J&J shot. I am not sure where this narrative is coming from. It is not true. 

8) The shots have a very clear correlation to severe adverse events. I'm not talking about the conspiracy theory line (microchips and government control). I'm talking about the actual adverse event profile such as neuromuscular disorders, cardiac disease, vascular/thrombotic events and immune dysfunction. These are being down played as "rare" and "not a big deal" however they are real and in my personal opinion are quite severe. Most drugs would be recalled over these types of events. When you consider this point alongside #5 and #6, this is the basis for my recommendation. 

9) The benefit of these shots is questionable. This can be evidenced by facts presented even on the CDC's website whereby the vaccinated carry the same viral loads and are equally as contagious as the unvaccinated. Said more bluntly - the vaccines do not prevent the virus.

10) There is a good chance your child has already been exposed to, and has natural immunity to the virus. Natural infection confers natural immunity. Get the antibody test if you are unsure. There are also T-cell immunity tests available. While the shots expose the immune system to one solitary protein, the native virus exposes the immune system to other viral proteins for recognition and targeting.

These kids are relying on you, their parents to provide for them and guide them. They need you and they need your wisdom. We have an obligation to secure that wisdom rather than simply parroting a narrative. What has disheartened me the most among adults thus far is the complete indifference on the topic. This mentality of throwing one's hands up with the mindset of "well, i may as well just do it", "i want to travel", "everyone else is doing it", "it can't be that bad", or "someone told me i had to". For an adult - that's fine. Please do not allow that indifference to affect the life of a child. We all have a responsibility to care for these children. Please do not let fear lead you to rash judgement. Use prudence to critically think through this situation. 

To be clear - I'm not saying "don't vaccinate your kids". I'm just recommending that we all wait. And wait a while - like 5-10 years. There is no imminent threat that requires immediate action. In time, we will have more data and eventually, additional products which may include a more typical vaccine. And when new information comes out, spend the time to research and discern it on your own.

Love you all. Feel free to reach out if you need anything at all my friends,

 Mike Zucarelli   [email protected]