From Failing to Flailing: Re-Lockdown mandates coming from a government near you
Protests across the world erupt in reaction to vaccine passports and mandates
“I am altering the deal; pray I do not alter it any further.”
— Darth Vader, The Empire Strikes Back
Two weeks to flatten the curve, 6 feet of social distancing, mask up, a couple doses of vaccines, boosters for some, boosters for all, lock it all down, again. If you want freedom, apply and get this vaccine passport.
“If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.”
— Ramsay Bolton, Game of Thrones
I’ll add one more quote: “ You can’t comply your way out of this.” That one is from me.
COVID hysteria has gripped the world. I’ve mentioned the obvious before-it is the most socially disruptive event of our lifetimes. The contagion has not yielded to any measure thrown at it because, surprise, it’s a coronavirus. None ever have. From the initial responses to now, the only thing we have successfully disrupted is freedom. The world is finally waking up to that fact.
Massive protests and violent clashes broke out across the world over the weekend. From England to Croatia; Australia to the Caribbean, individuals are congregating in city centers in dozens of countries protesting vaccine mandates. In many jurisdictions, a vaccine passport is required to simply go to the grocery store. In others, outdoor leisure is prohibited.
While the US doesn’t yet have a vaccine passport, we have our share of mandates. The ever-changing mandate-ready advice from Anthony Fauci is now, “ A booster might actually be an essential part of the primary regimen that people should have.” 1 Translation: boosters are coming fast and furious. It’s no surprise the FDA has frantically authorized boosters for the general adult population. 2
This gets me to my next point-the term “fully vaccinated.” Now, this term always stuck out to me from the beginning when the COVID vaccines were introduced. It struck me as a unique phrase given any reference to someone who received vaccination for anything before was simply left at that-”vaccinated.” To be “fully” vaccinated was an odd way to put it, and was in the back of my head throughout 2021. Alas, here we are: Boosters. To maintain compliance, you must follow the moving target as has been the case since the beginning of COVID.
Not surprisingly, Dr. Fauci interviewed on Sunday, November 21, indicating the “fully vaccinated” definition by the CDC is not yet changing to include boosters. 3 We know where this is going. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky indicated as much last month when she said, “ We have not yet changed the definition of ‘fully vaccinated.’ We will continue to look at this. We may need to update our definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ in the future,” with regard to boosters. 4
At this point it’s obviously a timing issue. With the contentious OSHA mandate tied up in federal court where the ETS mentions the term “fully vaccinated” a total of 91 times in the regulation standard. 5 Naturally, if the CDC were to alter the definition, such changes would flow through to the OSHA ETS pending litigation. We know as of November 21, 2021, only 17% of adults have received a COVID booster. 6 This makes it untenable to adjust the term throwing such a substantial portion of the population 18 years and older out-of-compliance as no longer being “fully vaccinated.” Regardless of court decisions, socially it wouldn’t be possible with such a small minority of adults having sought a booster.
“ We have not yet changed the definition of ‘fully vaccinated.’ We will continue to look at this. We may need to update our definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ in the future.”
- CDC Director Rochelle Walensky
The issue with these lockdowns, mandates, and passports is the new information coming out regarding the accelerating waning of vaccination. The continual need for boosters is why maintaining compliance is difficult. The ground shifting beneath policymakers between boosters and definitions is a tight needle to thread.
A recent Israeli study looked at vaccine immunity waning 4–6 months following vaccination with breakthrough cases. What’s curious in the Late Vaccine group (March/April) consisted of 39.7% of their breakthrough infections in June/July of the study. Given the vaccine schedule, immunity was found to wane as early as 2–3 months among this particular group. 7 What we are finding out is the durability of these vaccines struggle to keep up with the dynamic variants evading meaningful immunization.
This gets to be very serious and ominous for liberty. Frustrated governments are clamping down in response to rising caseloads, but these are blunt instruments used by politicians. Locking down clearly has not mitigated spread, and is responsible for untold societal issues we will have to endure going forward. Vaccine passports may be unsustainable even from a policy standpoint, civil liberties aside. To expect routine boosters cannot be practical given the diminishing interest as individuals wake up to the never-ending compliance conundrum.
In America, it’s all speculation at this point. The OSHA mandate is tied up in federal court, but I have already opined I believe the Biden Administration will move forward regardless of the courts. Given global developments with defiant politicians ignoring the gathering social outcries, I believe the United States will have similar wide scale assemblies.
My expectation is after the holiday season to expect Biden to launch a re-lockdown of the country. Cases will certainly be higher, medical professionals already have left the industry due to mandates and attrition, and the economy will continue to deteriorate. Inflation numbers will continue to climb, and Biden’s popularity will continue plunging. It’s times like these when cornered animals are the most unpredictable, but realize COVID mandates have been a source of power. They won’t quickly relinquish that power.
Originally published at https://powerandmarkets.substack.com on November 22, 2021.
