{"id":24181,"date":"2021-12-23T19:56:28","date_gmt":"2021-12-23T19:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/?p=24181"},"modified":"2021-12-23T20:02:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-23T20:02:45","slug":"24181","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/?p=24181","title":{"rendered":"\u039f\u03b9 \u03c0\u03c1\u03b1\u03b3\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03af \u03b5\u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03bc\u03bf\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b5\u03c1\u03b5\u03c5\u03bd\u03b7\u03c4\u03ad\u03c2 \u03c0\u03c1\u03c9\u03c4\u03bf\u03c3\u03c4\u03ac\u03c4\u03b5\u03c2 \u03c3\u03c4\u03bf \u03ba\u03af\u03bd\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1 \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03ac \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 mRNA \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 DNA \u03c4\u03c3\u03b9\u03bc\u03c0\u03ae\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"material-header\">\n<h1 class=\"material-header__title\">The real scientists on the frontlines of the anti-vaccine movement<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-24185\" src=\"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/bioweapons-300x234.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"564\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/bioweapons-300x234.jpg 300w, https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/bioweapons.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 564px) 100vw, 564px\" \/><\/h1>\n<div class=\"material-header__description\">\n<p>The Infodemic is a weekly newsletter, tracking how disinformation surrounding the coronavirus crisis is reshaping our world. Also in this edition: a boost for Beijing in Central America and will Germany ban Telegram?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"material-credits\">\n<li class=\"material-meta__byline\">By<a class=\"author url fn\" title=\"Posts by Masho Lomashvili\" href=\"https:\/\/www.codastory.com\/author\/masholomashvili\/\" rel=\"author\">Masho Lomashvili<\/a><\/li>\n<li><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2021-12-17T13:35:27+00:00\">17 December, 2021<\/time><\/li>\n<li class=\"material-meta__type\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.codastory.com\/tag\/newsletter\/\"> newsletter<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"material-header-caption\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"material-body\">\n<div class=\"article\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.codastory.com\/coda-newsletters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Sign up here<\/em><\/a><em> to get the next edition of this newsletter, straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Dr. Robert Malone confuses me. He is the man who played an important role in the invention of MRNA technology that is used in Covid-19 vaccines. But his Harvard University post-doctoral research is also widely cited by anti-vaccination groups as proof that the vaccines do not work.<\/p>\n<p>Just watch this \u201cSW Ohio School Board Meeting,\u201d where a man who identified himself as Dr. Sean Brooks, opened his<a href=\"https:\/\/meaww.com\/who-is-dr-sean-brooks-ph-ds-anti-vaccine-warning-video-goes-viral-twitter-thinks-hes-a-doc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> speech<\/a> with \u201cDr. Robert Malone, who created the messenger RNA [mRNA] vaccine has said no one should ever take these jabs, under any circumstance whatsoever \u2014 he created it! And he says, \u2018Don\u2019t ever do it!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Malone is not the only one. As Omicron spreads, several serious scientists, some with Ivy League affliations, are providing incredibly potent fodder to opponents of the vaccine. These professors are the darlings of the right-wing media, Reddit forums and anti-Covid-19 vaccine social media groups. And their academic credibility lands unprecedented potency to the anti-vaccine movement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI literally invented mRNA technology when I was 28,\u201d Malone told me, pointing to his graduate research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He says he is not sceptical about vaccines, but is rather conflicted about the \u201crapid approval process\u201d and thinks that adverse effects of vaccines need deeper examination. No wonder the anti-vaccine movement loves him.<\/p>\n<p>As we talk, I also hear notes of bitterness that may provide an insight into the ego issues within the scientific community. Something that can surely be manipulated by the anti-science movement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been written out of history,\u201d Dr. Malone tells me \u201cIt\u2019s all about Kati.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By Kati he means Dr. Katalin Kariko who has been also described as a pioneer of mRNA vaccines and is now a senior vice president at BioNTech, the manufacturer of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. I got in touch with Dr. Kariko too. \u201cHundreds and thousands of scientists, experts contributed to the creation of the mRNA vaccine,\u201d she tells me in an email.<\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter\">\n<div id=\"mc_embed_signup\" class=\"wrapper alignleft\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.codastory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/infodemic-embed-form.png\" alt=\"Subscribe to Coda Newsletters\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter__language\">\n<p class=\"newsletter__title\">Subscribe to Coda Newsletters<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter__description\">Authoritarians muddy the conversation. We clarify it with journalism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<form id=\"mc4wp-form-1\" class=\"mc4wp-form mc4wp-form-102 mc4wp-ajax\" method=\"post\" data-id=\"102\" data-name=\"English Newsletters\">\n<div class=\"mc4wp-form-fields\">\n<p><label>Coda Newsletters<\/label> <label> <input checked=\"checked\" name=\"INTERESTS[0525075838][]\" type=\"checkbox\" value=\"b94e9ccc54\" \/> The Infodemic <\/label> <label> <input checked=\"checked\" name=\"INTERESTS[0525075838][]\" type=\"checkbox\" value=\"d300a8adc8\" \/> Oligarchy <\/label> <label> <input checked=\"checked\" name=\"INTERESTS[0525075838][]\" type=\"checkbox\" value=\"b55ef0f5e0\" \/> Coda Weekly <\/label> <label> <input checked=\"checked\" name=\"INTERESTS[0525075838][]\" type=\"checkbox\" value=\"20bc35052d\" \/> Updates from Coda Story <\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"subscribe-form__field\"><input name=\"EMAIL\" required=\"\" type=\"email\" placeholder=\"Your email address\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"newsletter\">\n<div id=\"mc_embed_signup\" class=\"wrapper alignleft\">\n<form id=\"mc4wp-form-1\" class=\"mc4wp-form mc4wp-form-102 mc4wp-ajax\" method=\"post\" data-id=\"102\" data-name=\"English Newsletters\">\n<div class=\"mc4wp-response\"><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another notable spat within the science community involved Dr. Harvey Risch, professor at the Yale School of Public Health and also a darling of vaccine skeptics. Dr. Risch advocated for the use of controversial treatments and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/key-defeating-covid-19-already-exists-we-need-start-using-it-opinion-1519535\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> that doctors who used hydroxychloroquine despite the criticism were \u201cheroic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs his colleagues, we defend the right of Dr. Risch, a respected cancer epidemiologist, to voice his opinions. But he is not an expert in infectious disease epidemiology and he has not been swayed by the body of scientific evidence from rigorously conducted clinical trials, which refute the plausibility of his belief and arguments,\u201d came a polite rebuttal in the form of a <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@gregggonsalves\/statement-from-yale-faculty-on-hydroxychloroquine-and-its-use-in-covid-19-47d0dee7b2b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> from 20 Yale faculty members. They went on to explain why using hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 is a bad idea.<\/p>\n<p>Wading our way through these debates between scientists is a nightmare for us, the mere mortals. And some of their ideas do not even have to be controversial in order to become controversial.<\/p>\n<p>Take for example the case of Harvard Professor of Population Health and Geography, S.V. Subramanian who published a paper that argued for a joint use of vaccinations and other public health measures in combating the spread of Covid-19. His <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10654-021-00808-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">paper<\/a>, which does not contain a single argument against vaccination, had an unfortunate title: \u201cIncreases in Covid-19 are unrelated to levels of vaccination across 68 countries and 2947 counties in the United States.\u201d Anti-vaccine movement ignored the paper, but picked up the title and ran with it.<\/p>\n<p>Should scientists be more sensitive to the possibility of their research being used against science? Surely, it can\u2019t hurt, but as for Dr. Malone, he told me he learned that he simply can\u2019t win:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s funny. There\u2019s kind of two schools of thought. I\u2019m guilty of genocide because I am a vaccine skeptic and I\u2019ve caused people to not take the vaccines by questioning their safety and effectiveness. And then there\u2019s a school of thought that I\u2019m guilty of genocide because I invented the mRNA technology. So, you know, you can\u2019t win. I can\u2019t control people who want to weaponize things for their agenda, and that\u2019s just the nature of modern social media.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>IN OTHER INFODEMIC NEWS:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s been a good week for Beijing\u2019s vaccine diplomacy in Central America. <\/strong>Just days after Nicaragua announced that it was severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan and resuming relations with China, it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.confidencial.com.ni\/nacion\/nicaragua-recibe-vacunas-de-china-despues-de-restablecer-relaciones-diplomaticas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">received<\/a> the first batch of a one million dose vaccine donation from Beijing. While the backstory of the China-Nicaragua deal is murky, the news comes less than a year after Paraguay <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-56661303\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accused<\/a> China of offering its vaccine in exchange for cutting off ties with Taiwan. That\u2019s all playing out against the backdrop of the troubled UN-backed global vaccine distribution effort, COVAX. A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.confidencial.com.ni\/nacion\/covax-no-logro-garantizar-vacunacion-a-los-diez-paises-mas-pobres-de-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis<\/a> by the Nicaraguan news outlet Confidencial found the program failed to live up to its promise to vaccinate at least 20% of the population in four of the ten poorest countries in Latin America. At the bottom of the list, Haiti received enough doses to vaccinate just 2.6% of the population.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Germany is debating banning Telegram<\/strong> after it emerged that the platform was used to call for an assassination of a regional prime minister. Michael Kretschmer, the elected prime minister of eastern state of Saxony received death threats from \u201cFree Saxons\u201d a group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-za\/news\/other\/covid-protests-escalate-in-germany\/ar-AAROw4j\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">described<\/a> as a mixture of anti-vaxxers, far-right extremists, conspiracy theorists, hooligans and members of the Reichsburger movement which denies the existence and authority of the modern-day German government. The combination of protest mood against Covid restrictions and Telegram has given Free Saxons reach far beyond the region. The group is currently running a network of nearly 100 Telegram channels nation-wide and using them to organize protests against Covid restrictions. The German government is clearly concerned.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.codastory.com\/coda-newsletters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Sign up here<\/em><\/a><em> to get the next edition of this newsletter, straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"support\">\n<p>The story you just read is a small piece of a complex and an ever-changing storyline that Coda covers relentlessly and with singular focus. But we can\u2019t do it without your help. <a href=\"https:\/\/checkout.fundjournalism.org\/memberform?&amp;org_id=codastory&amp;campaign=7014W0000010Ec0QAE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong> Show your support for journalism that stays on the story by becoming a member today.<\/strong><\/a> Coda Story is a 501(c)3 U.S. non-profit. Your contribution to Coda Story is tax deductible.<\/p>\n<p>\u03a0\u0397\u0393\u0397:https:\/\/www.codastory.com\/newsletters\/scientists-anti-vaccine\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The real scientists on the frontlines of the anti-vaccine movement The Infodemic is a weekly newsletter, tracking how disinformation surrounding the coronavirus crisis is reshaping our world. Also in this edition: a boost for Beijing in Central America and will Germany ban Telegram? ByMasho Lomashvili 17 December, 2021 newsletter Sign up here to get the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/?p=24181\">\u03a3\u03c5\u03bd\u03ad\u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1 \u03b1\u03bd\u03ac\u03b3\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[159,217,106],"class_list":["post-24181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-85","tag-159","tag-217","tag-106","item-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24181"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24186,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24181\/revisions\/24186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}