Shattering COVID myths
9 September 2020 Hits:2941
Over the past few weeks, I’ve addressed some of the conspiracy fallacies being spread around even by Christians. In response to these blogs, I’ve had people comment, question, agree and disagree. And that’s all fine. After all, that’s what blogs are written for ~ to encourage discussion and debate.
What fascinates me though, is some people’s propensity to send a link to a YouTube clip, news article, or Facebook post as the final word. Little is done to check its source or accuracy: “I saw this, and it contradicts what you’re saying, so you’re wrong.” That’s their message over and over. And so, this week, I thought I’d address some of the current COVID myths:
The Depopulation Agenda
After last week’s blog defending Bill Gates I had many people give me information as to why this man is evil. One reason is that Bill Gates believes in depopulation. Misconceptions and misinformation have been spread by conspiracy “news” sites such as Your News Wire (Now Newspunch).
Depopulation is NOT killing or sterilising people by injecting them with vaccines. Depopulation is about creating an environment that reduces infant mortality. Due to high infant mortality rates in some countries, couples choose to have a larger number of children so that at least some will survive. Bill Gates is not interested in using vaccines to reduce the population by using them as an agent of death or a tool to sterilise unsuspecting masses. Instead, Gates is interested in keeping more children alive to reduce the need for parents to have more children, limiting the overall population growth rate.
And, think of this from a Christian perspective. Imagine the trauma that parents face by losing many children. Reducing child mortality enhances life, prosperity, and wellbeing. It brings some heaven to earth as The Lord’s Prayer says. And so, depopulation is not about reducing the world’s population but instead slowing the rate at which it grows.
Covid-19 is Just Flu
“We the body of Christ can’t gather because of the flu,” someone wrote in a blog comment this week. But COVID-19 is not the flu.
2019 was the second-worst flu season on record. Over 300,000 people were infected with the flu, and sadly 902 died in Australia. The death rate was not higher because most people in Australia have some immunity to the flu, either through previous illness or immunisation. This means if they catch the flu, they are likely to experience a milder illness.
We have highly effective vaccines available for the flu. Studies have shown that people who have the vaccine tend to avoid contracting the virus or, if they do, experience milder illness and are less likely to require hospitalisation. They are also less likely to pass on the virus, which reduces community transmission. For those who do contract the flu, there are effective treatments available. Antiviral medications are widely used and have been shown to reduce the symptoms and the risk of developing severe illness from the flu virus.
Now consider COVID-19. It is at least 30 times deadlier than the seasonal flu and four times more infectious. There is no vaccine and no proven treatment for COVID-19. 15% of people infected with COVID-19 have a severe infection, requiring oxygen, and 5% are acute infections, requiring ventilation. The length of stay in the hospital is much longer for COVID-19 compared to the flu. 25% of survivors have severe organ damage. Many will develop ongoing chronic health problems due to the virus, including heart and lung complications and post-viral fatigue. With no vaccine and no effective treatments, COVID-19 is far deadlier than the flu. This is why we have lockdowns.
Vaccines are Harmful
Sadly, the “Gates’ vaccines used to sterilise Kenyan women” conspiracy is once again doing the rounds. This has been debunked numerous times, but it surfaces from time to time. People blindly share it without doing sufficient fact-checking. The sterilisation claim is more than 20 years old. It has been repeatedly debunked by the World Health Organisation and others ever since.
For those who may be concerned about the impact of vaccines, there are significant safety measures. Australia has an incredibly robust and rigorous vaccine approval process. Besides, EVERY adverse reaction to a vaccine is monitored. Some people DO have adverse reactions – the number of adverse reactions is hundreds out of millions vaccinated. Usually, it has to do with pain at the injection site. Tiredness and irritability are also adverse reactions. Hospitalisation is very, very, very rare.
Vaccines Made From Aborted Babies
Others are concerned that the COVID-19 vaccine will be “ethically tainted” by aborted foetal cells. It is true that some vaccines, and some of the COVID-19 vaccines, are developed using cell lines from legally aborted foetuses (two from the 1960s). No foetus has been aborted to create a vaccine.
Vaccines are researched, developed, and produced through the use of laboratory-grown human cells. The vaccines themselves contain none of the original cells. The Catholic Church, which opposes abortion, has stated: “vaccination should not be refused on moral grounds in cases where the public health benefits of vaccination may outweigh the use of aborted foetal tissue to develop some vaccines when an alternative vaccine created from cell lines that are not morally problematic are not available.”
I understand some people’s concerns about this issue. But, if we are genuinely pro-life, our concern must be the protection of the living. As noted already, COVID-19 is an incredibly infectious virus that is extremely dangerous to many people and deadly to some.
Covid-19 Vaccine Microchip
Some have suggested that the eventual COVID-19 vaccine is a ploy by the cabal to inject us with a microchip. This is all part of the one-world government plot. It’s also an incorrect interpretation of Revelation chapter 13.
While it is true that Microsoft has a patent application with the numbers 060606 in it, this is for a system that rewards physical activity with cryptocurrency. It has nothing to do with injectable microchips. In any case, the technology to insert a trackable microchip does not exist at this time. If and when it does, the hypodermic needles would be considerable. For this to be possible, every doctor, nurse, and medical professional worldwide would have to be in on the conspiracy. This is beyond impossible.
Covid-19’s Inflated Numbers
A comment on my Facebook thread said, “NYT posted. Corona numbers in the US inflated by 90%.” No, the NYT did not report this. The New York Times responded to a claim made by Donald Trump suggesting the death count was inflated. The opposite is probably true. NYT reported, “the death toll is probably far higher than what is publicly known. People are dying at their houses and nursing homes without ever being tested, and deaths early this year were likely misidentified as influenza or described only as pneumonia.”
If anything, the Covid-19 numbers that are reported are lower than the real numbers.
It’s 5G’s Fault
“The 5G network apparently weakens the human immune system, and COVID-19 is just a symptom of this weakened immunity” ~ that’s one of the conspiracy myths currently doing the rounds. While 5G uses higher radio frequencies than previous generations (in the 30-300 gigahertz range), there’s not enough energy to break chemical bonds or remove electrons when in contact with human tissue.
5G is approved by the federal government’s Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency as not having more intense radiation’s adverse health effects. Even when you put your 5G mobile to your ear to make a call, radiation exposure is well below the recommended safety level. 5G radiation can’t penetrate skin or allow a virus to penetrate the skin. There is no evidence 5G radio frequencies cause or exacerbate the spread of the coronavirus. Radiation and viruses exist in different forms that do not interact. One is a biological phenomenon and the other lives on the electromagnetic spectrum.
Event 201
The Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security, in partnership with the World Economic Forum and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, hosted Event 201 in October 2019. Event 201 was a simulation on how to respond to a global coronavirus pandemic. Obviously, this has been viewed as too coincidental ~ or something more insidious!
Johns Hopkins has received a lot of questions about this and made a statement on their website.
In recent years, the world has seen a growing number of epidemic events, amounting to approximately 200 events annually. These events are increasing, and they are disruptive to health, economies, and society. It is only right that medical & benevolent institutions and governments should prepare for these. I see it as preparation for the inevitable.
I hope my comments help you sift through all the information, myths, lies, and conspiracies that are doing the rounds. I encourage you to place your faith firmly in The One who holds this world in his hands. Let’s confess with the psalmist, “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (Ps 16:8).
Rob Buckingham
Senior Minister
6 replies on “Shattering COVID myths”
Hi Pastor, just want to show you that alot more than two aborted babies have been used to create vaccines. Here is a vaccine making head honcho eluding to the fact hundreds if not thousands of foetuses have been used to develop vaccines.
Yes, it’s a youtube clip but please dont let that stop you from receiving the information.
Satan is obviously a big player in vaccine development. We are certainly in the end times, please use your discernment wisely as I think you have far too much faith in the World.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8poPc0qTI_E
What sort of person thinks that vaccines (which save lives) are a tool of Satan? That is seriously screwed up thinking.
Hi Barry. Thank you for your comments and questions. I’ve watched the YouTube clip ~ seen it previously.As far as I’m aware, tissue from two aborted foetuses was used in the production of some of the COVID-19 vaccines.
As I mention in the blog, I am pro-life. I wish there were as few abortions as possible.
My pro-life stance also causes me to interact with other issues from a pro-life perspective.
For example, before vaccines, millions of children died horrific deaths each year from infectious diseases like whooping cough, polio, and measles. Today, thanks to vaccines, most of these diseases have been eradicated.
Sadly, much misinformation is spread about vaccines ~ they cause autism / they contain microchips. Meanwhile, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, health workers are regularly targeted because vaccines are thought to be a Western plot to make Muslims infertile. None of these things are true. I don’t see Satan as “a big player in vaccine development.” He is a destroyer. Vaccines saves millions of lives.
As for my faith, it is firmly planted on the Rock, Christ Jesus.
Kind regards. Rob
Re depopulation. We’ve known of the link between high child mortality and large families for over 50 years. As you say correctly, in poorer countries larger families produce more economic security, plus ensure care for older generations. But if half your children are going to die before 5, you’ll produce twice as many.
The very essence of conspiracy theories are that they empower people who feel disempowered by a situation or event they are facing.
Thanks for your informative and well balanced BLOG’s Rob.
Dear Pastor Rob,
I really enjoy reading your blog. I’m living overseas and unable to attend my local church, because of Covid restrictions, so being able to have access to your ‘online’ church has been a great way to stay in touch with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.
Conspiracy theories are very unhelpful particularly at times like this when we should all focus on protecting ourselves and each other by social distancing and wearing a face mask. I look forward to the day when a vaccine will finally be available and we’ll be able to live more freely again.
It is also very unfortunate (and bizarre!) that the issue of 5G has been linked to Covid or even anti-vaccination views. Clearly, it has nothing to do with either.
5G is, however, an issue that is currently the subject of robust debate within the international scientific community. ARPANSA’s guidelines are unfortunately seriously outdated and obsolete. All radiofrequencies can penetrate the skin, otherwise we would not be able to take an ECG (which reads the electromagnetic impulses of the heart) from a patient by placing electrodes on various parts of his/her skin.
It is true that radiofrequencies are a form of non-ionising radiation and therefore are unable to break chemical bonds, whereas ionising radiation (XRays) can. That doesn’t mean, however, that they have no effect on human health. Biological effects, both short term (symptoms like insomnia, headaches, dizziness etc.) and long term effects have been known and researched since the 1950s. In 2011, the WHO has classified radiofrequencies as a class 2B possible carcinogen.
In some European countries school children receive instruction on ‘safer use of technology’, ie. using the mobile phone on loudspeaker or with headphones, limiting the length of phone calls, switching WiFi off when not needed and especially at night etc. WiFi is actually not permitted in pre-schools in France and a number of councils in the EU, including Brussels have said ‘no’ to the deployment of 5G because of health concerns.
5G hasn’t been around long enough for anyone to be able to reassure us of its safety, so, in my opinion, it is not unreasonable to have some concerns. As a medic I’m interested in public health and as a Christian I’m interested in the truth, even when it’s an uncomfortable one.
I include links to a great Australian website https://www.orsaa.org/
and an international one https://bioinitiative.org/
should you or others be interested.
I’m not anti-technology – I’m using a computer right now, and can access ‘online’ church with it, but propose that we reflect on the possible negatives and find sensible ways to make it safer and keep it in the service of us, rather than the other way around.
Thank-you for your wise words and God bless you and your family.