LYTLE: Smith gets it right on vaccines

Our premier, happy warrior that she is, is currently doing battle over the payment of COVID-19 injections. Her argument is that fewer people want the injections, and program costs are very high. She has stated that $135 million worth of COVID injections were wasted last year for want of demand. She also boldly declared that the vaccines are unwanted because they are not effective.For this she is “callous” and “anti-science.” Not only that, but she is “cruel” and adding to the anti-vaccine temperament of Albertans.There are three issues that need to be addressed. First, do mRNA injections work to prevent COVID-19 infections? (I use the term “injections” rather than “vaccines” because the mRNA injections do not fit the traditional definition of a vaccine precisely because they don’t accomplish what a vaccine is defined to do. The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) famously changed their definition of vaccine to get around that embarrassing detail.)Second, does the Alberta government finance the treatment of all respiratory infections equally? And third, are mRNA injections harmful to some or all age cohorts?The chart below shows the weekly incidence of reported COVID infections across Canada since 2020..Given that the mRNA injections were first made available in February 2021, the spike in cases a year later is a bit surprising. The data almost begs the question of whether the injections work. In fact, the early COVID data is clear that the injections worked for up to six weeks, and then their efficacy ebbs and reverses. Many of those who have been injected become more susceptible to COVID-19 infections rather than less susceptible. This is what is called a “bummer” and is why your triple-boosted friend is always getting COVID.Given that the efficacy of the injections is suspect at best, it is hardly cruel of the premier to suggest that we don’t spend a lot of money on an experiment in placebo medicine..Does the Alberta government pay for all injections for respiratory control? The data in this table represent the incidence of the three primary respiratory diseases in Alberta from August 2024 until May 24, 2025:.COVID and influenza shots are currently available to the public for free. The RSV shot is available to people over age 75 for free; everyone else must pay for it.Other than the relative prevalence of the three diseases, it is difficult to understand why the costs for the dubious treatments of two infections are covered and the costs of the third are not. What is the basis for the different treatment?Some might conclude that the costs of the RSV vaccine must also be covered by the Alberta government. But that doesn’t make sense, because the shots don’t work..In fact, I argue that cost recovery for COVID and influenza injections should follow the RSV model. That is, you get the shots for free if you are in a cohort that is demonstrated to be at risk if infected with the respiratory viruses. Otherwise, if you want to fill your body with drugs that don’t work very well, you pay for the experience.The third, and certainly most controversial, issue to be addressed is the level of harm that comes with mRNA injections. Do the shots themselves pose a risk to the health of those who take them? The PubMed repository of peer-reviewed scientific papers is filling with reports of the dangers of mRNA injections. PubMed is easily navigated for those who are interested in scaring themselves with the new data. Many will scoff at this, but I would be remiss if I didn’t identify the possibility of harm from the shots.Here are some quick facts for consideration:Studies have identified a linkage between fast-acting (turbo) cancers and mRNA injections.Studies have positively linked mRNA injections with sudden deaths – the basketball player who pitches forward and dies in midstride.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has posted a warning linking mRNA injections and myocarditis in young adult males.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has removed its recommendation for mRNA injections for pregnant women and healthy children.Ed Dowd of Phinance Technologies has charted excess mortality since the pandemic was declared in 2020 by age group, sex and location. His data demonstrate that all age groups have experienced sudden excess mortality rates. In particular, excess mortality in the age group 25–44 has been between 11 and 38 per cent since 2020. Excess mortality is defined as deaths in year x as a percentage of deaths in 2019. The data demonstrate a highly unusual health phenomenon that is serious enough to significantly upset actuarial calculations in the life insurance industry..The conclusions derived from the data suggest that our premier is on the right track. The COVID shots are of dubious effectiveness and may injure or kill an unacceptable number of those who take them. This is recognized by U.S. drug authorities.Perhaps it is not our premier who is adding to vaccine shyness, but rather we should blame the abysmal performance of a poorly tested mRNA injection.Mr. Dowd might say that our premier is saving lives.