It’s Spin That’s the Sin

On Super Saturday all political leaders supported vaccination. Why? Because there is overwhelming evidence that being fully vaccinated reduces the spread of infection, reduces the severity of symptoms, hugely reduces the chances that the infected will die, reduces the stress on our poorly equipped hospitals and over-worked staff, and allows the opportunity for the increasingly impatient public to get back to a semblance of normal life. (See Saturday’s excellent article on Stuff: What we’ve learned about the virus over 18 months in the wilderness.).

So why have some people not taken the opportunity to get vaccinated already?

Some because of practical reasons: 

• They work during the hours vaccination centres are open. Unionised 9-4 opening times don’t work for people working two or three jobs or on shift work, and they certainly can’t afford three hours waiting in a queue.

• Rural people have been so busy with the spring work of lambing, calving or planting crops that they have simply felt unable to take valuable time out of their day, and they work outdoors and largely on their own so have not felt the urgency to get it done yet.

• The people they trust with their medical care – their local GP’s – have not been ‘registered’ to give these vaccinations, despite being ‘registered’ to give all other vaccinations.

• they live in tiny settlements, far from medical support, possibly without a car or caring person to transport them – but we would assume these are few.

• Some choose not to vaccinate on religious grounds or with legitimate health reasons – again, let us assume they are relatively few in number.

And we will not include consideration of the simply lazy, the self-indulgent waiting for the needle to come to their door, or the needle-fearful who would rather die than face a trauma less significant than a pin-prick. Tattoos anyone?

So that leaves ‘the others’ – the now-convenient scapegoats – those dismissed as the anti-vaxxers, who will increasingly be identifiable as an outcast group by being disallowed at workplaces, shopping centres and friendship groups. The anti-vaxxers are obviously anti-society, anti-science, anti-me!

Well no! They’re not. They are the uncertain, the doubters, the ones who worry about the long term effects of a short period of testing of a new ‘vaccine’. They are the ones who doubt the evidence or believe the social media extremists.

And why are they doubters?

Because they don’t believe this government, so they don’t believe the science. They are aware we are being spun, lied to, mushroomed.

Spinner numbers have recently been increased. Census figures show that people involved in PR in New Zealand used to be about 8,000. Journalists numbered about 1,600. But now the $55M conditional media funding will have changed that a bit. Don’t you think?

These good people have let us know that ‘masks are useless’ now means ‘masks are essential’, swimming has now become paddling, gangs are actually community groups, ‘front of the queue’ has become ‘we can afford to wait while poorer countries get the vaccine first’, and ‘#1 in the world’ actually means ‘somewhere near the bottom’. Oh, and racism stops you getting an injection, and disinformation/misinformation is anything that doesn’t come from the lips of the ‘only source of truth’ – Ardern, Ashley, Hipkins or What’s-his-name.

Spin is useful to induce fear and compliance:

• Statistics are not consistent so not comparable, talking sometimes about numbers and sometimes in percentages rather than deaths per hundred thousand.

• Exaggerated modelling figures are designed to frighten, talking only about rates of infection rather than hospitalisations or deaths.

• Some statistics compare countries with high population densities, reliant on public transport and multi-level dwellings, with NZ; or compare mono-ethnic populations with our multi-ethnic population. These inconsistencies are not accidental; they are deliberate.

• Respiratory deaths are recorded as Covid deaths, despite asthma, emphysema, asbestosis, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and lung cancer all being fatal respiratory diseases.

• Almost nobody dies of Covid without other comorbidities. Let’s consider just one. New Zealand has the third fattest population in the OECD. Obesity leads to diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. Do you think these factors should be included in the data?

And then, oh don’t get me started, there’s ineptitude which can also be spun:

• Closed borders.
• Not one more fully staffed ICU bed anywhere.
• Overseas doctors and nurses not being able to get positions in our health system because ‘we are holding positions for NZ trained professionals.’
• A ‘lottery’ being the only way into this country for the thousands of NZ citizens abandoned overseas.
• Inadequate PPE.
• Truck drivers not requiring a negative test.
• Making 15 minute saliva testing illegal.
• Test results taking two weeks to be returned.
• No boosters yet ordered, MIQ, MIQ, MIQ …

Meanwhile, they ignore the outcome of their ineptitude: the mentally well becoming mentally unwell as they lose their jobs or their businesses built up over thirty years, or are overwhelmed by guilt at failing their children, their workers or their tenants. And the already mentally unwell being tipped over the edge through social media, alcohol and drugs – though how they ever acquire these is presumably known only to the gangs.

So darlings, while we got jabbed on Saturday, collecting our free piece of fried chicken or chocolate fish or coffee, and a pat on the back from Our Beloved Leader and her minions, with luck being caught on television ‘doing the right thing’, think on this: there are two issues here.

One is the pandemic and the need for Super Saturday and Terrific Tomorrow to overcome vaccination hesitancy. So get vaccinated – for yourself and for others. Stay healthy – avoid crowded indoor spaces, wash your hands, and maintain physical distancing as much as possible. Eat well, exercise, enjoy the sunshine and your children.

The other is the need for Spin, Lies and Obfuscation, as Our Beloved Leader puts in place her Other Agenda while we are distracted. Because the lies of today are a cover for the world they are putting in place for tomorrow.