OPINION
New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out with Science
Once again we are aghast at the pronouncements from Dr Michael Baker. We have all got to the point where, were it not so concerning, this would be comedy. Seriously, Prof Baker when will you read the medical literature about the covid vaccines, early treatment and modifiable risk factors?
We have written about and deconstructed the utterances of “notable experts” in this space and felt that we couldn’t leave out the most recent words of the unparalleled Professor Michael Baker.
Michael Baker on Radio NZ about the 5th wave and the scarcity of Paxlovid
Last week Professor Michael Baker spoke to Charlotte Cook on Midday Report about the 5th wave and the potential problem with a lack of Paxlovid, used to treat covid-19. Here we highlight topics that Michael Baker and Charlotte Cook raise, yet again increasing fear going into summer.
It is important to recognise that Prof Michael Baker has a medical degree, but is a public health physician and an epidemiologist, who works within the ivory towers of academia. He does not see patients or interact with troubled or unwell Kiwis seeking help for their distress.
We also have questions about potential conflicts of interest and whether funding received by Otago (and other) universities comes with strings attached. Are there things that Michael Baker must say and things he can’t say due to the funding arrangements of his university? We have seen this with Andrew Hill. His comments about the substantial benefits of Ivermectin for treatment of covid were suddenly muted when Liverpool University received US$40 million in funding from Unitaid in January 2021.
Stocks of Paxlovid are running low
Health New Zealand states that “people with COVID-19 at standard risk, especially when further lowered by vaccination, would have minimal or no benefit from oral anitvirals.” So where is the problem?
According to Professor Baker, “paxlovid is a very effective antiviral”. Except that it has a risk of rebound, caution is required in those with renal impairment and a number of commonly used medications have to be stopped while taking it. Hhhmmmm…
As we have come to expect, no mention is made of Ivermectin or the myriad of other safe interventions successfully used in the treatment of covid.
The 5th Wave
Here Michael Baker chooses his words interestingly, describing the 5th wave of covid as “intense” and that the virus is behaving as if still in a pandemic. Sorry, but didn’t everyone get vaccinated? He does not mention the number of hospitalisations or deaths from covid compared to other periods, just that the 5th wave is more “intense than expected”. Nor does he mention antibody-dependent worsening of symptoms due to prior immune modification by the vaccines, nor the proof that more jabs causes more covid in individuals, as illustrated in the landmark Cleveland Clinic study.
Anyway, given the doubts of the actual existence of a pandemic, the use of the PCR in diagnosis and the strange disappearance of the flu, can we be certain that the number of cases indicates any cause for alarm?
Baker states, concerningly, that immunity is waning and that the virus is becoming more infectious. However, he does not state that the virus is becoming more dangerous (not happening), nor – given that recurrent vaccinations can lead to increased covid infections – how else to improve immunity.
Is this another fear-mongering tool to make New Zealanders get vaccinated? We recall how this turned out in the summer of 2021 when even though large swaths of the population got jabbed, events were cancelled left, right and centre.
The unpredictability of covid
Michael Baker laments that the virus is unpredictable and turns to his favorite topics of masking, isolation and vaccination as ways out. His suggestion of masking “getting on and off aircraft” did make us laugh! Unless the virus has become that sentient that it knows when we are entering or exiting a plane, how is this different to sitting in a crowded airport or plane?!
Yes, life and viruses are unpredictable. Is it more important for us to live in fear of viruses, masked, scared and distanced, than it is for us to embrace the wonder and sanctity of life? Should we not weigh up carefully what interventions are literally worth our lives?
Laugh, Love, Eat
We agree with Charlotte’s statement “that we’re heading into Christmas time and there will be lots of inter-generational whanua hanging out”. However we disagree with her inference that this is concerning. Yes there will be an exchange of laughter, hugs, kisses and microbes – not limited to SARS-CoV-2. As we have explained many times, humans and viruses have co-existed since humans started walking on this planet. Indeed humans have viral genes in our own genetic code.
What experts such as Michael Baker, Nikki Turner and Helen Petousis-Harris leave out of their talks, apart from giant dollops of truth, is the amazing capacity of the human body to see off most invaders. More importantly in their zest to push the disastrous covid narratives of masking, isolation and the outright dangerous covid injections, they forget (or conveniently ignore) what humans know instinctively and is backed by scientific study – that laughter, social connection and good food are the foundations of health and thus immunity. This is not to ignore the importance of sensible sun exposure, exercise, sleep and nature. Not only will these actions improve our health but they are fun too!
At Christmas, we invite these experts to join us in improving the nation’s health. If they refuse we wish them a severe New Year hangover!