I finally snapped at Congressman Massie's latest anti-vaxxer tweet. Massie has been one of my favorite Congressmen and has his own tag in my blog. At times, I've followed him on Twitter; he's even liked one or 2 of my tweets in the past (e.g., I support his pet PRIME Act, which attempts to modestly deregulate small livestock ranchers from USDA inspection processes, favoring large operations. I eat a lot of fairly expensive grass-fed meats. I have a brother-in-law whose family raises grass-fed animals, and he intended to open a webstore but ran into issues that Massie's bill would address.). But he has irritated me on at least a couple of fronts, staunchly defending Trump, especially during the impeachments and more recently on the COVID-19 vaccine
For context, Massie during the early months of the pandemic had an antibody (vs. diagnostic test) Typically a PCR/molecular (diagnostic) test is looking for (active) genetic virus material. An antibody/serological test looks for evidence of COVID-19 antibodies, which help the body fight against infection/reinfection. Massie's test showed that he had had been (asymptomatically) infected by COVID. So the first thing Massie wrote that irritated me on this topic was that he wasn't going to take the vaccine because he didn't need it. It is true that acquired immunity (past infection or vaccine) makes a viral breakthrough infection/reinfection rare and usually a milder asymptomatic form which isn't that transmissible. Now the fact is we don't know much about the duration of protection (but it does seem lower for older people). The data I've seen suggest an infection rate below 1%.; moreover, there are variants for which natural immunity may be less effective. What Massie does to his own body is his business; he may not feel the need to take a vaccine, gambling that his immunity is sufficient and long-lasting. Personally, it's a risk I would not take; I have a nephew and niece, younger than Massie, who independently got COVID-19 and later took the vaccine. The issue I have with Massie's public position is that it undermines public confidence in the vaccines which can be dangerous for the third of unvaccinated American adults vulnerable to the highly contagious deadly Delta variant.
Where I finally snapped was when Massie recently questioned CDC "hiding" information needed by prospective vaccine users to evaluate the costs and benefits of taking a vaccine. It's one thing if Massie is talking about himself, but now he is boasting his credentials of 2 engineering degrees from MIT to provide an anti-vaxxer perspective. In a country where at least 10% of people have caught the disease, Massie was publicly questioning the net benefit of taking the vaccine. As I pointed out in a lightly viewed response/exchange, there are limited downsides to taking a vaccine for most people; it is more probable to get hit by lightning than suffer a severe physical reaction taking a shot. By far, you take on a higher risk/cost of getting infected than any known risks of taking a vaccine. I think what Massie has done is deeply immoral by attacking the integrity of CDC.
