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The Pandemic is OVER.

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  Jun 15, 2021
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

The pandemic is over. The lying experts might not say that it's over, but the level of infection is so low that even some news outlets, like Axios, are ditching their weekly COVID maps. Herd immunity is here. It's not because we've hit 70-80 percent vaccination rates in some places (though the vaccines are effective). It's also due, in part, to the tens of millions who have already had COVID acquiring natural immunity. A new study, albeit not peer-reviewed, notes that those who've had the infection probably don't need to get vaccinated, whereas the experts say that recovered COVID patients may just require one shot. This is an ongoing debate, but COVID is over. States, even blue ones, are reopening. Summer is here—and freedom. Yet, there will always be people who jump blood pressures, including Joe Biden's former COVID czar. 

Now, Andy Slavitt is no longer with the Biden administration. He resigned last week, but he's still doling out remarks about the pandemic that is…nice if you were privileged enough to work from home, things like that. On Monday morning, he offered a lecture on sacrifice that only the elite would say. If only we sacrificed a little more, then this outbreak wouldn't have been so bad. 

So, millions of jobs lost, mental health issues going through the roof, teen suicide attempts reaching unseen levels (especially in girls) is just minor league stuff, huh? Slavitt's new book also sheds light on the political bias that was oozing from these so-called experts. Apparently, Dr. Deborah Birx was quite eager to see Trump go. She didn't say it per se, but it was heavily insinuated that she hoped the 2020 election would go a certain way, and it did not include a second Trump term. It's fine to have the opinion, but as a government official, especially in medicine, politics should be checked at the door. If you can't do that—resign. 

Birx was bad, but Fauci is by far the worst culprit. He's a man viewed as a saint by the Left but is just another scumbag bureaucrat who continues to stroke his ego over the pandemic. The FOIA emails show a history of lies and deception from Fauci. It shows he knew that store-bought masks were garbage and did nothing to curb the spread but said we had to mask up anyway. Regarding the Wuhan lab leak theory, he was told this was a possibility back in January 2020. Hell, Fauci, the NIH, and EcoHealth Alliance form the unholy trinity concerning grant funding to the very lab in Wuhan where this pandemic probably originated. Besides the emails, Fauci has been a wet noodle, slithering out of situations where he must make a hardline decision. 

There's no science to back up double masking, but saying it wouldn't hurt only adds absurdity to the situation. It makes it even worse since people were doubling up on masks he knew were ineffective. Post-vaccination—Fauci doled out more doom and gloom to the point where even non-conservative data analysts, like Nate Silver, accused him of gaslighting. He finally admitted his mask-wearing post-vaccination was political theater, a term he scoffed at when pressed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) about masks and re-infection concerning those who have either had been vaccinated or had already recovered from the virus. Why did they need to wear them after that? Well, it turns out Rand is owed an apology by the demented doctor. 

The level of exaggeration is so deep that 71 percent of Democrats want to remain scared of COVID. The CDC tweaked the mask mandates for the vaccinated, and all hell broke loose in liberal America. Some people say they will continue to wear masks even after this pandemic has passed. Why? Fauci and his ilk lamented how masks had become a political statement. Well, they only have themselves to blame. They said no, then yes, and then to double up. And now, we learn they were useless all along. Can you blame people for being pissed? Normal people want to shed them. Liberals want to continue to wear them to show they're a) idiots and b) Democrats. 

They were wrong about the vaccine. We were able to develop one within a year. No, we had three in a year, and everyone was able to receive it by April 2021, which was a Trump projection that everyone mocked. They also smeared anyone who alleged this pandemic started in China. Well, that's probably going to be proven right. Do you see the pattern? You've known about it for eons now. The race to discredit or debunk anything Trump or the GOP says exacerbated this information divide. And yes, the Left is just as big a problem when it comes to incorrect information on COVID despite its aura of moral superiority. Everyone got bad intel, thanks to the medical community's decision to get political. 

They wanted Trump gone. Here's the price: no one will listen to you anymore. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky warned of "impending doom" around Spring Break. It never happened. 

You saw the medical workers in PPE clapping for the Black Lives Matter protests, which rapidly became riots post-George Floyd. Weren't we supposed to socially distance and not have mass gatherings so that we wouldn’t spread the infection and overwhelm the hospital system? I was told those trying to get back to work and feed their families were engaging in an exercise of white supremacy. It was selfish to want to get back to work…concerning a virus with a 90+ percent survivability rate. 

Everything the experts suggested or said about COVID was mostly wrong. It was influenced by political bias. The echo chamber worked well to spread absolute mayhem across the country. And they think we're just going to keep believing them after this is over. The long-haul effects of COVID for the medical community are hordes of people who won't listen to them anymore. We shouldn't. We can hit the mute button. These people were Democratic operatives with medical degrees, and they weaponized their credentials to influence an election. Fauci praised New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo but attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—need I say more? DeSantis protected his state's most vulnerable population; Cuomo killed his. And Fauci went on the record to say that New York handled COVID correctly. The state is literally the mecca for the China virus. 

Ignore all the experts. They could have done a public service. In fact, that's what you hope, right? But the woke Left's agenda of making everything a problem coupled with the anti-Trump hysterics just proved too much for these…people. They jumped into the culture wars without thinking about the consequences. Maybe we can trust the experts again, but that will be a debate for the next generation.