
Contribution, 2021 # 07)
Are we facing an “endless” train of Covid-19 strains and booster shots as SARS-COV-2 goes globally endemic, as “the new normal”?

BRADES, Montserrat, June 16, 2021 – Last month, officials in the UK announced[1] “The Cov-Boost study,” a “World-first COVID-19 vaccine booster study,” which “will trial seven vaccines and will be the first in the world to provide vital data on the impact of a third dose on patients’ immune responses.” Its aim is to “give scientists from around the globe and the experts behind the UK’s COVID-19 vaccination programme a better idea of the impact of a booster dose of each vaccine in protecting individuals from the virus.”
As usual, we need to look for the other – usually more telling – half of the story.[2]
It turns out, that the second “jab” for two-shot vaccinations such as Astra Zeneca, is now being regarded as a first booster and there is a contemplation of an advisable third shot ten to twelve weeks after the first,[3] in a context where the duration of immunity is still an open question for these experimental, emergency use, not yet fully approved vaccines. (And, for every official or Government media voice who will howl “deliberate misinformation” and “conspiracy theories” at such words, there is at least one credible source to substantiate each of the terms just used. It is high time for sobering truth.)
That’s our first, vital clue.
It already tells us that “fully vaccinated [after two shots and two weeks after the second one]” is not the full story. Worse, there is a clear fear of further strains that break out of the immunity envelope of the vaccines, such as was recently suggested regarding the unofficially termed, Nepal strain. It’s therefore, no surprise to see already talk[4] of not only a third shot but also of annual or six-monthly booster shots on an ongoing basis; perhaps even starting in the fourth quarter of this year. In case you doubt such “conspiracy theories” or “misinformation,” here is UK Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi, back in February[5]:
- ‘We see very much probably an annual or booster in the autumn and then an annual (jab), in the way we do with flu vaccinations where you look at what variant of the virus is spreading around the world, rapidly produce a variant of vaccine and then begin to vaccinate and protect the nation,’ he told BBC One’s, Andrew Marr Show. [“Third vaccine may be needed ‘by autumn’ to stop South African strain,” UK Metro, February 8, 2021.]
Hence, the concern about an “endless” train.
We clearly need a better alternative, a way back to reasonable normality.
To get there, let us build on Minister Zahawi’s use of the flu as a model.
The flu is endemic globally, it is effectively always there, lurking. Various new strains emerge and tend to spread each year, some more virulent than others. Complications can and do cause dozens to hundreds of thousands of deaths in flu season, but there is no global panic, no major lockdown of the economy, no talk of flu passports, quarantines for travel, expensive testing, breathless, panic-feeding loaded headlines, etc. Special measures are indeed taken to protect vulnerable, especially elderly people, but something like Tamiflu[6] as an early treatment often stops it cold. Over in Asia, many people tended to wear face masks in flu season, never mind lingering debates on how well they work. Yes, there is an annual guessing game as to the next fast-spreading strain and a flu shot is prepared. However, despite the usual Official “get your flu shot” recommendation, it is sometimes notoriously more of a miss than a hit and some people view it with suspicion, fearing adverse reactions or simple ineffectiveness.
That gives us a start-point for suggesting a different approach to the onward Covid-X challenge.
It seems, pretty much, that the get your two jabs, be “fully immunised,” we can get “herd immunity” and go back to “normal” story is pretty much dead; whether our Officials publicly admit it or not. The issues of third shots and annual booster shots with questions on potential strains that escape the umbrella of immunity kill it. We, therefore, have to find “a new normal” we can live with without handing over prolonged emergency powers into the hands of officials, clamping down our volcano-damaged economy into an artificial depression and without having Covid-X come through to devastate us all over again every few years.
Tamiflu gives the key clue.
It is oseltamivir, a specially targeted “antiviral medication that blocks the actions of influenza virus types A and B.” The idea is to hit the flu within the first couple of days, stopping the process that leads to complications, etc. (Regrettably, it does not work on the common cold.)
In short, what we need is an effective early treatment for Covid-X, which will likely need to be a cocktail, based on say, Ivermectin and Azithromycin, zinc, vitamins C and D, or the like, etc. We have already discussed this, here at TMR.[7] Of course, Ivermectin has also shown that it credibly can pull people out of ICU. Unfortunately, it is the subject of a needless purposeful controversy that has sought to discredit or dismiss it.
If you are tempted to do so, kindly, take time to see the work of Dr. Peter McCullough of Baylor University:
1] 109 min vid [worth every minute]: https://assets.infowarsmedia.com/videos/3591d3f8-029f-4ba2-889b-88fa417ca297.mp4
2] Treatment protocol presented to the US Senate:

3] Paper behind that protocol: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7410805/pdf/main.pdf
So, it is time for a fresh conversation. And, we see yet again why we need independent media, and why such media should be valued and supported by our public, in the national interest.
[1] See, UKG, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/world-first-covid-19-vaccine-booster-study-launches-in-uk
[2] See, TMR https://www.themontserratreporter.com/facebook-fact-check-fallacies-and-pandemic-panics/
[3] See, LBC https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/thousands-to-get-third-covid-19-jab-in-new-cov-boost-trial-matt-hancock-announce/
[4] See https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/06/15/uk-expands-trials-on-third-jab-coronavirus-vax-booster-shots/
[5] See https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/08/third-covid-vaccine-may-be-needed-by-autumn-to-stop-new-strains-14039536/
[6] See https://www.drugs.com/tamiflu.html
[7] TMR https://www.themontserratreporter.com/ivermectin-and-the-vaccine-debate/