Sometimes I feel not only as if the entire global community is joined in an existential struggle, but also that we may prevail. Plummeting numbers of new infections, deaths, and hospitalizations seem strongly correlated with rising proportions of the vaccinated. In a rare move, the US is choosing the generosity road over the greed road, waiving patent protections on vaccines so the world can get them.

I view that this way: The more unvaccinated frail vessels there are, the more chances for the virus to reproduce, transmit, and mutate. New mutations travel quickly across the globe, so it makes sense to vaccinate Everyone, Everywhere, and the US has the wealth, the determination, and the leadership to make that happen, so why wouldn’t we?

Not everyone agrees with me. Today I had this conversation.

Me: It’s safer when more people are vaccinated.

Disagreeing person: That makes no sense.

Me: Unvaccinated people provide opportunities for the virus to spread and mutate.

DP: It has already mutated!

Me: Sure, viruses mutate all the time, and some mutations are dangerous, so we need to minimize the number of viruses there are to reduce the odds of a dangerous mutation.

DP (interrupting, shouting): That’s not the way it works! That’s not the way it works!

So that conversation, which did not go well, is a fairly good example of conversations I have several times a week. Not all the DPs yell and then run off (which this one did). Some are calm and even nurturing, assuring me that All of us, even you, are entitled to your ideas, and no one should be squelched. But I can’t help feeling that some of my ideas are being proven daily by data, and others are based on some pretty basic science phenomena.

I feel sympathy for those who disagree, because I’m a crazy outlier myself when it comes to nutrition and health. Things I believe include

• Weight is not closely correlated with caloric intake;
• Serum blood cholesterol is unrelated to dietary cholesterol;
• Raw milk is therapeutic, even if you’re “lactose-intolerant;”
• Most non-communicable diseases are caused by deficits in micronutrients; and
• Almost all the “food” we are offered in store and restaurants is micronutrient-free.

This definitely makes me an outlier, since most people don’t share those beliefs. Were I to encounter someone who was actually interested in nutrition though, I think I could make a case based on evidence. I’m not making this stuff up, I’m following scientific research and seeing real-world results from making related changes. There’s a vast amount of data demonstrating species decline as our dietary practices change, for example skull studies.

I don’t know nearly as much about vaccinations. I have read a few related books recently, including one on the 1918 flu, and my first degree, in biomedical engineering, involved a decent amount of biology and physiology. But with nutrition, I think of a new question every day for which I seek an answer. So maybe there is some controversy, or new discovery, or side branch of immunology or virology of which I’m unaware that supports the other side as argued by DP.

Anyone heard of such?

Although I’m squeamish to even mention it, I suppose everyone today feels suffused with certain knowledge. When I hear someone express what I consider to be certain wrong knowledge about vaccinations, I get a headache, perhaps because I imagine propagation of such could send us plunging into another year of Covid dystopia.

I got such a bad headache at work earlier this week that I took two hours sick leave and went home early. Maybe I gave someone else a headache today.