By Michael D. Shaw January 4, 2021 @ HealthNewsDigest

Barring personal tragedies that may have occurred in previous years, most of us would agree that we have never so eagerly awaited the coming of a “Happy New Year.” While COVID-19 is clearly the most significant factor, the increased level of political polarization would rate an easy second place. And, since everything has become politicized, health care has certainly been affected.

Early in the pandemic, some doctors spoke of their success using hydroxychloroquine, but this was immediately attacked by most of the medical establishment. Later in the game, the drug Ivermectin earned the praise of several docs, as the FDA issued its own warnings. The public is rightly puzzled. Never before has a pandemic shut down so much of our economy, and we are being told that we are in an extraordinary situation. Yet, widely deployed therapies are being assailed by officialdom.”

The public is also disappointed with much of the public health leadership. Anthony Fauci has been exposed to be much less of an authority, and much more of a guy who reports on the latest trends. Deborah Birx had to retire when it was revealed that she had violated her own recommendations for the peons. Moreover, there have been a flurry of examples of governors and other officials ignoring their stern recommendations. Perhaps the most notorious was the case of California governor Gavin Newsom.

As to the media, it has not exactly distinguished itself in 2020. Arguably, all media has tilted left since the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, but it is only quite recently that outright censorship has occurred on a regular basis. One potent example involves the shady activities of Hunter Biden, which went largely unreported until after the election. It has been stated that ten percent (or more) of Biden voters would not have voted in that manner, had they known about his son.

On the positive side, two COVID-19 vaccines have already been approved, with more on the way. Millions of doses are out there, but immunizing more than 300 million people will not occur overnight. Sadly, there have been a small number of side effects, some involving allergic reactions. A likely culprit is polyethylene glycol, part of the fatty envelope that surrounds the messenger RNA, the main ingredient in the vaccine. PEG is a known allergen, and this should have been better publicized during the rollout.

Now, some speculation for 2021…

  1. In light of the inconsistent and sometimes hypocritical lockdown orders, expect more people to object, more aggressively. Alternatively, the orders will also be quietly defied.
  2. A few political leaders will be recalled and removed from office.
  3. Vaccine distribution will accelerate such that anyone who wants it will be able to receive it by late spring. Still, at least 20 percent of us will not partake. At about this time, it will finally be revealed how effective and long-term the vaccine really is. If lockdowns and restrictions still exist at this point, there will be significant objections and protests.
  4. There will be calls to make the vaccine mandatory, with the introduction of a “vaccine card” to indicate your compliance. These will be rejected as draconian.
  5. As the pandemic winds down, many postmortem articles will appear, and virtually all of them will present a heavily biased viewpoint. You will also start to hear about other diseases again. Ivermectin will suddenly—and quietly—be recommended as a first-line treatment for COVID-19.
  6. Serious measures will be taken to secure election integrity.
  7. Plans will be made to “primary” many Republican officeholders, based on their lack of support for Trump.
  8. Some other crisis (real or imagined) will supplant COVID-19.
  9. Only a small number of people living today were around during the latest internally sequential year (1920), but more reading this article will be around during the next one (2122).