113 Comments

And meanwhile in NYC the children under 5 “who can’t get the vax yet” STILL have to wear masks. I’m in early childhood education and I am PISSED. Words cannot express.

I was on fb preaching for awhile, but became jaded and, well, afraid. No one who asked me for more info ever followed up on it after I gave it. I shared your posts and videos so many times, Dr. Prasad. My mental health began to suffer with the silence and frustration. Then the convoy in Canada, freezing bank accounts(!!)…scary. I got off of there.

I don’t know how to advocate anymore, but one way that stays is through my own choices and keeping informed with posts like yours. Thank you.

Expand full comment

It appears the only "diversity" that is cared about is skin color and diversity of THOUGHT is punished.

Expand full comment

I’d include Speech Language Pathologists in this group as well. The profession that specializes in communication has not spoken out- rather practicing SLPs in schools, clinics or the national association. Those of us that have spoken out have been met with a brick wall and unwillingness to acknowledge what we have witnessed with our patients/clients/students. Children with disabilities and their families have been denied service, given online options that were not appropriate for the child or forced to mask even when it has been detrimental to their development. Repercussions will continue to be seen in delays, missed intervention and diagnosis for some time.

Expand full comment

Vinay, keep up the good work. Your podcasts and writing are outstanding. I am a retired physician who fought the good fight by writing a letter to the editor of our local newspaper The Broomfield Enterprise, speaking up at City Council meetings, and published a "Unmasking the CDC" on altmid.substack.com. Regarding the latter, I spent months corresponding with multiple epidemiologist before I found one who confirmed my analysis was correct. The most frightening aspect of the COVID pandemic was how the scientific community lost its way. Sad, very sad

Expand full comment

I am now watching as those on the hard left anticipate their next moves. I live in a blue state and work for a very progressive state agency that just returned to work in person (still hybrid telework schedule) to service the public. The same restrictions are still prevalent as of March 2020. Our transmission rate statewide is 1.80%. But they still won't admit to the mistakes they made in the name of safety. The public schools in my low income city only returned to in person learning full time in September 2021. It's an absolute disgrace. I will be taking action the only way I know how, I will be voting R on the ballot these coming elections. I will not continue to vote in those who thrived on the control and power given to them during this emergency. I urge you all to do the same.

Expand full comment

Well said. Dr. Prasad, can you speak to what personality traits or moral framework allowed you to go against the grain? I'm interested in what personal characteristics inspire people to remain honest in the face of substantial cost. In any case, thank you for being a voice of reason.

Expand full comment

Publish or perish. Where is the next grant coming from? Will they approve of the way I think? I want to be perceived as smart and in-the-know, so don't want to give air to those fringe scientists who must have some dubious purpose, even though I can't figure out what it might be. Something isn't adding up here, but my grant just got approved. Someone else can die on this hill. -The Silent

Expand full comment

Hi Dr. Prasad,

I just want to thank you. I’ve been following your YouTube channel for awhile now. Im a Renal Dietitian in the Bay Area. I have felt alone at times during these past couple of years . I’m so grateful to have found you. It reaffirmed that I’m not going nuts, I’m just paying attention. Thank you for your voice, expertise and nuanced approach.

Expand full comment

The reality is many Doctors,global health advocates and early life course/ disparities researchers are no longer 'of the people'. As you mentioned, they live different lives than the people they are meant to serve.

You wrote" As a lifelong Democrat/ progressive, I know with confidence that my team is responsible for this.".

Our Team is now the entitled.

Expand full comment

So thought provoking as usual. I can never trust our public health departments or our CDC again. They enabled the elite to continue on while imposing the bulk of restrictions upon the working class and the children. We’ve changed and lost our humanity more than we’ll ever realize in our lifetimes.

Thank you Doc for your timely discussions and reflections.

Expand full comment

My child endured masked speech therapy for months. As I began to come to terms with the fact that my toddler would likely be grappling with speech issues for much of, if not most of his life, our local school board members openly celebrated mask mandates on children as young as 3. Medical exemptions were hard to come by in many areas -- the CDC did not consider speech and language disorders as qualifiers for mask exemptions -- and what's more, I saw comments from people in my local community on social media openly mocking those who sought exemptions, emphasizing how unsafe they felt their own child would be in a classroom with an unmasked child, and trying to sneakily find out who and where those exemptions were happening. It felt like a witch hunt that was out for my small child, who literally had no voice of his own. No one spoke out publicly in defense of speech-disabled children. I kept hoping that my child would suddenly start talking normally and I could wake out of the nightmare. It was horrific and isolating. Now we can say, this was wrong and an injustice and many agree. But in 2021, even after any adult who wanted a vaccine could get one, no one came to the rescue of the smallest and most developmentally vulnerable children in schools. The few who spoke out were ignored or threatened. This is what it's like living under tribal, mob rule. But we parents carried on, protecting and defending our children at every turn. It has made us stronger. And we will never, ever forget.

Expand full comment
founding

Vinay, This is sobering and completely correct.

Recognizing the political leanings from whence you have come (been there), I commend you for being smart enough, brave enough, and open minded enough to not fall victim to The Narrative just because it is primarily Democrat driven. There was (and is) such a deep well of TDS out there (inexplicable to me, but off point) that qualified scientists and physicians I have known for years just went with whatever position would make Orange Man Bad lose the election. By the time that happened, most were lost in their own weeds and unable to walk back their (increasingly showing as idiotic as some of us have always said) statements and policies.

I have absolutely enjoyed watching you become increasingly unable to abide that. You, like Weiss, Greenwald, Berenson (and many more...the list keeps growing) have been wise enough to actually look at what is going on and to abandon the script given by progressives that are actually not progressive at all...just interested in getting all your money so they can "spend it better than you can".

Adding to your list of disasters that these people have created, another sad consequence is that there will be no public health (nor should there be after this performance) for the rest of my lifetime. Even sadder is the diminution of trust between the medical community and the patients. What business is it of some medical board to tell me what drug I cannot use for THIS patient sitting in front of ME? They have no clue. All Docs have given off label prescriptions before -- medicine is between a patient and a physician. Only in this massive "how much control can we exert" experiment has this been restricted in my lifetime. It makes clear what this was actually about.

The other untoward effects (educational failure, especially among those who most need the education to be elevated; speech and child development failure; socialization failure; etc.) will loom large for decades.

I think you were too kind in your ending by wishing all of the leaders in misinformation (and I do not mean the usual suspects -- many of the "conspiracy theories" have proven true -- I mean CDC, NIH, FDA, CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) to enjoy their promotions. If that is the outcome, this will all just happen again.

If we are to have a chance at blunting the inevitable repeat performance (notice how many democrats have maintained their "states of emergencies") we need to expose these people BY NAME repeatedly until the point gets across. You have done some of this beautifully with the CDC, but there is more to be done there, and endless additional culprits (Wen, anyone?) who have been lying through their teeth for two years.

You have a platform that can help do that. I hope you will see clear to use it that way.

Expand full comment

When I continued to give students material to make them think about the structures of control, they got mad and emotional and refused to do the assignments. That’s when I got quiet. I knew that was the quickest way to have me living on the streets. The students who didn’t want to question anything were the loudest - thanks to the official narrative. We aren’t even paid enough to live in the cities of our schools, so one paycheck later I would be in a shelter. But I’ve been loud for years. I will also say that my colleagues were on a witch hunt and it was scary. They demanded names of students and faculty. They demanded mandates come earlier than the union said. And since when do unions support conditions of employment? They just roll out whatever admin wants. So much for spaces of intellectual growth and discovery.

Expand full comment

My admiration for you skyrocketed when I knew you chose kids over your tribe. While Zdogg was saying his kids didn’t mind the masks, you were more honest about the masks harming kids. I think your tribe has moved left of your values.

Expand full comment

I thought there were plenty of professionals who spoke out about lock downs and masking. They were cancelled!!!

Expand full comment

Very courageously written in this environment of utter insanity. Thank you.

Expand full comment