Just when I thought I’d encountered the final dumbterances^ of COVID conspiracy theory cookers, they round for another approach.

Re-reported old news is that AstroZeneca has now withdrawn its major COVID vaccine from Australia. Their reason, the latest variants of the virus are more effectively handled with their newer vaccines.

But as always, the loudest with the least interest in facts, scream Blue Murder. Their paranoia hinges on the known (extremely low) risk of blood clots identified with the AZ vaccine, and that the company’s business decision is actually a clear admission of the true, severe, and ongoing harm of the jab^^.

Source: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/covid-19-vaccines/advice-for-providers/clinical-guidance/tts

Do you know what has a higher risk of blood clots? The common birth control pill.

Source: https://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/birth-control-methods-blood-clot-risk

I can hear them protest again, they’re likely no fan of the pill either.

Well, do you know what has a higher risk of blood clots than the birth control pill? Being pregnant, and having a baby.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dvt/features/blood-clots-pregnant-women.html#:~:text=Although%20anyone%20can%20develop%20a,women%20who%20are%20not%20pregnant.

In hindsight, I think I’ve never been disappointed not hearing about the news. I should just ignore it all more often.

^ “dumbterances” is a portmanteau I think I just invented, combining dumb and utterances, which seemed useful here.

^^ We really need a way of highlighting / tagging text that indicates it’s what someone may believe, instead of something that is written as a correct statement. Maybe like if some text is being said sarcastically it can be italicised. With the rapidly increasing spidering of content to teach Large Language Models and AI, it’s essential we don’t teach the robots the precise things we are in fact mocking.