CDC study finds over 80% of US adults have some immunity to COVID, notes prior infection offers similar protection as vaccine



A recent survey of blood donations has found that more than 80% of Americans over the age of 16 have some level of immunity to COVID-19 — a figure that could have massive implications on the country's public health policy moving forward.

The survey, conducted by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also found that twice as many people have been infected by the pathogen than have been officially counted, CNN reported. As of Thursday, more than 39 million Americans have tested positive for the virus.

According to CNN, the CDC team, led by Dr. Jefferson Jones embarked on the study to "determine how close the US might be to some kind of herd immunity." Though the news outlet was sure to mention the researchers "do not claim to have any kind of handle on that yet."

They accomplished the task by testing about 1.4 million blood samples provided by 17 different blood collection organizations from all 50 states.

Upon studying the samples, the team found that between July 2020 and May 2021, the percentage of blood samples that carried SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies increased from 3.5% to 83.3% over that time period.

Based on a sample of blood donations in the United States from July 2020 through May 2021, estimated #SARSCoV2 sero… https://t.co/OyWffTBmRL
— JAMA (@JAMA_current) 1630598403.0

The researchers highlighted the prominent role widespread vaccine efforts have played in raising the percentage. Though they also noted that prior infection provides similar protection against the virus.

"Several large studies have shown that among individuals who are seropositive from prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 incidence is reduced by 80% to 95%, similar to vaccine efficacy estimates," they wrote.

The researchers acknowledged their study has "several limitations," however, including that all of the testing occurred prior to the Delta variant's full emergence in the U.S.

Of note, a recent study out of Israel found that unvaccinated individuals with prior infection were 13 times less likely to contract the Delta variant than vaccinated individuals without prior infection.

Likewise, the study focused only on the presence of antibodies in the blood samples and didn't measure other immune responses, including those involving memory T-cells.

"Additional research is needed on the association between combined seroprevalence, protection, and herd immunity," the researchers wrote.

"The study will continue until at least December 2021, and results will be made available on the CDC's website," they added.

Horowitz: Are children in the hospital for RSV, not COVID, BECAUSE of lockdowns?



When King Ahab of the Bible murdered his neighbor to take possession of his vineyard, Elijah admonished him, "Have you killed and also taken possession?" (1 Kings 21:19). Well, it appears that those who promoted lockdowns rather than early outpatient treatment as the solution for COVID are once against benefiting from a phenomenon that they likely caused, now using it to falsely instill more panic about children being in danger from COVID.

Isn't it too convenient? Right when schools are slated to start again, the proponents of lockdowns and masks seem to have finally gotten traction on a narrative of children filling up the hospitals with COVID — a phenomenon not seen in any other country. As Alasdair Munro, a pediatric infectious disease doctor in the U.K. observed in exasperation, the U.S. is the only country that seems to be panicking over pediatric Delta infections.

Almost every western country now has Delta as the predominant variant of #SARSCoV2 I'm trying to understand why t… https://t.co/SK0BKSjTGc

— Alasdair Munro (@apsmunro) 1628427530.0

The cynical answer is that politics is a greater blood sport in the United States than anywhere else on earth, so there is a constant to need to manipulate anecdotes and data to achieve a political agenda, in this case shutting down schools or masking kids right at the start of the new academic year. However, any lie is built on a kernel of truth. In this case, the purveyors of panic are getting a timely assist from a legitimate concern about respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common childhood virus we've lived with forever that has likely gotten worse because of the very policies they intend to push by exploiting this new narrative.

As you can see from this chart, courtesy of Bio Fire, we are experiencing a massive out-of-season surge in cases of RSV, which is actually outpacing COVID in terms of positivity rate of lab-confirmed tests. Anyone can get RSV, but it is usually only dangerous to some infants and young children. According to the CDC, 58,000 children are hospitalized every year from the virus. We already know that the virus is raging particularly strong in the South and that hospitals are already reporting an unnatural surge in pediatric RSV cases.

Now, it doesn't take a genius to realize that a large number of kids who come to the hospital for RSV in the South will wind up getting COVID in the hospital. My contention was always that kids don't get seriously ill from COVID and are not primary transmitters, but they absolutely can and do get the virus, especially during periods of spread and especially in the hospital.

We already know from a doctor in Miami that 50% of the vaccinated patients in the hospital who are counted as COVID patients are not really there for COVID. This has to be doubly true for the unvaccinated, especially kids. Most hospitals have a policy of automatically COVID testing those who were not vaccinated, even if they come in for a kidney stone or a surgery. All children under 12 are unvaccinated and would thus be tested, yet they are the most unlikely to be in the hospital because of COVID. Given the surge in RSV sending them to the hospital, it is nearly impossible that a significant number of the documented "pediatric COVID hospitalizations" aren't completely bogus.

In general, a study published in the Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics found, "Nearly one-half of the infected children had coinfection with other common respiratory pathogens." One can then surmise that in an area of prolific spread of COVID but also high rates of RSV, those numbers of co-infection will be even higher. But in the case of children, the reason they are seriously ill is almost certainly not COVID, but RSV, for the same reason why RSV is surging so much out of season.

The NPR affiliate in Oklahoma recently reported on the surge in pediatric RSV hospitalizations in the state and quoted Dr. Steven Nye, the pediatrics department chair at Integris Health in Oklahoma City, as to the theory behind the unnatural surge.

"Kids and babies who really, if they were born during COVID, haven't been exposed to any viral illnesses throughout their entire life," he said. "And now suddenly they're thrown into, you know, it's like when a kid first starts daycare, they're sick every other week."

Dr. Derek Jones at Family Medicine Center in Huntington, West Virginia, has seen a similar trend with the uptick in RSV hospitalizations in his area. "Where kids had not been exposed to their normal viral load that they are typically exposed to throughout the year, once they got back together and people started to be exposed to these viruses again, we've seen a huge increase," he said. "The kids are sicker than usual because their immune systems hadn't got the little exposures that tweak their antibodies throughout the year, so these kids are quite sick when they're catching RSV."

"These kids have been so well-protected, they haven't been exposed," said Dr. Erin Hauck, the vice chief of Our Lady of the Lake's pediatrics division, about the uptick in RSV cases in Louisiana hospitals.

Dr. David Kimberlin, co-director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told NBC that the RSV wave in Alabama has "exceeded our worst winters in terms of RSV hospitalization."

Dr. Roberto Ayers, a pulmonologist in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, observed that "fifty percent of all tested babies that have symptoms are positive for RSV." "We usually start the season at 10 percent and we keep it open at 10 percent; we are at 50 percent like if we're in the middle of January or February," said Ayers. "It's really bad."

The latest CDC surveillance data on COVID hospitalizations seem to harmonize with the theory that they are counting RSV admissions as COVID.

As you can see, while the pediatric hospitalizations have gone up, they are still below the winter levels, and nobody suggested back then that kids were flooding the hospital with illness. However, notice that the 0-4 cohort spiked relatively quicker than the 5-17 cohort. That is what we would expect to see if RSV, not COVID, is the main driver of the hospitalizations.

Thus, the "experts" rejected God's gift of partial immunity from COVID, itself brought on by early childhood exposure to viruses, and turned the kids into bubble children who are now vulnerable to viruses we've long lived with. Then, they have the temerity to ascribe those hospitalizations to COVID – not their own odious response – and use it as a pretext to further isolate kids. Rinse and repeat the cycle of immunocompromised hell.

There's a reason why "Bubble Boy" is a fictional movie, not a way of life.

Chinese scientists deleted key data that could help identify origins of COVID-19, study claims



Chinese researchers appear to have deleted important data from a global database operated by the National Institutes of Health that could provide key insights into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, a preprint study claims.

An American scientist recovered the deleted data from cloud storage and published his analysis Tuesday. The paper, "Recovery of deleted deep sequencing data sheds more light on the early Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 epidemic," suggests that early virus samples from the Wuhan seafood market that until now have been the focus of most studies on the origins of the pandemic "are not fully representative of the viruses actually present in Wuhan at that time."

The paper is not yet peer-reviewed, and its findings should not yet be considered conclusive. The recovered virus samples do not support either the "lab leak" hypothesis or the "natural origins" hypothesis of the origins of SARS-CoV-2, according to scientists who have examined the paper. But these scientists say it does suggest the virus was spreading in Wuhan earlier than the Chinese government claimed, and the paper's author, Dr. Jesse Bloom, says his findings should reinforce skepticism that China has fully shared all relevant data on COVID-19.

Bloom, an influenza virus expert at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, also says his study should be a cause for hope that scientists can recover additional information about the early spread of SARS-CoV-2 without an international investigation.

In the course of his research into SARS-CoV-2, Bloom read a paper that analyzed data from a project by Wuhan University that sequenced 45 positive coronavirus cases from January and early February 2020. The Chinese study, which developed an improved technique to test for and diagnose COVID-19 cases, was peer-reviewed and published in June 2020.

The SARS-CoV-2 sequences obtained by the Chinese researchers were uploaded to the NIH's Sequence Read Archive (SRA), a database for storing what are essentially maps of how viruses are built. These sequences can help scientists study how a virus originated and evolved over time, and such study may lead to knowledge that can prevent the next pandemic.

But when Bloom went to the SRA to examine the Chinese sequences, he found the data had been deleted. He explained in his paper that the SRA "is designed as a permanent archive of deep sequencing data." The only circumstances under which data can be removed is if the original researchers make an email request to have it deleted, provide reasons for doing so, and have that request approved by SRA staff.

A spokesperson for the NIH told the Telegraph that the NIH had "reviewed the submitting investigator's request to withdraw the data" in June 2020 and subsequently removed it.

"The requestor indicated the sequence information had been updated, was being submitted to another database, and wanted the data removed from SRA to avoid version control issues," the spokesperson said. "Submitting investigators hold the rights to their data and can request withdrawal of the data."

Bloom attempted to contact the Wuhan University researchers asking why they requested the data be deleted but did not receive a response. He noted in his paper that "there is no plausible scientific reason for the deletion" and suggested "it therefore seems likely the sequences were deleted to obscure their existence."

Fortunately, he was able to recover some of the data from the Google Cloud, obtaining 34 early positive COVID-19 samples, and he was able to reconstruct partial viral sequences from 13 of them.

In a Twitter thread about his paper, Bloom explained why these sequences are crucial for understanding the origins of the virus.

"Although events that led to emergence of #SARSCoV2 in Wuhan are unclear (zoonosis vs lab accident), everyone agrees deep ancestors are coronaviruses from bats," Bloom said.

"Therefore, we'd expect the first #SARSCoV2 sequences would be more similar to bat coronaviruses, and as #SARSCoV2 continued to evolve it would become more divergent from these ancestors. But that is *not* the case!" he continued.

"Instead, early Huanan Seafood Market #SARSCoV2 viruses are more different from bat coronaviruses than #SARSCoV2 viruses collected later in China and even other countries."

Therefore, we’d expect the first #SARSCoV2 sequences would be more similar to bat coronaviruses, and as #SARSCoV2 c… https://t.co/RlEOfs6Rcx

— Bloom Lab (@jbloom_lab) 1624396159.0

The conundrum is easily seen by plotting the relative differences from the bat coronavirus RaTG13 outgroup versus c… https://t.co/RWXJMotiIx

— Bloom Lab (@jbloom_lab) 1624396160.0

These findings suggest that the first virus samples from Huanan Seafood Market, originally suspected by scientists to be the source of viral outbreak, were not the earliest evolutions of the virus. That would mean SARS-CoV-2 was circulating before China reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case on Dec. 8, 2019, and did not necessarily originate in the wet market.

Reacting to this new information, University of California, Berkeley, Professor Rasmus Neilsen, a genomics expert, said the findings "are the most important data that we have received regarding the origins of Covid-19 for more than a year."

Bloom said his work has several important implications.

"First, [the] fact this dataset was deleted should make us skeptical that all other relevant early Wuhan sequences have been shared," he tweeted, noting that China ordered many labs to destroy early samples of the virus.

"Sequence sharing could be further limited by fact that scientists in China are under an order from the State Council requiring central approval of all publications," he added.

Sequence sharing could be further limited by fact that scientists in China are under an order from the State Counci… https://t.co/hEYXGwamoy

— Bloom Lab (@jbloom_lab) 1624396163.0

The second major implication of this work is that "it may be possible to obtain additional information about early spread of #SARSCoV2 in Wuhan even if efforts for more on-the-ground investigations are stymied."

Bloom explained in his paper that "it should be immediately possible for the NIH to determine the date and purported reason for deletion of the data set analyzed here, since the only way sequences can be deleted from the SRA is by an e-mail request to SRA staff." He also suggested that SRA email records should be reviewed to determine if there were any more requests to delete early SARS-CoV-2 sequences from the database.

"Importantly, SRA deletions do not imply any malfeasance: there are legitimate reasons for removing sequencing runs, and the SRA houses >13-million runs making it infeasible for its staff to validate the rationale for all requests," Bloom said. "However, the current study suggests that at least in one case, the trusting structures of science have been abused to obscure sequences relevant to the early spread ofSARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan.

"A careful re-evaluation of other archived forms of scientific communication, reporting, and data could shed additional light on the early emergence of the virus."

CDC: 6% of coronavirus deaths were solely from COVID-19



The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published a report stating that just 6% of COVID-19 deaths listed the only cause of death as coronavirus and no other comorbidities.

"For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death," the CDC website reads.

Phil Kerpen, president of American Commitment, noticed the important information on the CDC's website on Aug. 6.

CDC: "For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition… https://t.co/webkpgY9s0
— Phil Kerpen (@Phil Kerpen)1596739458.0

Based on the CDC's data, 94% of people have died with coronavirus, along with one or more other underlying health issues. The CDC's Aug. 28 update stated that there were 167,558 COVID-19 total deaths, which means 10,053 died solely of coronavirus alone with no other health conditions.

The CDC's figures are derived from provisional death counts, which are based on death certificate data received and coded by the National Center for Health Statistics.

"Provisional death counts deliver the most complete and accurate picture of lives lost to COVID-19," the CDC states. "They are based on death certificates, which are the most reliable source of data and contain information not available anywhere else, including comorbid conditions, race and ethnicity, and place of death."

The CDC listed the following as the top underlying medical conditions linked to coronavirus deaths:

  • Influenza and pneumonia
  • Respiratory failure
  • Hypertensive disease
  • Diabetes
  • Vascular and unspecified dementia
  • Cardiac Arrest
  • Heart failure
  • Renal failure
  • Intentional and unintentional injury, poisoning and other adverse events
  • Other medical conditions

Dr. David B Samadi MD, urologic oncology expert and robotic surgeon, commented on the CDC news.

"As a men's health expert, many men have been affected by COVID-19," he wrote on Twitter. "The CDC today revealed that only 6% of COVID deaths were in patients without existing comorbidities. 94% of the deaths were in cases with pre-existing conditions. This affects the entire public."

Former New York Times investigative reporter Alex Berenson wrote on Twitter:

A lot of people are jumping on the @cdcgov statement just 6% of US #Covid deaths list #Covid alone as the cause. But to use that figure to claim 'COVID ONLY KILLED 9,000 AMERICANS' is wrong. Other causes include conditions like pneumonia, which can clearly be Covid-related. A better way to use the data may be to TAKE OUT causes clearly unrelated to #sarscov2. I'd include Alzheimer's, sepsis, dementia, cancer, and unintentional injury (Let's be conservative and leave off kidney failure, diabetes, obesity, and strokes). The other advantage of leaving off those conditions is that there is significant overlap in, say, diabetes and obesity (and the CDC reports the average COVID death certificate included 2.6 other conditions). That's less likely for the conditions I included. So, okay, the five conditions on my list were on about 50,000 certificates (assuming no double counting). The accidental deaths and poisonings alone were 5,000. Those deaths - at a minimum - are much more likely to fall in the WITH rather than FROM #Covid category. It would also be nice if @cdcgov offered more specific information about the 77,000 deaths that had other 'unspecified' conditions listed. But this is a start, at least - and it's in keeping with the other steps the CDC has taken recently.

North Carolina Teachers’ Union Demands Benefits For Illegal Immigrants Before Returning To School

A teachers’ union in North Carolina is demanding sweeping benefits for illegal immigrants to lower COVID-19 cases and reopen schools. In a recent statement denouncing the school district’s reopening plan, the Durham Association of Educators (DAE) called for universal healthcare, as well as guaranteed income regardless of a person’s immigration status. After claiming “Trump, DeVos, and Berger […]

A teachers’ union in North Carolina is demanding sweeping benefits for illegal immigrants to lower COVID-19 cases and reopen schools.

In a recent statement denouncing the school district’s reopening plan, the Durham Association of Educators (DAE) called for universal healthcare, as well as guaranteed income regardless of a person’s immigration status.

After claiming “Trump, DeVos, and Berger want schools to open because they care about protecting wealth and big business,” the union’s statement continued, “There are concrete policies that have permitted other countries to flatten the curve and return to public life: moratoriums on rent and mortgage, universal health care, direct income support regardless of immigration status.”

“We must fight together, collectively, for changes that will permit our communities to thrive during this pandemic and beyond,” the statement added before linking to a petition.

Many teachers have balked at Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s plan to reopen schools in mid-August, for which reason Durham Public Schools voted unanimously to postpone in-person instruction, instead holding virtual classes for at least the first nine weeks of the school year.

DAE is not the first to use the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to implement far Left policy goals. Earlier this week, the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) — a 35,000-member union in the Los Angeles Unified School District — stipulated that the district cannot reopen until charter schools are closed, the local police are defunded, the wealthy are taxed more, there is “Medicare-for-All,” and the district is bailed out by the federal government.

“It is time to take a stand against Trump’s dangerous, anti-science agenda that puts the lives of our members, our students, and our families at risk, UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said. “We all want to physically open schools and be back with our students, but lives hang in the balance. Safety has to be the priority. We need to get this right for our communities.”

In New Jersey, the state teachers’ union listed among their “acceptable standards for a return to in-person instruction” both weekly COVID-19 tests for all students and mandatory door-to-door mask wearing. “Consequences for refusal to wear the required mask shall be clearly delineated in board policy and in the student/parent handbook, and shall include consequences up to and including suspension,” the union said.

Insanity in New Jersey: the @njea – the state teachers union – plans to demand #SARSCoV2 tests for all students before they return to school, WEEKLY tests, and DOOR-TO-DOOR mandatory masks for all students. pic.twitter.com/1tb112jGNG

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) July 13, 2020

President Donald Trump met with pushback from many teachers’ unions earlier this month when he threatened to yank federal funding from schools that do not reopen in the fall. On July 8, Trump tweeted, “In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS. The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!”

In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS. The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2020

The American Academy of Pediatrics stressed the importance of in-person schooling for children in a lengthy statement released last month. “[T]he AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school,” the statement read in part. “The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020.”

The AAP released another statement on July 10 that clarified their previous one, saying in part:

Returning to school is important for the healthy development and well-being of children, but we must pursue re-opening in a way that is safe for all students, teachers and staff. Science should drive decision-making on safely reopening schools. Public health agencies must make recommendations based on evidence, not politics. We should leave it to health experts to tell us when the time is best to open up school buildings, and listen to educators and administrators to shape how we do it.

RELATED: Teachers Union Teams With Black Lives Matter To Organize Students Against School Police

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