Now reports have surfaced of a workers' dormitory where 50% of the residents are un-vaccinated. This seems to suggest returning workers from India were allowed entry without vaccination papers. Government dumps aid packages on dormitory operators but elite business owners do nothing to ensure their workers are protected. One wonders what the status is like in the rest of the worker dormitories.
The reality is the majority are those unvaxx are elderlies and/or with comorbidities. Let's assume 3% are healthy, split between the young and elderlies. Let's say 1.5% are the healthy unvax. It's fair to assume that 4.5% would be more house-bound. The government want us to believe the 1.5% is responsible for the rise in cases, with no data to show who the vaxx'd caught the virus from. The vaxx'd are still catching and spreading the virus, but the success of the vaccination is now parlayed in the evidence that the majority of those in ICU are the unvaxx. It is however, never explained that the majority of the unvaxx in ICU are those with comorbidities or elderlies.
The un-vaxx have been barred from malls and restaurants and food outlets. Facebook commenter, Goh Meng Seng, rightly pointed out 3 weeks have now passed with the segregation regulations. The infection rate should have decreased, but it has'nt.
Very unfortunately, we have come to a stage where trust is dwindling. Whilst the government thrusts their data at our faces to justify the segregation policies, and now impose a prima facie mandatory vaccination by requesting employers to terminate the unvaxx if it impedes the efficiency of their operation. In his FB couple of days ago, opposition member Jamus Lim said "I'm glad that the government has taken steps to ensure that there is'nt inadvertent discrimination of individuals that are unable to choose...." I'm afraid the young man is wrong. Vaccine tyranny is already here.
The case for Ivermectin:
Data is extremely useful, sparsing the numbers is tricky and it is easy to be biased to suit a narrative. But here's some data that is so simple to understand, yet WHO and all governments, including Singapore, simply refuse to acknowledge.
When Japan announced they will use Ivermectin, I followed their development. By early this month, Japan had licked the problem.
Straits Times never once mentioned Ivermectin in the cocktail of drugs being used by Indonesia. It's the jumbo elephant in the room our servile press is forbidden to comment on. There has been no follow up report in Straits Times or other mainstream media, on the success of the Indonesian initiative.
In it's fact-check article 24 Oct 2021, the government said "It is not an anti-viral medicine and is not approved by HSA for preventing or treating COVID-19. To date, there is no conclusive scientific evidence from rigorously conducted large-scale randomised controlled trials to prove that ivermectin is effective against COVID-19." This is the dead-pan statement that all governments in the world seem to play like an orchestra.
But our government is wrong. Read this before it is taken down.
"Large-scale study shows oral hydroxychloroquine and povidone-iodine throat spray can reduce spread of covid-19 in high transmission settings" ..... Institute Journal Of Infectious DiseaseAnd this study was done by none other than our very own NUH ! In April 2020, National University of Health conducted a large-scale randomised controlled trial among healthy migrant workers in Singapore to see if a preventive regimen can be effective in reducing COVID-19 transmission. The study was published in the Institute Journal of Infectious Disease. Hydroxychloroquine, Povidone-Iodine, Vit C, Zinc and Ivermectin were tested. The study suggested hydroxychloroquine has efficacy in treating covid19, in contrast with various prior studies. It also suggested Povidone-Iodine has efficacy as topical therapy in nasal spray. It also confirmed Vit C, zinc and Ivermectin has some similar low level of efficacy.
It should be noted that in the NUH study, Ivermectin was applied in only one single dose. Compared various doctors who reported efficacy rates of 70%-80% for Ivermectin, the drug was very effective when used in several doses (Uttar Pradsh used a 5-day course), in combination with other drugs such as N-pak, Vit C, zinc, glutathione, Z-pak, prednisone, monoclonal antibodies etc and given in the early stage. NUH recognised this when they concluded "It remains uncertain whether a larger sample size in the zinc/vitamin C combination arm could alter this conclusion and whether the results would differ had higher and repeated doses of Ivermectin been studied."
The high vaccination-high cases enigma:
With no gut feel to change strategies, it seems the gameplan is to double down on 100% vaccination, which is unattainable. With about 83% vaccinated, Singapore is already in the top 3 countries in the world. The pursuit of marginal gains in the vaxx numbers is unlikely to bring new cases down due to (1) it is already proven vaxx'd are themselves carriers and spreaders and (2) countries with high vaccination rates are seeing high new cases.
I appreciate the authorities came down hard on the website 'Truth Warriors" for saying high vaxx rate = high cases as misinformation. However my 'Covid-safe country index update 27 Oct" seems to indicate the co-relationship exists. I concede co-relationship does not necessary equate causation, but the evidence is in the charts. Going into September with a high vaccination rate, I was fearful Singapore will be a replay of Israel, which was exactly what happened.
The experience of Israel and Singapore is also now playing out in Ireland. It is somewhat similar to Singapore with population of 5m, fully vaccinated is 75% and for adults it is 92% (Singapore is 5.7m, 83%, 94%). Since July, the new cases in Ireland have risen dramatically. It is reaching 3,000 cases per day now. No where is this more dramatic than in the city of Waterford which has a vaccination rate of 99.7% for adults and yet it is the city with the highest daily new cases.
The case for early treatment and prophylactic protocol :
Proof that early treatment with some prophylactic therapies works well is also fully supported by the experience of the state of Florida in US. The Republican run state is not anti-vax. It practices personal choice and provides free vaccination to those who want it. In the middle of the year, the state experienced a surge in cases, which they suspected was due to the influx of illegal immigrants from the south. Florida's numbers soared and Democrats gloated. The Governor opened special centres to provide prophylactic therapies that included the monoclonal antibody Regeneron. As their numbers came under control again, the Biden administration denied the state access to the large quantity of Regeneron. It is a political move to dampen the success of any initiative that is not pro-vaccine. Federal government would prefer to let Floridans die. Regeneron is under a Federal acquisition contract so Florida cannot buy directly. In reaction to this denial of supply, the state switched brand and purchased Sotrovimab from GlaxoSmithKline. Today, Florida has the lowest new cases in the whole of US, despite it having no lockdowns and low vaccination rates.
What are our neighbours doing? Indonesia took a bold calculated move to use Ivermectin and solved their problem. Malaysia has taken a deep dive to study Ivermectin before making a decision. In Philippines, Doctor Allan Landrito purchased the compounds and produced his own Ivermectin which he said he has sold to and treated thousands. He has since stopped distribution as authorities cautioned breach of laws (and rightfully so). President Duterte has recently signed an order that allowed physicians to treat their patients they deem best, including the use of Ivermectin. And Duterte is right. The manner of medical treatment is the sole prerogative of the attending physician who understands what's best for his patient. It used to be this way until the pandemic came along and all doctors are bound by a prescription-fits-all recommended by regulators who know nothing about the patients.
In my earlier blog "Open Letter To MTF To Adopt The Uttar Pradesh Model To Stop Pandemic" I suggested adoption of the Uttar Pradesh model of an outreach programme to treat all asymtomatic cases at the early stage using a prophylactic protocol that includes Ivermectin and other drugs. A proactive rather than a reactive programme, is the best way to arrest the infection.
I am not unforgiving of errors. A pandemic is a very difficult situation where policy decisions try to balance social restrictions and economic activities. Achievements come out of trials and errors. However, we seem to have been inflicted with the same blows twice over. When the virus arrived, Singapore was late in closing down borders, and we had the dormitories as super spreaders, all these in 2020. Now with the Delta variant thriving, we are opening borders, and here we are again, with dormitory breakouts in 2021.
Given the evidence, the crux of the matter currently is not a matter of percentage of vaxx'd or unvaxx. But Singapore seems hellbent on pursuing 100% vaccination as the solution. We all know what Einstien said about doing the same things over and over again.
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