November 24, 2021
COVID: A New State Religion?
By
Tim O’Brien
What started as a virus quickly became epidemic and then a global pandemic. The spread of a contagion laid the groundwork for what has become an industry, and it’s now morphing into a religious ideology with all of the familiar trappings.
In just the third quarter of 2021, Pfizer reported its
sales rose to $24.1 billion, up 134 percent from a year ago, thanks in large part to its COVID vaccine. The company said it anticipates sales of COVID vaccine to top $36 billion in 2021 and $29 billion in 2022.
For its part, Moderna reports that it
anticipates vaccine sales of $17 billion in 2021, and an increase to $22 billion in 2022.
Johnson & Johnson has stated that its COVID vaccine
sales will come in around $2.5 billion for 2021.
That’s a total of $55.5 billion in vaccine sales for 2021 just from the three biggest providers of vaccine in the U.S. And this does not include a wide range of products, services, and industries that have cropped up to service the nation’s and the world’s COVID needs.
From makers of masks, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer and ventilators, to major pharmacy companies paid millions to distribute vaccines, COVID has become a major industry.
Making an Industrial and Power Complex
Politicians and bureaucrats at the local, state, and federal level have seized on the COVID crisis to achieve unprecedented levels of power through vaccine mandates, lockdowns, restrictions, and of course, overnight changes to election procedures.
Then, there is the public health sector. These are its glory days. Epidemiologists and other public health figures, who used to have to explain what they do for a living to their closest friends at cocktail parties, now don’t have to do that. They can simply tell friends and family to look for them on the evening news. Yes, they may have gotten into the field for altruistic reasons, but if you don’t think they are relishing the attention, you’re deluding yourself.
COVID is a new field of study, complete with federal grant moneys to analyze every aspect of COVID, so long as the research does not detract from the approved narrative.
Allowing the pandemic to run its course through herd immunity, and oftentimes inexpensive and widely accessible treatments no longer appears to be an option, if it ever was. Remember, “15 days to slow the spread?”
COVID is an industry. It’s here and it’s not budging. But it’s more than that. It’s also an ideology with all of the accoutrements of an established religion.