Pandemic actions besides vaccination. We have an opportunity for a differential advantage over homophobes. Updated 1,2.
As a retired Principal Engineer and a regular reader of the scientific press with an interest in biology and focused on pandemic preparedness, I want to share opportunities.
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Background on pandemic prepardness and differential advantages over homophobes.
In the past I have discussed differenial advanages over homophobes in regards to vaccination. We get vaccinated and stay healthy and the homophobes don’t and get sick. I put a link to the post about Differential advantages over homophobes towards the end of this post.
However, we might not get a vaccine in the future.
The Trump administration has halted the contract for a Bird flu vaccine wih Moderna for a review.
The Hill, Feb. 27, 2025, “HHS weighs rescinding Moderna bird flu vaccine contract.”
Will we have updated flu shots?
ArsTechnica, Feb. 21, 2025, “RFK Jr. promptly cancels vaccine advisory meeting, pulls flu shot campaign.”
Demographically, deaths due to flu are older people likely to be members of homophobic religions.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-cancels-flu-vaccine-meeting/
The development of an oral Covid vaccine is now halted for review.
https://vaxart.com/portfolio-item/covid19/
Fox News, Feb. 25, 2025, “Multimillion-dollar Biden-era COVID-19 vax project halted by Trump’s HHS.”
Kennedy issued a 90-day stop-work order on Friday related to the HHS contract with American biotech company Vaxart Inc., which is working to develop a new COVID-19 vaccine that can be taken orally. The stop-work order comes as 10,000 individuals were slated to begin clinical trials on Monday.
The project is paused and not terminated.
"While it is crucial that the Department [of] Health and Human Services (HHS) support pandemic preparedness, four years of the Biden administration’s failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production, including Vaxart’s," Kennedy said in comments provided to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/multimillion-dollar-biden-era-covid-vax-project-halted-trumps-hhs
The mortality rate for covid goes up with age as also the likelihood that a person is a member of a homphobic religion.
Also, the numbers of those unvaccinated might increase which would make pandemics more probable.
The key word is “might,” but Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a known anti-vaccine track record and has said that he will be reviewing childhood vaccination schedules.
The thing is, getting vaccination might still be permitted, but without government guidelines supporting it, insurance might not pay for it, some parents might not be able to afford vaccination. Without a federal requirement, a state might ban a vaccine or even make it illegal to try to leave the state to get a vaccination.
UPDATE2: The Hill, March 2, 2025, “RFK Jr says Texas measles outbreak a ‘call to action’.”
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, said the decision to vaccinate is “personal” but defended the efficacy of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, saying it is “crucial to avoiding potentially deadly disease.”
“The decision to vaccinate is a personal one,” he continued. “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”
Kennedy, in the op-ed, said healthcare providers, community leaders, and policymakers “have a shared responsibility to protect public health,” adding, “This includes ensuring that accurate information about vaccine safety and efficacy is disseminated.”
The Democrats have been hoping to make an issue of the measles outbreak and RFK Jr.s known anti-vaxxer views, but RFK Jr. has decided to fully support getting vaccinated and urge people to get vaccinated.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5172168-rfk-jr-says-texas-measles-outbreak-a-call-to-action/
The Hill, Feb. 19, 2025, “RFK Jr. eyes childhood vaccine schedule review, says ‘nothing off limits’ in HHS meeting.”
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5153260-new-commission-maha-childhood-vaccine-schedule/
KERA, Feb. 15, 2025, “How changes to a CDC vaccine panel under Kennedy could reshape policy.
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/15/nx-s1-5293507/cdc-rfk-vaccine-advice
Besides vaccination, what can we do? There are many things we can do.
Not only are there many things we can do, these are likely things that homophobes will refuse to do. We saw how during Covid pandemic homophobic Christians not only refused to get vaccinated, they refused to follow safety protocols.
This is an opportunity over homophobic Christians. we reduce risk and they refuse to do so. We don’t get sick, they do. They discredit themselves.
You are not obligated to give homophobes medical advice.
What you can do. (This will be updated).
Some of these will be necessary for one diseases, but not another. This list is for all disease risks.
[1] Wash your hands frequently and always before eating. With soap of course. Count to 20 when washing your hands. The primary way people get flu is through ingesttion. There is virus on their hands which gets on their food and they swallow it. For various diseases there might be different risks of you getting it in your nose or eye or some other muscous membrane. A lot of times there is a break in the skin since an itch was scratched, or an acne burst, or a shaving cut or a small cut from handling things.
Wash your hands before using the bathroom. If you accidently cut yourself wash the cut thoroughly. Don’t suck your cut finger.
Wash your hands before preparing food. Think about what you handle and whether your hands have been washed.
During the pandemic we would also wash our hands and face immediately when entering the house.
[2] Wear a mask, but learn to take it off carefully. You don’t want to shake it loosen a pathogen and inhale or ingest it. After taking a mask off, wash your hands. Lots of diseases are airborne by people coughing.
Make sure you already have a supply. When people start realizing they need to wear a mask, likely the stores will be out. Know the difference between ordinary masks and N95 masks.
[3] Wipe down with Isopropyl Alcohol or bleach surfaces you frequently touch. Virus might be left on a surface, and you might accidently pick it up and then touch your eye or nose or eat something and then get the disease. These two liquids will be entirely leathal to microorganisms. You will need to have IPA alcohol since not all surfaces can be cleaned with bleach without damaging them.
During the height of the pandemic, I wiped down the following with Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA).
Steering wheel.
Car door handle.
Door knobs in and out of the house.
Handles to the refrigerator and freezer.
Handles on the sinks in the bathrooms and kitchen.
Frequently used light switches.
I use lens wipes for my glasses fairly frequently already. These are the little wipes with cleaning solution. I use Zeiss Lens Wipes. Make sure you stock up. I don’t know how anti-septic they are, but wiping your glasses will certainly reduce the risk of getting something from them. Your eye glasses can be damaged by things not designed for glasses.
For cell phones, remote controls, car keys, be careful what you use. You don’t want to get the surfaces attacked and have a fogged up appearance. I don’t have a recommendation at this time, but I will likely use lens wipes.
For wallets, house keys, credit cards, I don’t have a recommendation at this time.
During the covid pandemic, the stores were always out of alcohol and bleach.
If you stockpile alcohol you need to make sure it is safely stored and not a fire hazard.
[4] Gloves. Nitrile is good. Lots of people have allergies to natural latex rubber gloves. When you take them off, be very careful. Remove them slowly so you don’t end up throwing pathogens into the air. Wash your hands afterwards.
These sell out when there is a need seen for them. Make sure that you have them in stock.
[5] Wash fruits and vegetables and other things you plan to eat raw.
If the situation gets really extreme, you might want to wipe down all purchases.
[6] Avoid others. When going to the store, go when it isn’t crowded. Consider whether you can order it online or have to visit the store. Avoid unnessary shopping. Consolidate shopping to one visit.
During the pandemic, I would go to the grocery store, but get 3 weeks of groceries at a time to cut down visits. At one point I didn’t go shopping for 4 weeks for groceries.
At work you might bring your lunch and coffee in a thermos and generally avoid others.
[7] Remove your shoes immediately when you get home before you wash your hands. You are likely tracking in stuff into the house. Wipe your feet on the doormat before entering the house.
[8] Avoid anti-vaxxers and anti-science people. They are persons who are more likely to get the disease and they can pass it along to you.
Gay anti-vaxxers are persons who didn’t get vaccinated for Hepititus A & B, mpox, HPV, menningitus and are more likely to get you sick with an STD anyways even without a pandemic.
[9] Change clothes when you get home. Your clothes might contaminated. If it gets to extremes, you need to change clothes when you get home.
[10] Mop the floor, don’t sweep. Or when sweeping wear a face mask. You have been likely tracking stuff into the house, and mopping with a soap solution kills microorganisms, whereas sweeping stirs them up into the air. You can’t see it, but it is happening.
[11] Avoid touching your face. Use tissues instead. Your nose itches and your finger accidentally puts pathogens on a muscus membrane, or your break the skin with your contaminated figuter. Or the spot you itch is contaminated and it is one your fingers know.
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I don’t want to put too much into this guide, because I am concerned that if it is too much, it won’t be done. Also, it is an issue of risk reduction versus effort.
You could shower when you got home in case some virus was in your hair or on your skin someplace. You could stop seeing friends, etc. So again, it is risk versus effort.
But if it is beginning to look like an old Vincent Price movie, “Last Man on Earth,” 1964, you will likely want to increase your efforts. Don’t laugh, if it is somehing like Marburg or Ebola, it could be like a pandemic sci-fi movie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Man_on_Earth_(1964_film)
Junk that doesn’t work.
Deep UV lamps are often not deep uv. Lots of reportts of fraud.
Deep UV hand held wands even if they are deep UV don’t have the strength to really disinfect. If the deep UV is the right band spectrum and intense enough, you will smell electrical smell.
If you do get a real Deep UV sterilizing system, know that it is hazardous. When they use one, there is a timer and you leave the room while it is working and you wait a little before re-entry. Skin needs to be covered and avoid exposure to the eyes. Probably it is wearing goggles.
Measles Parties: Don’t do that.
Sick person in your house.
You will need to keep the person isolated away from everyone else. Handle anything they have touched with extreme care and gloves. Wear a mask. Perhaps a HEPA filter running might be good if they are coughing. I don’t know though. I will have to read up on this.
