Just In Time For The Mid-Terms: Measles!
If you thought the hysteria, evasion and lies about public health ended with the covid pandemic, think again.
Looks like the left is at it again. They’re trying to gin up a fear of measles just in time for the mid-terms.
Earlier this week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro - who has naked presidential aspirations - and Pennsylvania Health Secretary Debra Bogen staged an emergency press conference where they dramatically announced that there had been two “measles-related” deaths in Lancaster County. The first in 35 years.
This is “devastating!” Bogen said.
Both victims were UNVACCINATED Shapiro announced, immediately blaming the Trump administration for the deaths.
When pressed for details on the ages and medical conditions of the dead people, Shapiro and his henchwoman clammed up, citing HIPAA.
Odd, the law protecting medical privacy allows the government to reveal the vaccination status of the victims, but nothing else?
And please notice the language they used: “measles-related.”
Sound familiar?
Those of us still suffering from covid PTSD remember how eager public health officials were to drive up the number of covid fatalities by counting those who died WITH covid rather than only counting those who died OF covid.
On Wednesday Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy shot back, pointing out that Pennsylvania officials couldn’t produce evidence of two deaths and were refusing to cooperate with the CDC.
Kennedy said the drop-off in measles vaccinations was due to covid lockdowns and diminished confidence in vaccines after the lies about the covid vax.
On X Kennedy said he spoke with Shapiro and it sounds like the conversation was not useful.
“During our phone conversation, Governor Shapiro also accused me of promoting vaccine misinformation. When I asked him for an example, he was unable to provide one, but this did not deter him from publicly repeating that accusation during his press event.”
“As I told him, HHS does not tolerate misinformation by any employee. I offered to point to hundreds of instances of vaccine misinformation by the Biden administration about which I had never heard him complain,” he added.
According to The Hill, when asked Wednesday about the deaths in Pennsylvania, Kennedy questioned the veracity of the deaths. Lancaster County coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said this week that “no measles deaths were handled by our office,” as LancasterOnline.com reported.
Journalists are proving no more curious about these measles “deaths” than they were about COVID. They simply took notes and spread the measles hysteria.
Someone, please remind members of the media that their job is to ask questions and not simply take dictation from government officials.
However, Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons IS asking the questions the press should be asking. He posted this on X:
Let’s be clear- when the Governor comes into our county and holds a press conference with PA Department of Health and Penn Medicine Lancaster general Health and states there were two “measles-associated deaths” here, with the underlying assertion that the two people died FROM measles, and they are the first deaths from measles in 35 years, and that announcement sets off numerous media reports uncritically repeating that two people died FROM measles in Lancaster County, and Lancaster County elected officials then get questions about this – it is totally fair for me to ask for relevant information on those deaths.
Asking questions is not “pro-measles.”
Asking for information that should have been provided at the press conference is not “anti-science.”
It is simply wanting the whole story for my constituents.
When officials who hold a big press conference and make big headlines – those officials owe us more than the headlines. They owe us the whole truth. They owe us accurate information by which the people of Lancaster County can make decisions about their health and safety.
It has been about 24 hours since the press conference. We do not have any answers. Of course journalists should also be asking these questions rather than uncritically repeating something.
Any deaths from measles are required by law to be reported to the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office. I have spoken at length with both a senior staff member from that office and the Coroner himself. They currently have zero measles deaths in Lancaster County. They have one death of a person who died WITH measles, but not from measles. We do not know if the state is counting that one. Nor do we know anything about the other death that officials reported yesterday…
The law DOES allow release of more information. Demographic information that does not identify the patient may be released.
I reached out to Penn Medicine LGH. No response.
I reached out the Governor’s office. No response.
I talked with our Lancaster County Department of Public Safety Director. He has no additional information from the state.
So as of right now, we have ZERO information that corroborates the idea that there were two measles deaths in Lancaster County. Again, everything stated could be accurate. But no one in authority has been able to say that, nor have they even tried to say it.
To me it is a big deal if the Governor comes in and gives a press conference and then no one can or will identify simple details around what was stated and what then generated major news stories.
Transparency is owed to the people.
It is incumbent on those who held the press conference to clear this up.
Immediately.
The Lancaster county coroner confirmed that a child who tested positive for measles had died, but he died of a ruptured spleen, unrelated to the measles virus.
It’s worth noting that Trump has been in office for 19 months. If unvaccinated kids are in Pennsylvania schools they enrolled long before this administration.
On top of that, Lancaster County, Pa, is home to about 64,000 Amish and Mennonite residents, most of whom shun all vaccines. Shapiro has been accused of going after the community’s businesses and schools, despite their 300-year history of living in that rural county.
Their vaccine hesitancy has nothing to do with Trump, by the way.
