Calling this the Russian Edition because the inspiration for this piece was based on Yaroslav Gunin, The Associated Press, article in the Times Free Press this morning. This is a plug to read your local, national, and international news papers if available and inspiration can come from anywhere. Also imagine this quote from President Putin in the worst Russian accent,

I can’t understand what’s going on, President Vladimir Putin said, a rare admission of bewilderment from the steely leader. We have a reliable and efficient vaccine. The vaccine really reduces the risks of illness, grave complications and death

from Times Free Press, Oct 23, 2021 Yaroslav Gunin

or you can hear it when I talk about this same issue in my Podcast, @tnfroisreading, tomorrow. And he is expressing this utter befuddlement due to the fact that Sputnik V, a reference to the Soviet Era Space race when the then Soviet Union was a closed society bereft with suspicion and disappearances. They created a vaccine first to market and did nothing to allay the suspicions of the society in general who thought the vaccine was on the market before full safety trials could be completed. Now as their infectious disease facilities and ICUs are filling with unvaccinated patients, he still can’t understand his government’s own complicity in the low Russian vaccination rate. And then using fake news to slam Western made vaccines and now using fake news to slam the European Medicines Agency report inaccuracy in the validity and safety of the vaccine when you have a history of falsification and subterfuge and harbor a large ring of state supported hackers and thieves.

Again, if your vaccine is safe, it should stand up to scrutiny from the scientific community at large, because more than the increasing the international prestige of your government you should want to promote a vaccine to keep your citizens safe. It should not be at the expense of the efficacy of other countries produced vaccines either. Also don’t get it twisted, do I think the European and US agencies are doing the most with sowing suspicion of Chinese and Russian produced Vaccines, yes I do. I think the World Health Organization should be more proactive and non-political in their aggregation and promotion of good science and good data. Transparency and openness and cutting the misinformation that has proliferated online is key to increasing vaccination rates. But you can’t use misinformation to discredit the Western vaccines or treatment.

The bottom line is get the shot. Tennessee is no longer number 1 in new COVID cases and in COVID deaths per capita, but we still have a high rate of deaths in our school systems even as the GOP legislature debates outlawing mask and vaccine mandates. To me it’s simple, get the safest and widely available shot in your arm, ASAP.