Althouse: "Bieber’s health disclosure prompted a flurry of explainers across the internet, with many news outlets explaining what Ramsay Hunt Syndrome is... It also prompted anti-vaxxers to wildly speculate..."

June 13, 2022

"Bieber’s health disclosure prompted a flurry of explainers across the internet, with many news outlets explaining what Ramsay Hunt Syndrome is... It also prompted anti-vaxxers to wildly speculate..."

"... based on very limited evidence, that Bieber had contracted the virus as a result of getting the Covid-19 vaccine. 'Everybody pretending Justin Bieber isn’t vaccine injured. The denial is way too deep,' reads one tweet with more than 3,400 shares.... TikTok also became a petri dish for such conspiracy-mongering content.... To be clear, there is no evidence that Bieber’s diagnosis is an adverse effect of getting the Covid vaccine, in large part because there is no evidence that he has been vaccinated to begin with... ... Ramsay Hunt is triggered by the varicella-zoster virus [the virus that causes chicken pox and shingles]... At the end of the day, Bieber’s case may be more of an argument for vaccines than against them. There are widely available vaccines for chicken pox and shingles...."

From "Anti-Vaxxers Are Flipping Out Over Justin Bieber’s Facial Paralysis/Scientists haven’t found a definitive link between Covid-19 vaccines and Ramsay Hunt Syndrome — but that’s not stopping people online from making that claim" (Rolling Stone).

32 comments:

gilbar said...: There are widely available vaccines for chicken pox and shingles...."
NONE of which are covid vaccines; 6/13/22, 7:36 PM
Leland said...: To be clear, there is no evidence typically is a tale that there is evidence that is clearly being ignored. I don’t think that is the case here, but then the reporter makes an assumption based on lack of evidence that Bieber may not be vaccinated. That suggests the lack of evidence doesn’t mean an event did not occur. It could mean you have yet to find the evidence.

Still, it would be nice if reporters, particularly entertainment reporters, stuck to reporting on the subject rather than seeking a divisive narrative of society as a whole.; 6/13/22, 7:51 PM
Joe Smith said...: To be fair, the guy has been rumored to have taken more illicit drugs than all of us who have ever read this forum...; 6/13/22, 7:56 PM
Lilly, a dog said...: Is it possible that he is just suffering from Bieber fever?; 6/13/22, 8:00 PM
Michael K said...: The condition looks like a simple Bell's Palsy.; 6/13/22, 8:28 PM
traditionalguy said...: The suspect is not the Covid vaccine, which is by Johnson & Johnson. The mass disaster for young healthy people comes only from the DNA changing shot that calls itself a vaccine but is not one.; 6/13/22, 8:46 PM
Richard Aubrey said...: Scientists have not found a link. Science is full of stuff scientists didn't know until they knew it. Plus stuff they knew that wasn't true.
If you watch any network TV, you'll know that prescription ads include lengthy lists of adverse reactions or side effects, some of which...may be fatal.
Even baby aspirin have warnings.
But not the vaxxes. You don't have to be paranoid to note the difference. Your conclusions may vary but...there's a difference.; 6/13/22, 9:08 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: If the link between the covid19 vax and whatever it is JB has, was real, there would be a lot of people with the same symptoms. People who have taken the covid shot numbers in the hundreds of millions. Just use your common sense.; 6/13/22, 9:56 PM
Rollo said...: Like Mrs. Bieber told him, "Don't make faces like that, Justin, or your face will freeze that way."; 6/13/22, 10:46 PM
n.n said...: the DNA changing shot that calls itself a vaccine but is not one

Non-sterilizing, mutagenic medical treatments with excess adverse events including dysfunctional periods in girls, heart inflammation in boys, and progressive viability across the spectrum.; 6/13/22, 10:52 PM
Yancey Ward said...: This part is basically a lie:

"based on very limited evidence, that Bieber had contracted the virus as a result of getting the Covid-19 vaccine."

No one that I have heard are saying Bieber contracted the shingles virus as a result of being vaccinated. You don't contract the shingles virus- when you get shingles, the virus is simply reemerging from your spinal nerve roots after you contracted the chickenpox virus earlier in life. The claim is that the vaccination causes the reemergence of the latent virus, and this hypothesis isn't impossible or even implausible. Vaccines fuck around with the immune system by design, and it is the immune system that keeps the chickenpox virus at bay most of ones adult life. There is quite a number of reports of shingles following vaccination or boosters. Now, given the large numbers involved, it could all be coincidence, but it isn't an outlandish claim of cause and effect- it is, in fact, perfectly reasonable.; 6/13/22, 11:08 PM
LA_Bob said...: There have been suspicions in many "anti-vxxx" circles the mRNA vaccines are immunosuppressive for several days after they're administered. For example,

https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/stabilising-the-code

One effect of this suppression can be shingles.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8364300/

Since we don't seem to know if Mr Bieber was vaccinated, and if so with which vaccine, it's hard to blame the vaccine for his condition (which is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox and shingles).

My bias would be, it is probably from vaccination.; 6/13/22, 11:25 PM
Gospace said...: Did Justin Bieber get the clot shot? We’re told there’s no evidence.
1. He’s Canadian.
2. Has traveled internationally since the covidiocy began.
Do you require any more evidence?; 6/13/22, 11:38 PM
glacial erratic said...: After the last 6 years I've had to revise my initial filter settings. If the legacy media characterizes something as a "conspiracy theory", I'm more likely to think it is true.

So far it's working.; 6/14/22, 12:16 AM
typingtalker said...: The stupid, it burns.

A phrase used to describe the sensation one feels when exposed to a highly contagious condition rampant in the general public--The Stupid. The Stupid can be readily identified through illogical acts, writings, or profuse verbal diarrhea. Listening to politicians and celebrities increases one's risk for exposure to The Stupid. The exclamation may be accompanied by the overwhelming urge to facepalm.

urban dictionary; 6/14/22, 4:52 AM
Wince said...: It also prompted anti-vaxxers to wildly speculate, based on very limited evidence, that Bieber had contracted the virus as a result of getting the Covid-19 vaccine.

Like many, the article seems to conflate "conspiracy theory" with drawing an inference or merely speculating in a way that is disfavored.

Where is the evidence of an actual conspiracy theory?; 6/14/22, 6:10 AM
Tina Trent said...: I'm pro-vaccine. Until this one. I am now on a much higher dose of blood pressure medicine, as are many of my friends' mothers; my 47 year old gf, thin and active, had a heart attack after her second dose; my chronic yet previously controlled inflammatory condition now requires a neurologist and constant bed rest, 20 hours a day. I was about to begin sawzalling out walls and re-shingling the roof. Some days the inflammation is so bad I can't move. I take naps in the car if I have an engagement.

I used to sleep five hours top a night. Often just three, and I was fine, even as a young child. I was a medaled distance runner. Skilled manual laborer. I now have trouble articulating some sounds in the morning before I practice scales, though so far my brain is firing on all cylinders. All of these conditions manifested very soon after my second shot. Also, my red and white blood cells turned immediately funky, with no clear diagnosis, so I have a blood oncologist, who has no answers. With my regular CBC record, I can see the changes in my blood cells occurred mildly after the first shot and dramatically after the second. I live in doctor's offices. They will, to a person, not say if they were vaccinated. I have four years of these CBCs, one each three months, thanks to needing to regulate my thyroid dosage ( which is fine), no biggie, but they tell a lot.

Look, I'm the person who never missed a flu shot. I worked in public health. I have worked on CDC grants. I'm not an idiot. But Occam's Razor tells me I was OK until the shots and am entirely disabled after them, and nothing else changed. You do the math. No: how about the fucking DHS and CDC do the math. Like we pay them to do. These are subjective observations, but there are occurring only in people whom I know were vaccinated. And I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who used the reporting system for complications. To be civil, I'd say they're overdosing, at least, and not deciding who shouldn't take the shot. By, like, gathering data.

This is definitively a rat-fuck. But Fauci finally gets his Broadway cheers, like he did by accusing innocent scientists during the early days of AIDS. Those scientists still keep AIDS patients alive today, people whom he would have killed.; 6/14/22, 6:45 AM
Lloyd W. Robertson said...: I'll just say it seems kind of remarkable that two people so young can both be so sick: Justin and Hailey. One of them Lyme disease and now a rare complication of chicken pox; the other a mild stroke, after which one hospital failed to find a hole in her heart, another hospital found it. One or both of them has had Covid? Doctors told Hailey both birth control pills and long-distance flights might have contributed to her mild stroke? Do the lives of the rich increase the risk of certain problems?; 6/14/22, 7:13 AM
Critter said...: Yeah I definitely think it's a vaccine injury. And his wife who had a stroke. There been so many injuries now that it is a clear crime against humanity that is becoming so hard to hide that a disease has been invented to explain all the deaths in young people, Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. But at least the Beibers promotion of the vaccine is stupidity instead of maliciousness seeing as they got it themselves.; 6/14/22, 9:10 AM
Anthony said...: Scientists haven’t found a definitive link between masking and Covid-19 transmission rates — but that’s not stopping people online from making that claim.

Hey, this is fun!

Scientists haven’t found a definitive link between social distancing and Covid-19 transmission rates — but that’s not stopping people online from making that claim.

Scientists haven’t found a definitive link between shut-downs and Covid-19 hospitalization and mortality rates — but that’s not stopping people online from making that claim.; 6/14/22, 10:21 AM
walter said...: Blogger Gospace said...
Did Justin Bieber get the clot shot? We’re told there’s no evidence.
1. He’s Canadian.
2. Has traveled internationally since the covidiocy began.
Do you require any more evidence?
--
He also attended events where vax was required.

Tina,
Sounds like your docs won't be filing a VAERS report.
That's part of the problem.
Zucky zapped forums where vax injured could congregate.
My local, jabbed "conservative" talker Jay Weber (WISN) suggested it was the Beebs prior use of...Codeine!...that's responsible. No mention of vaccine or his wife's clot. He's been completely silent on early treatment tyranny (Medical College of Wisconsin a station sponsor) and keeps championing the jabs as Trump's big success.
Jab those infants! Prevent SADS by nipping it in the bud!; 6/14/22, 10:31 AM
Tina Trent said...: Hi Walter. Believe me, I contacted VAERS personally. My doctor... They change with the wind. I'm self-employed. Some are very good, some terrible, But despite suddenly paying triple in premiums above what I paid for years, with a 9K deductible, I have little to no control over whom I see. And I can't always keep my doctors year to year.

When Obamacare are started, I'd had the same doctor for more than two decades. I still pay out of pocket to see him sometimes. The self-employed were brutally screwed by Obamacare. We don't have a lobby.; 6/14/22, 11:01 AM
LA_Bob said...: Tina Trent,

Helluva pair of comments. I hope you recover. I'm sure we can agree you'll never get justice.; 6/14/22, 11:53 AM
Balfegor said...: For the anti-vaxxers in the comments -- I am triple vaccinated and had a hemorrhagic stroke/ICH back in April. Symptoms were very mild -- just a slight speech impediment, and some left hand clumsiness I only noticed when I tried to play the piano to relax a bit and my left hand had forgotten how to play. To my mild irritatation, literally no one around me -- coworkers, friends, family -- had noticed anything off. Based on imaging, though, I seem to have defended a deposition after the stroke, which perhaps gives some idea of how mild the initial symptoms were, so I can't really blame them. Until I tried playing the piano, I thought it was just lack of sleep myself.

That said, I had multiple rebleeds leading to surgery, from which I am now recovering. No cause identified so far -- no tumour, etc., and blood pressure is consistently in the normal range. Leading hypothesis was a cavernous malformation of blood vessels in the brain, but they couldn't confirm through analysis of the blood mass removed during surgery.

Now, the red meat for the anti-vaxxers: a neuroradiologist in the family thought it was possible I had contracted corona unknowingly, but had recovered and tested negative by the time I went to the hospital, and that this had elevated my stroke risk. I doubt this, but it is out there as a hypothesis, and if it could be caused by corona, I suppose it could be caused by the vaccine too (a side effect to the immune system side effects perhaps). Hit after my last VSAFE check-in, though, so it has gone unreported.; 6/14/22, 12:30 PM
Achilles said...: LA_Bob said...

Tina Trent,

Helluva pair of comments. I hope you recover. I'm sure we can agree you'll never get justice.

I doubt we get Justice.

At some point we will have to settle for revenge.; 6/14/22, 12:36 PM
Achilles said...: ""Bieber’s health disclosure prompted a flurry of explainers across the internet, with many news outlets explaining what Ramsay Hunt Syndrome is... It also prompted anti-vaxxers to wildly speculate...""

Let us look at the list of indisputable facts rather than speculate.

1. Censorship.

2. Numerous professional athletes collapsing during sporting events, some dying.

3. Numerous Athletic careers ended by Myocarditis and Periocarditis. Explosions of cases population wide.

4. Drug companies withholding the safety study data.

5. Record Drug Company profits.

6. A 12 Sigma increase in excess deaths reported by insurance companies.

7. The US Government caught funding the development of COVID 19 and lying about it.

8. Changing the definition of a Vaccine to incorporate mRNA treatments.

9. Governments seizing control over citizens lives and implementing solutions that didn't reduce death rates but did give them more power.; 6/14/22, 12:46 PM
LA_Bob said...: Balfegor,

Not sure why you've addressed your comment to the "anti-vaxxers" here. As if we would automatically blame a COVID vaccine for your predicament. Some might, but I certainly wouldn't.

The policy of the United States of America is that everyone should receive a COVID vaccine (preferably an mRNA COVID vaccine) and, when eligible, a booster. Maybe two boosters. It is beyond me why our wise and benevolent government believes an innoculation designed for a specific viral variant (now probably extinct) is useful against the current circulating variants.

It is outrageous to me that the prevalence of reported events post-vaccine has not deterred the government one bit from urging continued vaccination. There doesn't seem to be the least official curiosity what the link might be between these lightly-tested vaccines and possible side effects. The practice has been to deny any link. Damn the rare and "unproven" side effects! Just keep vaccinating! Once, twice, three times a pincushion!. And yet, cases roll on. Once upon a time, like 1976, a much smaller set of side effects ended a mass vaccination campaign.

It is insane both conventional and social media continue to insist the shots are "safe and effective" and effectively treat doubters as fools or traitors spreading mis-, dis-, and mal-information.

Probably no one will ever know why you had a stroke, and I am damn sorry you had one. I hope you fully recover. Still, I find it a little snide to assume that all of us "anti-vaxxers" would automatically tie your fate to the COVID vaccines.; 6/14/22, 1:53 PM
Balfegor said...: Re: LA_Bob:

Thank you!
I address my comment to the antivaxxers because increased risk of stroke is a specific alleged side effect of the mRNA vaccines that many antivaxxers (not here, but elsewhere) have repeatedly claimed, often in response to news that elderly vaccinated individuals have subsequently had strokes and died (e.g. Hank Aaron, Betty White). Even Bieber's wife's stroke seems to have been linked to the corona vaccine in this thread (I think that's what Critter @ 9:10am is saying). The mechanism usually alleged is heightened risk of clotting, though, (i.e. ischemic stroke) rather than hemorrhagic stroke, which is what I had.

All that said, on the scale of strokes (unless it turns out that these have all just been the windup to a massive debilitating stroke yet to come), this has been pretty minor. I'm quite tired all the time (possibly thanks in part to the massive daily dose of anti-seizure medications), but otherwise, I don't have anything to complain about. I do, however, have a better understanding of and sympathy for why so many Americans use the ER as their entry point to the medical system.; 6/14/22, 5:38 PM
walter said...: FLCCC post vax treatment; 6/14/22, 6:51 PM
LA_Bob said...: Balfegor,

I knew there was a reason why I've always enjoyed your commentary. Hope there is no debilitating stroke in your future.; 6/14/22, 7:57 PM
n.n said...: "There are widely available vaccines for chicken pox and shingles...."
NONE of which are covid vaccines

Yes, both vaxxxer and anti-vaxxxer are pejorative labels used with strawmen apologies. The mutagenic medical treatment is non-sterilizing, thus the boosters, thus the spread. The treatment does produce excess adverse events in the short-term, and there is no conventional long-term safety data. The history of vaccines demonstrates their diverse effects and effectiveness in time, place, and cohorts. Not all infections are created equal. Natural immunity has proven to be both more robust and durable.; 6/14/22, 11:51 PM
Tina Trent said...: Hey Achilles, thanks.

Justice is a dish best served cold.; 6/16/22, 6:25 AM