Logical Fallacies of Covid

What's worse? Covid or its vaccine?

This question has obvious ramifications.

Which is preferable? Exposure to risk of injection or exposure to risk of infection?

The media and medical mainstream will have us believe that the disease is far deadlier than the vaccine, and that consequently the alleged benefit of protection from covid outweighs the relatively small risk of the vaccine.

However, this is a specious comparison that has no basis in objective reality.

In Judaism, the question doesn't even begin. It's a non-sequitur of sorts.

It is categorically forbidden to expose oneself to the risk of the vaccine, irrespective of its alleged benefit of mitigating risk factor of infection.

It makes no difference if the alleged death toll from covid is indeed higher than the reported death toll from its vaccine. [1]

Statistical risk to a population has no bearing on actual risk to an individual, which is what Judaism is concerned with.

Are you confused?

Let me explain:

It's misleading and deceptive to suggest weighing the "potential risks" of the injection against the “potential risk” of contracting the alleged disease.

The only risk that Judaic law acknowledges is present risk to this individual, not statistical risk to a population.

The disease has no established risk factor in front of us to consider:

1. the healthy individual in question has survived 16 months of the alleged pandemic and likely has natural immunity;

2. there’s no empirical evidence that human-to-human transmission was ever a factor in the causation of COVID symptoms, and certainly not asymptomatic transmission;

3. most importantly, there’s no evidence of any human contagion here and now, but only theoretical potential contagion whose speculative presence cannot be verified.

This degree of speculative risk does not fall under the halachic rubric of “a doubt involving mortal danger” (“ספק סכנת נפשות” in rabbinic parlance). [2]

Consequently, the risk factor of the current coronavirus does not rise to the level of “a doubt concerning mortal risk” in the context of Judaic Law.

In contrast, the mortal risk of the injection is well-established and present in the little harmless-looking vial you are considering injecting into yourself:

1. VAERS reports 9,048 deaths following the shot in the US alone in the past six months, and well over half a million serious injuries. In comparison to data from recent years, death following the covid vaccine would list among the top 40 causes of death in the United States. More people died in a half year after the covid vaccine than all deaths from strangulation, drownings, obesity, or skin cancer in 2017; [3]

2. Numerous expert physicians testified about dire side effects that their patients suffered in the immediate aftermath of taking the covid vaccine, including lifelong injury and death.

When considering the real and established risks of injection versus the potential risks of the disease, there is no reasonable comparison.

Judaic Law is clear. One may NOT expose himself to a present and established risk of the injection (“קביע היזקא” in halachic terms) in order to avoid a theoretical future risk which is not present and whose risk factor cannot be established. Doing so constitutes reckless self-endangerment prohibited by halacha.

It is a grave error to compare established and present risk of an injection to the theoretical, potential future risk of a disease.

This is why the Lubavitcher Rebbe only approved of vaccines with the crucial caveat that they must be incontrovertibly safe and reliable. Never did he suggest that injuries or deaths resulting from a vaccine should be tolerated if the alleged death toll of the disease is higher. Moreover, in 1992, when there were reports of injuries after a vaccine in Montreal, the Rebbe negated its use by deferring to a local rav who took the cue and banned it.

How much more so with regards to covid in which the disease or condition poses negligible risk to the vast majority of the population, while the injection has resulted in significant numbers of deaths and serious injuries among age groups that have little or no risk from covid.

The halacha is unequivocal. Avoid this injection at all costs.

“Guard your soul scrupulously.” [4]

Dissuade others from getting it and certainly do not assist anyone to receive this risky injection.

“Stand not over your brother’s blood.” [5]

Notes:

[1] In reality, the number of alleged covid mortalities was significantly inflated -- by the CDC's own admission --while the actual number of vaccine deaths is significantly underreported. A recent Harvard study revealed that VAERS only represents between 1-10% of actual vaccine injuries.

[2] That’s why autopsies are prohibited in Judaic law, even though they might yield vital information that could potentially save the life of someone with this condition in the future. Halacha does NOT permit us to desecrate a human body NOW when the mortal risk to a living patient is not present at this time, but exists only in potentia and at a future time.

Preventing illness in the future is not considered a current exigency of pikuach nefesh. See Noda B’yehuda mahadura tinyono Yoreh Deah 210, cited by Mishne Halachos (Rabbi Menashe Klein), Mador Hateshuvos, 6:203, prohibiting autopsy of fetus (nivul hamais) even if it's to save a future life. See also Mahadura tinyono, 2:253.

That’s also why it’s forbidden to kill a spider on Shabbat when it’s crawling on the floor, even though one in a thousand people were at mortal risk from eating a spider that crawled into their food. (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 316, Magen Avraham 23, Shulchan Aruch Harav ibid).

Conversely, childbirth is considered a potentially-life-threatening situation, so Shabbos may be violated for the needs of a birthing mother, even though the mortality rate was even less than one in a thousand (ibid 330:1).

The difference is obvious. The spider hasn’t fallen into the food, but is crawling around elsewhere. One may not kill it, since even in event it falls into the food, the risk factor would be a mere one in a thousand. Conversely, a birthing mother is presently experiencing a condition which can potentially result in death, even in less than one in a thousand cases, but that present condition allows us to violate Shabbos on her behalf.

[3] From December 14, 2020 until July 2, 2021, 9,048 deaths have been reported in the US. That roughly averages to 45.5 deaths per day. It this rate continues, there will be 16,600 deaths by December 2021. In that scenario, the covid vaccine would rank among the top 29 causes of death in the United States.

[4] Deuteronomy 4:9,15.

[5] Leviticus 19:16.