Guest of our “Debriefing”, Xavier Bazin, scientific journalist and writer, comes to present his new work to us Antivax yourself! – Let’s find a critical mind on vaccination, which is already making a lot of noise. Prefaced by Dr. Michel de Lorgeril, doctor and former researcher at the CNRS, praised by Professor Romain Gherardi, considered one of the best specialists in the field of vaccination, this book aims to break certain dogmas, myths and false beliefs on the vaccination, whether against Covid-19 or other diseases, based on science. The leitmotif: get out of the vaccine religion and look at the facts. A book that comes at the right time as Emmanuel Macron is studying the possibility of making the vaccination of young people against human papillomavirus (HPV) infections compulsory.
“I believe that what we have seen on Covid is the totally unilateral nature in the media and institutional space of the discourse on vaccination as the only response to the epidemic” : in this interview, Xavier Bazin begins by pointing out the existence of a unique story concerning the discourse about the vaccine against Covid-19 at all societal levels: media, political, institutional. A system worthy of communist regimes for the journalist, who nevertheless notes a “more treacherous” characteristic in the 21st century: the number of media gives the appearance of plurality, while the discourse on subjects such as vaccination is unique. Thus, anyone who disagrees with the media narrative finds themselves immediately demonized on all sides and decked out in the terms “anti-vax”, “conspiracy”, “extreme right”, giving a false appearance of consensus. “We are in a drift” which turns to “to foil”denounces the journalist who recalls the promise of a return to normal life after two injections ending today with a call for the fifth dose “while it was evaluated on eight mice” : “We are now being told what the conspirators had predicted, namely a vaccine subscription every three to six months”. And to add: “What is the point of getting vaccinated for the umpteenth time when you have already had the disease? A first in the history of vaccination. »
A vaccine ideology deeply rooted in the medical world
Xavier Bazin then outlines the reasons behind this blind enthusiasm about vaccination, emphasizing that it is generally perceived by many doctors as ” a magic wand ” which escapes all criticism. “We have to come back to what it is: a medical act that deserves to be analyzed with serenity, with a critical spirit: it is not a religion. There must be an analysis for each benefit-risk situation and unfortunately on vaccination, this is really an exception in the medical world”, laments the writer. For him, it is time to adopt the same nuanced approach on vaccines as on antibiotics in order to take into account possible adverse effects: “Antibiotics are one of the greatest advances in the history of medicine and yet we have acquired a critical mind by saying ‘be careful, it’s not automatic, not all the time, it depends on the case, it can create antibiotic resistance”. »
A medical world plagued by “systemic corruption”
Beyond ideology, the health sector is riddled with conflicts of interest that favor this reflex of all-vaccination, explains Mr. Bazin: “We have two worlds: that of vaccinologists, who are almost always in conflict of interest with the pharmaceutical industry. This does not mean that their opinion is worthless, but it must be taken with a grain of salt because they have a stake in the vaccination working. These are people who generally seek to have patents on vaccines. » And on the other, there is “a second world” made up of independent doctors and professors “who have generally arrived at the subject of vaccination without it necessarily being their subject of research and who have realized through hard work that there was a problem. » And to hammer: “It is always these outsiders who denounce these problems of vaccination, because the insiders are in conflict of interest. »
“Who has the most legitimacy? Those who have links of interest with the pharmaceutical industry and who have an interest in ensuring that vaccination remains a religion, or is it all these independent experts – doctors and professors of medicine – who have acquired expertise on vaccination and who are completely independent, who have nothing to gain, when they know that they will become overnight the targets of attacks by all those who defend this religion with sounding and stumbling interests behind? »asks Xavier Bazin, who calls for “Create the debate and stop censoring in the media but also on YouTube to censor critical speeches including major experts vis-à-vis vaccination”. The opportunity for him to highlight this unique thought within the media sphere by recalling the remark of the host Pascal Praud during his interview with Professor Christian Perronne on the set of CNews the 24 November : “You will absolutely not be invited anywhere else”.
The great myths of the vaccine religion
Xavier Bazin claims to be able “prove by A + B” in his work that he is “totally wrong” to say that “vaccination would have made it possible to get out of the infectious plagues that have devastated humanity for centuries”first taking the example of the diseases of measles and whooping cough. “We can see very well and I show the curves in my book only on these diseases which were very deadly at the beginning of the 20e century and at the end of the 19e century, mortality had fallen to almost zero before the introduction of vaccines. Still cases, but almost no more deaths at this time”, he explains. According to the journalist, the origin of these infectious scourges lies in “the ground problem” : “We had fragile organizations, particularly linked to the industrial revolution which had created slums and enormous poverty. Children and babies had huge nutritional deficiencies. Thanks to progress in the standard of living, hygiene, but also nutrition, the immune system has become more capable of fighting. »
Xavier Bazin continues his explanations on the “myths” relating to the effectiveness of vaccination, citing the example of the eradication of smallpox: “When you look at this subject, you notice that in the WHO report, we are told in black and white that it was the abandonment of the mass vaccination project that made it possible to eradicate smallpox. When we tried to vaccinate everyone, it didn’t work. When we changed strategy and started to isolate patients and their contacts, that’s when we managed to eradicate this disease. They say it’s thanks to [la vaccination qu’on a mis un terme à la pandémie] while it is a factor that delayed the eradication of smallpox. »