A recent article from The Atlantic calls for a “pandemic amnesty” of sorts. The idea is that we should forgive one another—including our world leaders—for erroneous behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic. The author blames these actions on uncertainty. 

However, recent discoveries suggest that information available from the start was withheld from public knowledge. At the same time, we were actively misled by those who took an oath to serve us. 

We don’t need amnesty. What we really need is pandemic accountability. 

Did They Know?

In a recent hearing in the European Parliament, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) member Rob Roos asked Pfizer executive Janine Small whether their vaccine was tested on stopping transmission before it entered the market. 

“Regarding the question around whether [we knew] about stopping immunization,” she admitted, “before it entered the market, no.”

According to Small, Pfizer did not know about the effectiveness of their vaccine before releasing it to the general public. 

This is an enormous confession, especially since governments worldwide promoted vaccine mandates largely on the basis of preventing the spread of COVID.

According to a recent article by The Washington Post, after Pfizer announced in late 2020 their vaccine was 90% effective at preventing infection, every action the in-coming Biden Administration would take “hinged on those numbers, even though it would later become clear that summer that the vaccines—though highly effective at stopping death and hospitalization—did a far worse job of blocking infection than originally expected, as potency waned.” 

This begs the question, if Pfizer had not tested their vaccine’s ability to prevent transmission, then why would they advertise it as such? 

A Pandemic of the Unvaccinated?

Despite knowing the failure of the vaccine to prevent transmission, President Biden described getting vaccinated as “the most patriotic thing you can do,” during his 4th of July address at the White House. 

Just three weeks after his address, the CDC recommended fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors. That September, Biden announced a sweeping vaccine mandate that would have affected more than 2/3rds of the workforce.

Shortly following the President’s announcement, NBC News quoted him as saying, “‘We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin’…making a direct appeal to the 80 million people who he said were still unvaccinated. ‘Your refusal has cost all of us.’” 

President Biden continued to antagonize unvaccinated Americans for months, blaming them for COVID’s persistence, despite being aware of the vaccine’s lack of efficacy in preventing transmission. He continuously insisted that we were in a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” 

For a president so outspoken in his commitment to unity, it was a divisive catchphrase that only served to polarize Americans. 

The Need For Accountability

The fact that this information was neglected to push a favored narrative has dampened voters’ trust in our governing institutions.  

Rather than declaring a “pandemic amnesty” by moving on from the injustices committed against the public, we should instead hold these individuals accountable for the wrongs they committed, both in the courts and in elections. 

America was built on the promise of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It is our duty as citizens to ensure that our interests are consistently being fought for by showing up to the ballot box. 

We need pandemic accountability.