The Highwire with Del Bigtree - SCIENTISTS SHUT DOWN OVER MASK STUDY

Episode Date: April 11, 2023

A recent publication by the world-renowned scientific group, The Cochrane Collaboration, has shown that masks did little to nothing positive during the pandemic response. Following the release of this study, New York Times opinion writer, Zeynep Tufekci, along with the editor-in-chief of the Cochrane Collaboration, Karla Soares-Weiser, threw the authors of the mask study under the bus. Jefferey Jaxen does a deep dive to uncover the important details of this story.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-highwire-with-del-bigtree--3620606/support.

We thought we put a nail in the coffin on masks because remember this Cochrane Collaboration report, one of the most respected independent organizations, the Cochran Collaboration. They put out this report at the end of January 2023. Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses, recover this. Most of the mainstream media ran with this and said it's over for masks. And this is what Cochran found. Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of influenza-like illness, I-I or COVID-19 like illness compared to not wearing masks.

They also went on to say pretty similarly, wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of laboratory confirmed influenza on SARS-CoV-2 compared to not wearing masks. Investigative journalist Marianne Damasi has a substack, and she wrote about something that just happened in the last couple weeks. She interviewed Tom Jefferson. He was one of the main authors on that Cochrane collaboration study with masks. So meta-analysis looked at, it looked at 78 randomized controlled trials. And it was an update from an earlier one. And they included the COVID, basically the COVID era in this update. And so she wrote this in a new update on her substack.

Did Cochran sacrifice its researchers to appease critics? Authors of the latest Cochran review angered by Cochran's capitulation to pressure from critics. She writes, talking about her interview with Tom Jefferson, it was enough to Stoke, the ire of longtime mask advocate in New York Times colonists, Zenip Tafiki, who published a rebuke of Jefferson's comments in a recent opinion article titled, Here's Why the Science is Clear That Mass Work. Tafiki argued that despite no high-quality data, we could conclude, based on poor evidence, that masks do work. So if you look at her article in the New York Times, she's a New York Times opinion columnist. And she wrote this article here. That is that is her right there. She wrote the

article, here's why the science is clear that masks work. And according to Marianne, apparently she did pressure the Cochland collaboration to put out this statement. And this was by the editor-in-chief of the Cochran Library. She responded on behalf of Cochran and its researchers and its author. So it wasn't the author saying this. It was the editor-in-chief. He said many commentators, commentators have claimed that a recently updated Cochran review shows that masks don't work, which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation. It would be accurate to say that the review examined whether interventions to promote mask wearing helped to slow the spread of respiratory viruses and that the results were inconclusive. This was done basically without the author's

input. And we go back to Damasi's substack article because she reached out to Tom Jefferson about this. And she said this. When I reached out to Jefferson for comment, he said he was given, quote, little workable notice before Cochran published its statement, and the authors had no clue what the statement would entail prior to his publication. It was upsetting, said Jefferson. Cochran has thrown its own researchers under the bus again. The apology issued by Cochran is from Sors Weiser, not from the authors of the review. And so it's very interesting that a New York Times opinion writer was able to do this influence camp. Put out an opinion piece, overcome literally one of the most powerful, bias-free scientific research groups the world has ever seen.

That's why they were created. They don't take money from pharma. At least last we checked, they're not supposed to be taking money so that they can do independent review. They looked at, you know, what was it, 60, 70 randomized control trials around the world, found the same conclusion. These masks are doing nothing. And based on an opinion of one reporter that's not a scientist. that in her little fanciful world, she still think mass work, Cochran, you know, bows down through their publisher. What we're watching here is the destruction of sciences we know it. It's literally

gasping for its last breaths and it's really, really terrifying to watch it. And what's interesting about Tefecki, she was an author on a paper in 2021 about masks. She's been a supporter of masking populations during this COVID pandemic response. And this is what, uh, the paper she was author on, an evidence review of face masks against COVID-19. And this is what is said by her and her co-authors. Ritual and solidarity are important in human societies and can combine with visible signals to shape new societal behaviors.

Universal mask wearing could serve as a visible signal and reminder of the pandemic. Oh, my God. So that we're talking, work to dismiss 78 randomized controlled trials that Cochran collaboration did for ritual and solidarity to basically a mass cult. That's exactly, I mean, it's exactly what the whole concept of mass formation was all about. When we look at the discussions on that, the psychology should just put us through ritual that somehow we would just give up our rights as long as it seemed like a decent ritual and tradition.

Yeah, and, you know, a final piece here on the Cockham Collaboration, they're not going to get off this easy. So they in 2016 received a sizable grant from the Bill of Melinda Gates, Foundation. And this is directly from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website. They committed an amount of 1.156 million to the Cochrane Collaboration. Shortly after that, Cochran Collaboration put out a review of the HPV vaccines, and they said there is a high certainty, high evidence that the HPV vaccines protect against cervical cancer. Remember, Bill and the Gates have been very busy pushing this cervical vaccine on lower income countries.

And then they brought it over here to the U.S. They tested it on lower income countries. And so after that was reported by the Cochrane Collaboration, we had Peter Goetcha. He was the lead of the Cochran Collaboration. He was the head scientist, the head doctor there. He put out a paper in defense of basically science and against the Cochran Collaboration, his Cochran Collaboration. And this was the article, the title, the Cochrane HPV vaccine review was incomplete and ignored important evidence of bias.

What did he get for that? He got booted. They voted him out. And this was the headline when that happened. They completely voted him out of there. Turmoil erupts over expulsion of member from leading evidence-based medicine group. For members, for additional members of the organization, governing board resigned in response to them booting him out. So this is what this is what happens in the Cochran collaboration.

don't play ball apparently. So now they're kind of turning tail on the mask conversation. But in the public sphere, it does appear that this mask thing is dead, is dead on arrival. And trying to remask the public, no matter, you know, Cochran can have as many apologies as they want, as many disclaimers as they want from their editor-in-chief. I think this table is turned and it's not going to go back at this point. I agree. Great reporting. You know, we got to listen to scientists, not, you know, heads of papers that taking funding. It's awful to see Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation behind every corruption of science that's taking place. They will go down in history. We'll make sure that people remember to never let, even they call themselves a non-profit, have this much power over our lives,

over science. It's really disturbing. Great reporting, Jeffrey. Amazing to see the background on bears there. I mean, it's one thing to always know it, but now to have the evidence. And by the way, we're going to take all of this in the courtrooms around the country as we fight to make sure that this never happens again and not even the childhood vaccines that have the same problems but all of it's been witnessed here that none of them are forced on any children or adults anywhere in this country or around the world