Covidistan Annals XXXIII: Corrections Edition--Proof-reading Alex Berenson's recent (partially misleading) statements about Austria

In short: mandates aren't gone, as claimed by Mr. Berenson, they are returning today

And now this has happened: Alex Berenson has provided misleading information on his Substack.

While I greatly commended his occasional (see my take in mid-November) inclusion of the absurdities that contributed to Austria turning into Covidistan, I must now take to these pages to set the record straight. I don’t do so with pleasure, and as a fellow rapporteur on current events, Mr. Berenson will certainly understand and accept the below corrections.

Sidenote: I ‘discovered’ Berenson’s guano reservation well before it was shut down by those who claim to perform ‘free speech’—by which these days is meant the opposite—in late 2020. I greatly commend his steadfastness in reporting on all matters Covid-19, but it’s important to acknowledge our own blind spots and ignorance, including, of course, my own. Thus, in the spirit of open conversations and free speech, here goes.

In yesterday’s post, entitled ‘The Covid vaccine era is ending already’, Alex Berenson comments on developments over here in Europe in the following manner:

All over Europe, countries are dropping Covid vaccination passports only months after introducing them. Since Friday, Italy and Greece have become the latest nations to say they will dump passport requirements as of May 1.

This is all true, including the next statement:

Yes [sic], watching the number of new infections almost double in the last two weeks!

For a visual rendering, we may turn to the EU’s online presence, which tells the story:

Sidenote: I do wonder if that one yellow-ish area in the southeast of Poland has lower incidences due to the large influx of overwhelmingly ‘unvaccinated’ Ukrainian refugees, but I digress…

Back to Mr. Berenson (emphasis in the original):

I cannot say this enough times: Covid vaccine restrictions are ending not because the mRNA vaccines have succeeded but because they have failed.

I wish he was correct (but, alas, I think he mistakes tactics for strategy).

Here’s Mr. Berenson on Austria, specifically (emphasis in the original):

Here’s Austria, which in January became the first country in Europe to announce not just a vaccine passport but a Covid vaccine mandate. Austria now has more coronavirus infections than the United States—with a population 1/35th as large.

The above statement is accompanied by this chart:

And followed by this statement:

No wonder Austria dumped its mandate two weeks ago, before it ever really took effect. And no wonder the German parliament walked away last week from plans to pass its own mandate.

What’s wrong with Mr. Berenson’s statements?

Well, readers of these pages here know better, Austria didn’t ‘dump’ its injection mandate wo weeks ago. It took months of sustained mass protests, a sizable chunk of the population that remained ‘unvaccinated’ to begin with, massive losses for the ruling parties in local elections, questions from and hearings in the Constitutional Court, and the creeping admission by the régime that people wouldn’t stand for the extension of many other mandates after two years.

I’ve spent virtually half my time on this Substack on these matters, hence I won’t link to any specific pieces, but if one looked for the ‘Covidistan Annals’ series (and also search for Austria for my early pieces from November 2021), it’s easy to find all these. I will, however briefly, restate the facts.

On 6 Feb. 2022, I wrote the following (my emphases):

On Friday, 4 Feb. 2022, Covidistan’s vaccination mandate entered into force, and thus ended a 82 year-long hiatus in which the forced participation in experimental (investigational) medications was deemed unpalatable…

Two days ago (4 Feb. 2022), the [Covid] putschists’ civil-military advisory board GECKO met again, and their main findings—as reported by state broadcaster ORF—couldn’t be more obvious:

‘A situation report presented in Friday’s meeting advises that Covid-19 should be embedded “in the operational influenza surveillance structures from autumn onwards, provided that variants similar to those currently in circulation are to be found”.…

‘It would make sense to consider a booster with variant vaccines before autumn for all those whose third vaccination was more than six to nine months ago and to apply this in a similar way to the influenza vaccination.’

If there’s any doubt left among those who claimed (thought) that compliance brings back freedoms and civil liberties—I challenge you to speak up now and present a coherent argument.

As Covidistan’s subject population awaits the ministerial decrees…the country’s Chief Medical Officer ‘recommends yearly boosters in September’.

Don’t let anyone tell you ‘they’ didn’t inform you about their plans.

True, as I reported on 17 Feb. 2022, ‘mandates will be suspended, at best, with Big Pharma and the régime itching to reinstate them after the summer holidays, incl. a mandated 4th jab’.

By 27 Feb., it had become clear that ‘mandates may be relaxed now, but the next variant and/or enforcement of the injection mandate for a fourth shot in late summer/early autumn are just around the corner’.

On 5 March, the author of that infamous injection mandate, Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein, resigned ‘citing “personal threats” and “being uncomfortably impacted” by police protection’.

And, finally so far, on 9 March, a régime-appointed expert advisory panel advised the Committee of Public Safety to not enforce the injection mandate at this point in time (which couldn’t be done anyways due to ‘technical difficulties’ before the automated linking of the injection and population registries could be caried out sometime in April).

Injection Mandate Stayed, but Kept on the Books—tentative ‘warnings’ by the régime’s advisors affirm a comeback later this year…no time to celebrate, for come May or June, the régime will think about the injection mandate again

In other words: the injection mandate wasn’t ‘dumped’ at a time ‘before it ever really took effect’. This abomination of a law remains on the books, it wasn’t even really ‘stayed’ because no court has ruled on it (for the Constitutional Court will, in due time). Unfortunately, it’s not even a dead letter. It’s simply not enforced for time being, with the public—and Mr. Berenson—lulled into a false sense of complacency about it.

What is the state of the injection mandate, then?

Well, I think it’s in ‘purgatory’, I suppose: it’s fully promulgated, i.e., passed into law after parliamentary debates in both chambers, signed by the president, and published. The injection mandate is the law of the land, as much as I or anyone else may or may not like it.

Mr. Berenson is doing himself—and everyone of his readers—quite a disservice by treating the rule of law in this way.

By mid-March, as injection uptake cratered and internal dissent was leaked, I wrote this:

Politicians feel that Covid mandates are a political liability, but since experts are increasingly deluding themselves about their influence, we'll soon reach the end of the runway

A week ago, the Constitutional Court held a first round of oral arguments about (some of the) mandates of the past two years, and while I personally welcomed these developments, I also cautioned my readers on 18 March that the ‘return of Covid-themed fear-porn indicate[d] the imminent reversal of openings’.

A mere handful of days ago, the re-introduction of (some) mandates was announced at the end of last week. It’s not only about ‘cases’ though, for the régime was outspoken that the number of infections wasn’t their primary concern, as related by Health Minister Johannes Rauch (emphases mine):

‘This [the Omicron wave peaking] will have concrete consequences…we always held that there must be no overload of the healthcare system, and while the ICUs are currently not overflowing, regular wards are, in part, close to capacity.’

As regards healthcare staff, the situation is ‘close to breaking [äußerst angespannt] we experience acute staff shortages, and it is very hard to remain operational.’ Therefore, one must act, declared the Health Minister.

In other words: the mandates are coming back mainly due to staff shortages, and not because of high ‘case’ numbers.

Today, the Committee of Public Safety will announce the ‘new’ mandates (same as the old, but in all likelihood more farcical), and I shall keep you all updated in due time.

Sidenote: shall I post the above column to Mr. Berenson’s bespoke article? I suppose so, but since my comment will inevitably swamped by the sheer number of other commenters, I don’t expect much to come from it.

Edit: I cannot post it in the comments for I’m not a paid subscriber to Mr. Berenson’s endeavours.

It’s a shame, sure, but what else can be done about the necessary corrections? If you do have any ideas or even ‘clout’ with Mr. Berenson, please let me know in the comments below.