After publishing an opinion piece in the Toronto Sun, Canada's last democratic newspaper, on 28 June 2021 (see "Questions About COVID-19" on this blog), our growing group of concerned Ontario academics discussed what to do next to combat the pandemic panic propaganda. Toward the end of a Zoom meeting, Dr. Angela Durante suggested writing an open letter in support of unvaccinated people; she sensed that this support was needed by many in our local communities.
The Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA) agreed to host a copy of the letter (PDF file) with a brief introduction on their web site and sent out a media notice on the evening of 2 August 2021. Although this is now more than three months ago, I thought I should revisit the letter and its impact, given the current climate of increasing medical apartheid and persecution of the unvaccinated.
After the posting of the letter, there have been numerous shares, e.g. by co-author Dr. Denis Rancourt on Twitter, and re-posts, including by former Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador Brian Peckford on his blog. The copy at GlobalResearch shows shares across five different channels amounting to between 345 and 3,353 times.
In addition to the English version, volunteers translated the letter into various languages including Albanian, Czech, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Thai as per the OCLA web site.
Among other formats, Educators for Human Rights created a #FactsToSchool poster with key statements from the letter. A video reading on Bitchute clocks in at close to 12,000 views, while a reading posted by German publicist and blogger Gunnar Kaiser on Youtube has far exceeded half a million views.
The feedback that we received directly and that we saw on social media around the globe has been truly astonishing. While others in the group are hoping to tackle the crisis from an intellectual or analytical angle, Angela read the ‘room’ well enough to understand that many people were approaching an emotional breaking point under increasing pressure and isolation due to a simple, personal health decision.
It is impossible to comprehensively summarize the impact of the letter. One noteworthy email made us aware of the alternative title by which the letter apparently is referred to. I used it for the title of this blog post.
Dear ... :
I write to offer you my thanks and to let you know of my deep appreciation for your “Open Letter to the Unvaccinated,” the crucially important document now known to many also by its opening line, “You are not alone!”
The times we are now living through appear to be driven by all but unprecedented extremities of malevolence and deceit, both drawing their energies from very high places where their chief actors hope—and fully expect—to escape either exposure or any measure of justice for their offenses. In a time like this, and in the atmosphere of deep distrust and acute fear that it creates, being reassured by responsible and thoughtful people such as yourselves that individual human rights still do exist and still can be protected and honored—such a message is of inestimable reassurance and value, especially in so extreme a time as this.
Yours with gratitude and respect, XXX
An exchange on Twitter illustrates the positive impact that the letter may have had, and I have seen similar messages. We are humbled by this response and hope our words could help people around the globe to be confident in their personal medical decision.
Our expanding group of concerned academics has later written a Letter to the Vaccinated, questioning “fully vaccinated” status and attempting to overcome the growing rift between the two groups. Dr. Durante was interviewed (starting at one hour into the recording) by Richard Syrett on NewsTalk Sauga 960 AM. Syrett speaks almost daily with guests who destroy the COVID narrative. Another interview about the follow-up letter was of Drs. Durante and Leduc with Pastor Michael Thiessen, founder of Liberty Coalition Canada, who also has an impressive lineup of critical conversations on his Rumble channel. Yet, all of these signals seem to be falling on death ears and blind eyes so far.