NIH Director Francis Collins is doing full-court press these days in preparation of the vaccine distribution in the United States. The Washington Post, NPR, and other legacy media outlets are slathering over this political appointee as the perfect oracle to convince people of faith that the vaccine is safe and should be taken.

“One of the few high-profile Obama appointees to continue serving in President Trump’s administration, Collins carries a certain kind of authority to address people of faith, many of whom are skeptical of scientific evidence for such things as evolution.”

Typical WaPo: You anti-science rubes need help understanding this! Thoroughly discounting (or mocking) the number of doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel who are people of faith, but still have legitimate concerns about not only how this pandemic has been handled medically and socially, but about this coming vaccine.

But, follow the science…

I have long admired Francis Collins." NIH director asks Americans to leave 'conspiracy theories' behind on vaccines and 'look at the facts'" Sadly, many vaccine conspiracists are found in the Christian church. We should follow the Truth. https://t.co/xascN6X9KV

— Dee Parsons (@wartwatch) December 13, 2020

I’ve read recent articles on Director Collins’s mission to recruit faith leaders in promoting the vaccine. They all make sure to insert these phrases:

“Collins, himself a regular churchgoer who speaks often about his Christian faith” or “As a physician-geneticist who talks openly about his Christian faith and its compatibility with science[…]”

We have had a government and a non-theist society marginalize and malign this type of devotion and outspoken faith for years, but when it is embodied in an expert who is encouraging people to follow the COVID mandates, suddenly it is of utmost importance.

Give me a break.

Collins also had a discussion with Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention on measures that church leaders can take to protect their congregations,  In that Facebook Live conversation, Collins said,

“Most churches really ought to be advised to go to remote services, if they’re not already doing so,” Collins said.

This opinion comes after the U.S. Supreme Court rulings where they struck down restrictions on religious services in New York, ruling that the limits on in-person worship violated the First Amendment’s protection of the right to free exercise of religion. The high court also said the decision in the New York case meant the district court ruling against Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry in Pasadena upholding California Governor Gavin Newsom’s restrictions had to be reconsidered.

The restrictions remain in place at least temporarily while the district court reviews its earlier ruling. In the meantime, outdoor worship is happening around California with mask requirements and social distancing, and other states that did not have such draconian restrictions have already gotten back to corporate worship.

So, this advice from Director Collins is a bit like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped. After seeing the treatment of Christians and Jews by state and local leaders—mostly blue State mayors and governors—it is doubtful the director’s advice will be heeded; in fact, it will be viewed suspiciously.

Such is the nature of what has passed for leadership in this pandemic.

Now Collins is out pushing the vaccine and expressing concern over the public’s lack of acceptance.

“If we don’t see wide acceptance, the potential here of this to drive this vaccine out of our experience could be muted, or maybe fail altogether. We have to figure out how to get most of the country immune.”

In the WaPo article, when asked how he was messaging to faith leaders about the coming vaccine, Collins answered,

“They are in a tough spot because they have a lot of strong opinions coming at them from their parishioners. If we’re going to actually get to the point where covid-19 is conquered, it’s going to require a full investment by everybody in that solution, which is to acquire immunity. And the way to get there without losing hundreds of thousands of more lives is going to be the vaccine.”

“a full investment by everybody in that solution” Why wasn’t this done when the government was shutting down churches, but leaving liquor stores and strip clubs open? Aside from President Trump and a few others in government, no one cared about the opinions of faith leaders and what the lockdowns and restrictions were doing to their parishioners. It should not have required lawsuits to go to the highest court in the land in order to take back the First Amendment rights for people of faith; yet, here we are.

These leaders want an investment by everybody when it suits their purposes.

This smacks of the Negro Project, where eugenicist and Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger recruited prominent black leaders like W.E.B. DuBois, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. to promote her “birth control” methods to poor Southern Blacks in order to minimize the population under the guise of stamping out poverty. It is interesting that Director Collins is starting with the white evangelical sectors, especially since Black and Hispanic populations appear to be the most high risk for death from COVID. Why is he not attempting to recruit Catholic Bishops or Church of God in Christ ministers? Why megachurch Pastor Rick Warren (who is white) and the Southern Baptist leadership? Director Collin’s methodology in bringing his message is as questionable as this vaccine rollout.

In the Facebook Live conversation, Director Collins also touted the data that showed the safety of the vaccine, and claimed he will not allow politics to get in the way of people being treated.

Then why have the Senate Hearings on Early Outpatient Treatment: An Essential Part of a COVID-19 Solution been all but ignored? The best way to combat viruses and disease is always prevention, not total reliance on a magic bullet of a vaccine.

Frontline MDs' urgent calls to consider effective repurposed drugs, eg ivermectin, as a treatment of Covid patients have been refused by NIH since Aug. We may need a modern version Reformation as NIH & WHO play the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. https://t.co/Fad3pdSrwC

— Kwanghoon Seok (@khoonseok) December 10, 2020

These hearings focus on prevention and early treatment, and how both the NIH and the CDC have pretty much disregarded these in order to sell a vaccine. The testimony of Dr. Pierre Kory and other respected and published physicians who actually practice patient care is quite telling.

Director Collins also diminished herd immunity in his Facebook Live, saying millions will die in order to get there. However, not a whole lot of attention is being paid to how lives can be saved in this moment, rather than waiting for a vaccine. If a solution is present, and the NIH and the CDC are concerned about saving millions of lives, why are they dismissing these prophylactics and therapeutics that are already in wide use?

Studies have shown mask use is no guarantee of stopping the spread. If this was the case, California, which has a 95 percent mask compliance, would not be seeing the increased spike in COVID cases.

“Asymptomatic spread refers to someone who has viral RNA in their test sample and never develops symptoms transmitting the virus to another person. This needs to be distinguished from the prodromal spread. The latter occurs with many respiratory viruses. For a few days, a person exhibiting no or extremely mild symptoms like fatigue and sore muscles may shed the virus as their viral load increases and be contagious. They then develop specific symptoms, such as a fever, sore throat, and cough, and can continue to transmit the virus to others.”

Yet Collins continued to spout these things in his encouragement to keep yourself and others safe from COVID.

“When you put on that mask, you’re protecting yourself a little bit from other people, but mostly you’re protecting them from you, you are doing the altruistic, loving thing by saying, just in case I’m that asymptomatic carrier that feels fine, but is actually contagious, I’m going to protect those people from me. That sounds like a Christian action if I’ve ever heard one.”

Pulling out the “Christian” card. Sorry, Herr Director, you’ve overplayed your hand. Just as the handling of this pandemic has gone off the rails, I do not see the rollout of the vaccine going smoothly.