So many scandals in Romania, so little time. It's hard to decide what to write about. I can't read Romanian news - everything is clickbait and when I try reading something, I invariably find grammar, spelling or logic (or all of the above) mistakes. I choose to write about a "scandal" that happened toward the end of March, because none of the opinions I've read explain what's going on to my level of perception.
I linked a recording of the TV show where the leading Romanian anti-vaxx/”food babe” is sparing with an MD (probably pediatrician) under the image to the left, but that’s not “official”; here’s a “5:27 trailer” and below the link to the official page. Ms Steer’s name does not sound Romanian to me, which is why I changed it to the more Romanian sounding “Stere”, to compensate for changing the (more usual) Olivia into the foreign “Olive”.
“Vax” is an older Romanian slang, meaning “bad” or “fail” or “poorly done job”.
Following that interview, someone named Alexandru Evanghelidis made a song "How Stupid's Olivia Steer". I’ve also discovered an earlier TV appearance (2014?) where she spouts similar misinformation next to another similarly positioned idiot, Pavel Chirila.
It turns out that Ms Steer has admittedly vaccinated her own children (because back then she didn’t know any better). She is married to a popular TV personality (not sure what makes him popular) and both her father and, shortly thereafter, her sister, died of cancer.
Like most people born in Romania of my age, I got all vaccines (apart from Hepatitis, but I got that one here in Canada, though not the full thing because I forgot to go back for the 2nd shot) and that (in Romania) wasn’t a choice. The Hepatitis (Twinrix) vaccine not only that was a personal choice, but I even paid for it out of my own pocket. I also think that for most kids vaccination is beneficial, but I do not know, nor do I care to find out, what’s the percentage who die or get some allergic reaction. I don’t have kids, so I don’t care.
One area of agreement between Olive Stere and the MD is that parents shouldn’t be forced to vaccinate. The problem with that (which was not discussed) is that when “herd immunity” is achieved and stable, whomever chooses to not vaccinate is “piggy-backing” on those who did and it’s a strategy more likely to backfire the more people follow it.
What gets to me though is how Olive Stere is being attacked for having tried to present an alternative point of view on TV. It’s a POV that might not be hers and she may be playing devil’s advocate in Faustian bargain to be an “influencer”. Besides, I am willing to bet that the many unvaccinated kids in Romania are not so because Olive or BOR got to them, but rather because of [lack of] access to healthcare and penury reasons. I would argue that the Orthodox Church has a much greater effect in terms of immunization rates (hn-bibl).
In short, the fact that someone is wrong does not free you from being rigorous in your takedown. If your opponent is passing as “common knowledge” something that is probably wrong but unproven (or where science is undecided), and you manage to “disprove” it with a “device”, you’re only winning in the eyes of idiots – whom, presumably, that TV show was for.
That’s pretty much what I had to say. I feel a bit sorry for Ms Stere for being such an “easy girl” (“femeie usoara”) to disprove, but maybe that’s all for the common good.
*(*I might add more details later, but should I, or is it clear what I mean?*)*.
Sources / More info: evz-drama, cc-durere, protv-vblumea, wiki-vh, wiki-hi, hn-bibl
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