Rapid Antigen Tests aren't the answer for our kids
Tacoma schools just handed out Rapid Antigen Test kits today to every kid, the RATs. Here's why I think that was a huge waste of money.
Today, my school district did one of the most useless things I’ve ever seen it do, and they’ve done a lot of useless things during covid. They gave Rapid Antigen Tests to each student, the RATs.
Why is that useless? A few reasons:
The tests may not work on the current dominant strain, the Omicron. According to Verywell Health, Omicron has more than 30 mutations, some of which are on the part of the genetic code that some PCR tests use to detect the virus. If the test (a brand of which our kids got today) are made to detect the portion of the genetic code that is on one of those more than 30 mutations, “the test may not see the virus and a person might get a false-negative test result.” 1
Some doctors are saying that Omicron may be getting into the gut and causing stomach issues. They also say that if that’s the case, when it gets down into the gut, the nasal swab tests may not catch it.
All we’re really doing by testing is creating fodder for the alarmist news media, which is basically owned by big pharma who profit from the tests, the “vaccines,” and the hysteria. I’ll wager that’s the real reason we gave them tests instead of something useful. The powers that be want to keep the numbers up so that they can justify their draconian policies. Let’s hope these tests are full of negatives, whether false or real.
We could have given every kid a month’s supply of vitamin C, D, Zinc, Quercitin and/or hydroxichloroquine or Ivermectin for likely a much cheaper price. Our kids could have gotten some extra protection. Lord knows they need it. They’ve been told the vaccine will protect them. Unfortunatley, the vaccines are not stopping transmission or infection. I’ll admit, doctors seem to agree that the vaccines do seem to be providing protection from serious desease. But so do the supplements and medications I just mentioned.
What kid is going to actually do the test right? I’m betting nobody will stick the swab up each nostril for 15 seconds swirling five times. Many of my kids, whom I love dearly, can’t remember to bring a pencil to class!
Of all the things we could have spent perefectly good, newly printed money from the Fed on, RATs are not at the top of my priority list. Good, healthy food to promote gut health, vitamins and supplements…those are the types of things we should be spending money on. Who cares how many cases we have? What matters is how many kids make it through this pandemic strong and healthy.
Update: 1-29 I just sent an email to the Pierce County Health Department asking how the State Board of Health is counting these tests in terms of cases. Do they consider any RAT that they hand out (whether we use them or not) an administered test? For instance, do they say something like “out of the 100,000 tests given to Tacoma Public Schools, there have been only two confirmed cases”?
https://www.verywellhealth.com/omicron-mutations-affect-testing-5214171