Darwin’s theory of biological evolution was based on observable forces at work, that mutations in animals, birds and insects enable them to survive changes in the climate and environment. Elephants today, for instance, are being born without tusks in areas where poachers are killing off the elephants with tusks.
So is that how viruses work too? Do they also mutate to enable them to survive a change in their environment? In which case, could Darwin’s evolutionary science help explain the pandemic, as to how and why viruses mutate into new variants when vaccines are introduced into the human body?
This thought never crossed my mind in the early stages of the pandemic. Like most people I was sold on the idea of “getting the jab.” I admit I was a little cagey about the rather rushed vaccines with no known long term effects and no liability by the manufacturers for any adverse effects, but haven’t vaccines been the greatest “life-saver” since Edward Jenner’s experiments over 200 years ago?
And to begin with back in 2020 it was all very encouraging as the makers of the vaccines and medical experts pronounced the vaccines as “safe” and nothing to worry about. And consensus of observation – the heart of science – supported that in the early stage of vaccines being administered as hospitalizations and deaths began to decline.
And that’s what kicked off a real interest in my head about our immune system and how it responds to vaccines to fend off disease. It was helped along by a totally pro-vaccine Doctor doing a daily Youtube video that went into fascinating detail, with lots of drawings too, about our amazing immune system and the very positive effect vaccines have. And I felt thoroughly proud of myself as I took voluminous notes every day.
I felt even prouder of myself when Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, our national top health expert, publicly announced in June 2021 that, quote, “Canadians should do a risk/benefit analysis before rolling up their sleeves for a shot,” which I took to mean do my homework first before making my decision. Well, I was doing exactly that already, so I was right in tune with our top government advisor. I gave my halo an extra polish to celebrate how wise I was being.
But then my very pro-vaccine Youtube Doc started talking about blood clots, inflammation of the heart and other rather concerning side effects from the vaccines, including the bombshell news that vaccinated people could still be infected by the virus, and still be infectious too.
So I wondered what was happening, and that’s when I remembered Darwin and his theory of evolution, because here was a virus doing exactly what Darwin said living organisms do. They mutate to “click on” to what enables them to survive in a changing environment, much like a computer hacker hitting on a password, or a safecracker hitting the combination code that opens the safe. Or how a virus finds a way round a vaccine.
Did this mean, then, that vaccines were actually causing the variants that enabled the virus to continue? And that’s when I discovered that several medical experts had predicted this would happen, and been observably proved right by “on the ground” evidence – the same pillar of proof Darwin based his conclusions on.
So does Darwin’s theory of evolution rather handily explain why the virus keeps popping up alive and well in slightly different forms even in highly vaccinated countries? It’s only doing what Darwin said organisms do when a changing environment threatens their survival.
Perhaps there are other forces at work too, though, that we haven’t yet discovered, that cause viruses to suddenly disappear as well. Who knows?
And that’s when I thought, “But God knows,” and he is the ultimate force at work, so I thought I’d better look into what God has to say, the result being these blogs I’ve been writing.
Buck To Basics 