I Fact Check a Fact Check of RFK Jr.
Part 5: Covid
It was early 2020 in Cleveland. Ten researchers at the Genomic Medicine Institute wondered if genetics played a role in the transmission and survival rates of Covid-19. To investigate this, they analyzed ACE2 and TMPRSS2 DNA polymorphisms from more than 80 000 human genomes.
In July of 2020, they published their findings:
In the paper, the researchers acknowledged that genetics are not destiny:
Morbidity and mortality due to COVID19 rise dramatically with age and co-existing health conditions, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
They also discovered a probable association between susceptibility to Covid-19 and the DNA polymorphisms in different ethnic groups.
We found that the distribution of deleterious variants in ACE2 differs among 9 populations in gnomAD (v3). Specifically, 39% (24/61) and 54% (33/61) of deleterious variants in ACE2 occur in African/African-American (AFR) and Non-Finnish European (EUR) populations, respectively (Fig. 1b). Prevalence of deleterious variants among Latino/Admixed American (AMR), East Asian (EAS), Finnish (FIN), and South Asian (SAS) populations is 2–10%, while Amish (AMI) and Ashkenazi Jewish (ASJ) populations do not appear to carry such variants in ACE2 coding regions (Fig. 1b).
Welcome back to the 5th and final part of my fact check of BBC Verify's fact check of Robert F Kennedy Jr's views on health policy.
Kennedy's Covid claims have been "widely criticised," states BBC Verify Team. (No names of the journalists were disclosed). What claims are these?
Of all that's been said and done about Covid-19, the only claim explored in this article is Kennedy's statement that certain ethnic groups are less vulnerable to the virus.
Rather than critiquing the books Kennedy has co-authored on Covid, BBC Verify links to the clip of an undercover video. In this video, he tells the individuals sitting at a table with him that "the people who are most immune [to SARS-COV-2] are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
BBC Verify then links to an X post in which Kennedy attempts to clarify what he meant in the undercover video. At the end of his X post is a link to the study described above.
Given the researchers' results and conclusion, Kennedy's comment strikes me as within the realm of reasonable. Decide for yourself.
BBC Verify links to another BBC article, stating that the study's authors "strongly rejected Kennedy's claims." The article does not even name the author. It only quotes one sentence of his or hers. This makes me wonder exactly what BBC asked the author to respond to.
BBC Verify also quotes a professor of public health. She states that Kennedy does "not follow scientific evidence." She attributes the differences in Covid infection and death rates among different groups to social inequality and household size. The straw man has made a reappearance; Kennedy did not deny the impact of social inequality on Covid outcomes.
This section of the fact check strikes me as grasping at straws. Of everything Kennedy has said and written about Covid-19, why have media institutions zeroed in on the minor detail of genetic susceptibility?
Perhaps to avoid correcting the errors they committed on a grand scale in covering the following topics?
the unintended consequences of the lockdowns
the dystopian class separation
the origin of the virus
the serious adverse effects of the MRNA injections
Perhaps because during the election, the DNC wanted to cast Bobby as anti-semitic?
The consequences of the ‘ethnically targeted’ comment were political and far reaching. Independent journalist Sam Husseini contextualizes it:
TL;DR
This concludes my fact check of a fact check on Kennedy's views on health policy. To give BBC Verify some credit, their article makes more of an attempt to be factual and fair than the average piece on Bobby Kennedy in the US media.
BBC Verify's sources appear to be fact sheets from the CDC and the WHO as well as a handful of experts.
Other experts would have disagreed with some of the statements in this article. I'd be willing to bet I spent 100X more time on this fact check than BBC Verify did. I didn’t attend journalism school, so maybe I’m missing something in asking the following question. As a science journalist, how can you skip reading the scientific research on the issue you’re covering?
What do you think?
If you had a magic wand, who would you appoint as the US Secretary of Health and Human Services?
References
Hou, Y., Zhao, J., Martin, W. et al. New insights into genetic susceptibility of COVID-19: an ACE2 and TMPRSS2 polymorphism analysis. BMC Med 18, 216 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-01673-z
On this record, as the son of an Ashkenazi Jew and husband of another Ashkenazi Jew, I find nothing offensive or malicious about Mr. Kennedy's statement.
Small pox was a scourge. Our history books reflect that it was especially so for indigenous populations in the Americas. This is neither controversial nor subject to serious debate.
Certain other diseases are more prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews. This, too, is neither controversial nor subject to serious debate. (It is, in fact, so well accepted that preconception genetic testing is standard procedure for couples with Ashkenazi ancestry. See, e.g., https://www.bmc.org/genetic-services/jewish-genetic-disease-screening )
Though clearly not without some unfortunate consequences, on the whole this diversity among the human population is to be celebrated. It makes it that much harder for a single pathogen to threaten the survival of our entire species.
Did you know that a very small percentage of humans is genetically immune to H.I.V.? See, e.g., https://www.medicaldaily.com/hiv-immunity-genetic-variation-and-antiviral-enzymes-explain-why-some-people-are-311664
Imagine passing up the opportunity to study that immunity—and how it may help the broader population—as some sort of sacrifice on the altar of political correctness. And imagine a high-level public-health official too scared to talk about it because of what the B.B.C. might print.
This is really interesting! I
The way our genetics affect everything is truly remarkable! I once read an article that broke down some really interesting ones, for example a specific genetic group in which nearly all studied claimed that cilantro tasted like soap. I don't recall which group it was but that example stood out to me because… what a WEIRD genetic trait!!
Also I’m 1/8 Ashkenazi Jewish, from my maternal great-grandmother and I’ve had Covid three times now. Though my immune system is quite the slacker when it comes to shielding me from just about any virus. Also during the first two times I had it, I was babysitting toddlers in my home. They despise sharing… UNLESS we’re talking about germs! 🤦🏽♀️