A recent report in The Atlantic explored anti-vaccine sentiment which is simmering in Berkshire and Columbia Counties—not among Trumpers and Qanon theorists, but among left-leaning residents.
Among those interviewed by Eoin Higgins (an investigative reporter who grew up in the Berkshires) was the editor/publisher of the community website IMBY.com, Enid Futterman. Astonishingly, Futterman tells Higgins that “she finds the idea that COVID is caused by 5G cellphone towers more believable than person-to-person transmission.”
The IMBY honcho continues:
I’ve read both sides, and that’s what makes sense.
Higgins further reports that Futterman “didn’t see ‘any disconnect between’ her support for progressive values and her embrace of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.”
A quick Google search turns up related comments by Futterman as well as former Columbia County Election Commissioner Virginia Martin, posted on an obscure news site called Who What Why. The pair’s comments were attached to a June 2021 article entitled “Alternative Treatments for COVID-19: A Non-Medical Review.”
As potential preventative measures or therapies to address the novel coronavirus, the article touts the potential of ivermectin, Vitamin C and Vitamin D, as well as medications intended for gout and asthma.
In their comments, Futterman and Martin heap praise in their comments on a group called the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance, or FLCCC. Martin claims that FLCCC came up with “proven life-saving strategies” that were “rebuffed” by “legislators and public health authorities and medical institutions.” Futterman in turn opines that “as many as 85%” of lives could have been saved from COVID “if their findings hadn’t been suppressed.”
