The internet is ablaze with a story that claims RFK, Jr. said COVID was an ethnically targeted bioweapon that were engineered to spare Jews and Chinese people. This headline from the NY Post captures the meme that's going wild: "RFK Jr. says COVID was ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jews."
The NY Post offers outstanding coverage on many important topics, but for this story, they got it wrong. RFK never actually said that he believed COVID was ethnically targeting certain groups while sparing Jews and Asians. Yet few people actually bother to read what RFK actually stated, which is the following (emphasis added):
COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately. The races that are most immune to COVID-19 because of the genetic differentials among different races, because of the receptors, the ACE-2 receptor, COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese. We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact.
In other words, what RFK, Jr. actually said -- which is accurate -- is that certain ethnic groups are more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infections because they carry more ACE-2 receptor sites, which is determined by genetics. This statement is true.
In fact, it's published science, as shown below:
Scientific findings on ACE-2 receptors and COVID susceptibility A 2021 scientific paper published in MedRxIv.org found that those of European ethnicity were more susceptible to COVID infections compared to Asians and other groups. That paper, found here, is entitled, "SARS-CoV- 2 susceptibility and ACE2 gene variations within diverse ethnic backgrounds."
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