https://johnsnowproject.org/insights/where-are-our-leaders/
"
Newsweek recently published a commentary, which notes the alarming rise in
disability and excess mortality in the United States. Unfortunately, the
authors suggest the declining state of general health might have something to
do with COVID-19 vaccines and seem to ignore the enormous body of research
showing that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 and is known to infect
every organ system and cause widespread dysfunction) is responsible for these
harms.
The authors of the
Newsweek piece assume that COVID-19 deaths are limited to
those directly ascribed to COVID-19 infection on the death certificate. They
seem oblivious to the possibility that a virus that can infect every organ and
has been shown to cause a wide range of sequelae might be leading to a rise in
all-cause morbidity and mortality beyond the timescale of acute infection.
Many countries have already experienced a drop in life expectancy, including in
2020 before vaccines were widely available. Vaccine skeptics are promoting the
dangerous falsehood that COVID-19 vaccines, not COVID-19 itself, are the cause
of the unprecedented decline in almost every measure of public health. In
reality, evidence shows that excess mortality related to COVID-19 is highest in
areas with low vaccination rates.
By remaining silent or downplaying the ongoing risk of COVID-19, governments
have abdicated their responsibility to provide their citizens with reliable
public health information. Misinformation peddlers, grifters and the
ill-informed have filled the gap, sowing doubt and fear about one of the most
important things that might offer some protection from the harms of a widely
circulating virus: vaccines. By every measure, be it reducing mortality,
improving short-term morbidity, or reducing the long-term ill-health impacts,
vaccines are effective at taking the sting out of COVID-19’s tail. They are
less effective against transmission because of waning immunity and immune
escape due to virus mutation, but they are beneficial by any measure and are
not responsible for the excess mortality and morbidity being seen around the
world. Vaccination rates are in fact strongly correlated with improved
survival.
Governments need to step up to correct the record loudly. The quiet warnings
issued by the World Health Organization and some governments about the ongoing
risks of COVID-19 need to become much, much louder. People need to be made
aware of the potential harms of each and every infection, and in addition to
providing accurate information and closing the knowledge gap that is allowing
merchants of doubt to flourish, governments need to take urgent action to
address the root cause of the problem. We need to work towards stopping
transmission of COVID-19 in the community, and we need to do it with a
concerted push to broaden availability of vaccines and boosters, to clean the
air and normalise N95/FFP2 or better respirators in all public settings,
particularly in healthcare and education."
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: November 30, 2023
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-93729855
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
