Putting things into perspective...

[Guest]

From today's New York Times:

 

"Israel, the country that has vaccinated the largest share of its population, offers a case study. One recent analysis looked at 602,000 Israelis who had received Covid vaccines and found that only 21 later contracted the virus and had to be hospitalized. Twenty-one is obviously not zero. Vaccines are almost never perfect. But the Covid vaccines are turning it into the sort of risk that people accept every day.

 

Here’s a useful way to think about Israel’s numbers: Only 3.5 out of every 100,000 people vaccinated there were later hospitalized with Covid symptoms. During a typical flu season in the U.S., by comparison, roughly 150 out of every 100,000 people are hospitalized with flu symptoms.

 

And yet the seasonal flu does not grind life to a halt. It does not keep people from flying on airplanes, eating in restaurants, visiting their friends or going to school and work.

 

The vaccines will not produce “Covid zero.” But they are on pace — eventually, and perhaps even by summer — to produce something that looks a lot like normalcy. The rare exceptions won’t change that, no matter how much attention they receive. "

Of course, the flu deaths would be much higher without vaccinations. But the vaccines should be able to help normality make a comeback, hopefully soon!

[rvwnsd]

Thanks for posting this. Folks need to be reminded that this is not a cold.

[dcman]

From today's New York Times:

 

"Israel, the country that has vaccinated the largest share of its population, offers a case study. One recent analysis looked at 602,000 Israelis who had received Covid vaccines and found that only 21 later contracted the virus and had to be hospitalized. Twenty-one is obviously not zero. Vaccines are almost never perfect. But the Covid vaccines are turning it into the sort of risk that people accept every day.

 

Here’s a useful way to think about Israel’s numbers: Only 3.5 out of every 100,000 people vaccinated there were later hospitalized with Covid symptoms. During a typical flu season in the U.S., by comparison, roughly 150 out of every 100,000 people are hospitalized with flu symptoms.

 

And yet the seasonal flu does not grind life to a halt. It does not keep people from flying on airplanes, eating in restaurants, visiting their friends or going to school and work.

 

The vaccines will not produce “Covid zero.” But they are on pace — eventually, and perhaps even by summer — to produce something that looks a lot like normalcy. The rare exceptions won’t change that, no matter how much attention they receive. "

Of course, the flu deaths would be much higher without vaccinations. But the vaccines should be able to help normality make a comeback, hopefully soon!

Thank you for this.

[The_Impeccable_G]

I would like to see total number of deaths pre Covid, compared with total number after Covid over the same time period.

[+ IronMaus]

I would like to see total number of deaths pre Covid, compared with total number after Covid over the same time period.

I hope "after Covid" is sooner than later - but this Economist page has loads of data so far...

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/coronavirus-excess-deaths-tracker