This chart made my day yesterday because it illustrates how even a major new 'case-demic' of surging COVID infections, fueled by the highly contagious Delta/Indian variant -- while surely concerning for a number of reasons -- is not driving a major death spike in the UK. Why? Immunity. Like the United States, Great Britain has suffered quite a lot during the pandemic, racking up horrible death tolls and relatively high death rates. But in the new 'third wave' of cases, featuring an especially transmissible strain of the virus, cases and deaths are at last decoupled. This is fantastic:
This picture paints about 3000 words. pic.twitter.com/IJ6AJA1YEr
— Alison Buttenheim (@abuttenheim) July 20, 2021
The reasons behind this massive, life-saving improvement are threefold:
(1) Tragically, many of the Britons (and Americans) who were most vulnerable to the virus died during previous case waves.
(2) Those who've survived bouts with COVID have developed substantial natural immunity against the disease.
(3) For many millions who fall into neither of the above categories -- especially elderly and immunocompromised people -- the vaccines are working spectacularly well, forming a wall of protection against severe cases and deaths for the vaccinated. I added some thoughts here:
Many who could/would have died are instead protected by the vaccines. It’s awesome. My decision to get vaxxed wasn’t so much about a fear that I was at serious risk of death from COVID. Risk was actually quite low, being young/healthy. I had other reasons: https://t.co/auTRU7dRmJ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 20, 2021
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a top COVID expert who led the FDA under President Trump, marshals additional data to make the same point:
Covid cases continue to rise sharply in UK as Delta sweeps through, but hospitalizations and deaths continue to be decoupled from the rising spread when viewed relative to similar points in other waves of infection — reflecting protection of most vulnerable through vaccination. pic.twitter.com/HInqn8c2KI
— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) July 20, 2021
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Among America's vaccine hesitant, it turns out, was Rep. Steve Scalise, the House GOP Whip. He'd been deferring the decision for months, occasionally telling curious reporters that he'd get his shots "soon." But not until this past weekend did he actually choose to pull the trigger, explaining his reasoning to a local newspaper:
It wasn't until Sunday that Scalise actually received his first Pfizer vaccination at an Ochsner clinic in Jefferson Parish. Why did the No. 2 Republican in the House wait until now? “Especially with the delta variant becoming a lot more aggressive and seeing another spike, it was a good time to do it,” he said in an interview. “When you talk to people who run hospitals, in New Orleans or other states, 90% of people in hospital with delta variant have not been vaccinated. That’s another signal the vaccine works.”... Scalise said he waited, in part, because he tested positive for Covid antibodies a while back – he believes he had a mild case of the virus at some point – and thought he had some immunity from that...“It’s safe and effective,” Scalise said, noting he supported funding that allowed the Trump administration to fast-track the process. “It was heavily tested on thousands of people before the FDA gave its approval. Some people believe that it might have been rushed. That’s not the case. I’ve been vocal about that for months. I know their process has high standards. The FDA approval process is probably the most respected in the world.” Scalise said he would encourage others to get vaccinated as well, but opposes any mandatory rules.
Entirely reasonable, and hopefully persuasive to some fellow skeptical holdouts. And he's right -- nearly all new COVID hospitalizations and deaths are among unvaccinated people, who are more heavily concentrated in red states with low vaccination rates. I'll leave you with this:
Sad to hear about an unvaccinated GOP activist dying of COVID in MA. Many are dunking on her in death, noting some of her conspiratorial online posts, but this article paints a textured & humanizing picture. You can urge vaccination without being a ghoul. https://t.co/JKXOVmZRS6
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 20, 2021
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