Dr. Ashish Jha, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, claimed during a Tuesday appearance on C-SPAN that U.S. Covid-19 deaths would be "close to zero" if "everybody was up to date on their vaccines and people got treated with Paxlovid."
"I will say one thing, which is again, the power of these vaccines," Jha said. "Right now, we have four to five hundred Americans still dying every day. If everybody was up to date on their vaccines and people got treated with Paxlovid as they’re supposed to, deaths would go to close to zero across America."
Dr. Ashish Jha: "Right now we have 400 to 500 Americans still dying every day. If everybody was up to date on their vaccines and people got treated with Paxlovid as they're supposed to, deaths would go to close to zero across America." pic.twitter.com/pihOiwi8k6
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) August 16, 2022
If Jha's stunning claim were true, of course, virtually none of the hundreds of daily Covid deaths ('with' or 'from') would include anyone who was "up to date" on Covid vaccines and used the drug Paxlovid. On the first part, as Rational Ground's Justin Hart points out, one only need refer to any set of county data to realize that "the vast majority of people noted as Covid deaths are fully vaccinated and fully boosted."
Hey @AshishKJha46 this is ludicrous and false. All across the country the vast majority of people noted as Covid deaths are fully vaccinate and fully boosted. Go to any county report. Here’s San Diego’s official report. https://t.co/TQaLM3ydQv pic.twitter.com/Ugxgf4WN2a
— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) August 16, 2022
Regarding Paxlovid, things get murkier because of lack of data, as Dr. Vinay Prasad notes.
Let's also remember how many + randomized trials we have to support the use of Paxlovid in vaccinated and boosted individuals
— Vinay Prasad, MD MPH ????? (@VPrasadMDMPH) August 1, 2022
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And how much $$$ have we given Pfizer
Billion
How much indication drift (healthy 20 year old)?
Tons
Super hard Follow the Science work!! https://t.co/4iVsGvdvwQ
Yet, with Paxlovid in wide use, are we truly to believe that most of the daily Covid deaths are shunning the drug?
If everyone was up to date on vaccines. Then who is 'supposed' to get Paxlovid a drug with zero positive data in vaccinated people.
— Vinay Prasad, MD MPH ????? (@VPrasadMDMPH) August 17, 2022
Anyone can make things up if data is not required ?? https://t.co/vZ8IUgbhIs
Will Dr. Jha get cited by Big Tech for being a purveyor of misinformation? Don't hold your breath.
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