Discussion:
Death over Vaccination???
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a322x1n
2021-10-14 22:54:42 UTC
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ing-death-over-vaccination/ar-AAPwM7x?ocid=msedgntp>

<https://tinyurl.com/5f7595ft>

How many thousands of people are choosing death over vaccination?
Philip Bump, 5 hrs ago.

There is a chain of events that has almost certainly happened at least
once in the United States this year. A person eligible for a coronavirus
vaccination decides against getting it, having seen articles in
right-wing media or coverage on Fox News misleadingly or falsely
downplaying the efficacy and safety of immunization. That person has
then contracted covid-19 and died.

Figuring out how many times this has occurred is trickier. For one
thing, there can be myriad reasons for not getting vaccinated, including
lack of access to calculated opposition. For another, vaccination vastly
reduces the chances of contracting and dying of covid-19, but that still
can occur. For a third, examples that we might have are necessarily
anecdotal: Just because one woman’s child says that a conservative media
personality persuaded her not to get vaccinated before her death doesn’t
mean that’s common or even true.

Figuring out how many times this has occurred is trickier. For one
thing, there can be myriad reasons for not getting vaccinated, including
lack of access to calculated opposition. For another, vaccination vastly
reduces the chances of contracting and dying of covid-19, but that still
can occur. For a third, examples that we might have are necessarily
anecdotal: Just because one woman’s child says that a conservative media
personality persuaded her not to get vaccinated before her death doesn’t
mean that’s common or even true.

(It’s useful to understand what constitutes “preventable” here. In
short: deaths that occurred among the unvaccinated, with an age-based
adjustment downward to account for the fact that vaccines do not prevent
all deaths.)

Kaiser also conducts polling looking at self-described willingness to
get vaccinated. It found that the group most resistant to vaccination is
and has long been Republicans. More than a fifth of Republicans say they
won’t get a dose of a vaccine (though vaccine requirements may soften
that opposition).

What did we see this summer? Looking at county-level data on
vaccinations and deaths (data that excludes a number of counties in
which data isn’t reported), we see two trends. The first was that deaths
in counties that voted for Donald Trump in 2020 surged past the number
of deaths in counties that voted for Joe Biden. The second was that the
percentage of fully vaccinated people in Biden-voting counties
consistently tracked ahead of the percentage in Trump-voting ones. In
fact, by the end of September, a lower percentage of residents of
Trump-voting counties had been vaccinated than had been vaccinated in
Biden-voting ones by the end of June.

As we’ve reported previously, 2020 voting and vaccination rates
correlate strongly. In other words, more pro-Trump counties are pretty
consistently less vaccinated. (Top left on the graph below is strongly
pro-Biden and heavily vaccinated; bottom right is strongly pro-Trump and
less vaccinated.)

The pattern over the summer, then, was that Biden-voting counties
continued to outpace Trump-voting ones in vaccinations — and that
Trump-voting counties continued to make up more of the coronavirus death
toll.

What’s important to remember, too, is that there are a lot more people
in those Biden-voting counties. If we adjust the death toll by
population, we see that Trump-voting counties really pulled away from
Biden-voting ones over the course of the fourth wave.

So we’ve connected some dots: more deaths in more Republican places that
are less vaccinated, comporting with Kaiser’s assessments of the number
of preventable deaths. These are correlations, not necessarily proof
that Republicans are suffering more preventable deaths. There was a
surge in the more-Republican Sun Belt last summer, too, as Florida Gov.
Ron DeSantis (R) liked to remind people as his state made up a
disproportionately large share of deaths this summer. Here, though,
we’re looking at counties nationally, not just at states. What’s more,
it’s possible that Florida’s vaccination numbers were inflated by winter
residents who usually reside in northern states, leaving the state more
at risk.

Now, we come to the other side of the political question, the one that’s
harder to answer. How many of these people who didn’t get vaccinated
chose not to do so? There’s been good reporting on barriers to vaccine
access, including location and scheduling. Deaths of those who couldn’t
get vaccinated are as preventable as the deaths of those who chose not
to.

To answer this question, we have little recourse but to look at
anecdotal data — for example, that Fox News’s prime-time programming,
heavily watched and often cited by Republicans as a trusted news source,
has consistently and relentlessly spurred skepticism about the vaccines.
Analysis by the watchdog group Media Matters found that Fox News aired a
segment or commentary undercutting vaccination efforts on every day from
April through September, save two. The network continues that effort
apace.

The network regularly casts those who resist vaccination or vaccine
requirements as heroes and those who adhere to recommendations as
guileless sheep. It’s a constant on a network that’s watched by millions
of people every night, a group that includes a disproportionately large
number of Republican.

To assume that a viewer of that coverage or a consumer of other
right-wing efforts to foment a cultural fight over the vaccine was led
to not get vaccinated and then died is not only a fair assumption but an
unavoidable conclusion.

The question, then, is: How many of those preventable deaths could have
been prevented if politics had been excised from the conversation?
Ted
2021-10-15 00:57:05 UTC
Permalink
On Thu, 14 Oct 2021 22:54:42 GMT, a322x1n <***@void.void> wrote:
<https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/how-many-thousands-of-people-are-cho
os
Post by a322x1n
ing-death-over-vaccination/ar-AAPwM7x?ocid=msedgntp>
<https://tinyurl.com/5f7595ft>
How many thousands of people are choosing death over vaccination?
Philip Bump, 5 hrs ago.
There is a chain of events that has almost certainly happened at least
once in the United States this year. A person eligible for a
coronavirus
Post by a322x1n
vaccination decides against getting it, having seen articles in
right-wing media or coverage on Fox News misleadingly or falsely
downplaying the efficacy and safety of immunization. That person has
then contracted covid-19 and died.
Figuring out how many times this has occurred is trickier. For one
thing, there can be myriad reasons for not getting vaccinated,
including
Post by a322x1n
lack of access to calculated opposition. For another, vaccination vastly
reduces the chances of contracting and dying of covid-19, but that still
can occur. For a third, examples that we might have are necessarily
anecdotal: Just because one woman�s child says that a conservative
media
Post by a322x1n
personality persuaded her not to get vaccinated before her death
doesn�t
Post by a322x1n
mean that�s common or even true.
Figuring out how many times this has occurred is trickier. For one
thing, there can be myriad reasons for not getting vaccinated,
including
Post by a322x1n
lack of access to calculated opposition. For another, vaccination vastly
reduces the chances of contracting and dying of covid-19, but that still
can occur. For a third, examples that we might have are necessarily
anecdotal: Just because one woman�s child says that a conservative
media
Post by a322x1n
personality persuaded her not to get vaccinated before her death
doesn�t
Post by a322x1n
mean that�s common or even true.
(It�s useful to understand what constitutes �preventable� here. In
short: deaths that occurred among the unvaccinated, with an
age-based
Post by a322x1n
adjustment downward to account for the fact that vaccines do not prevent
all deaths.)
Kaiser also conducts polling looking at self-described willingness to
get vaccinated. It found that the group most resistant to
vaccination is
Post by a322x1n
and has long been Republicans. More than a fifth of Republicans say they
won�t get a dose of a vaccine (though vaccine requirements may
soften
Post by a322x1n
that opposition).
What did we see this summer? Looking at county-level data on
vaccinations and deaths (data that excludes a number of counties in
which data isn�t reported), we see two trends. The first was that
deaths
Post by a322x1n
in counties that voted for Donald Trump in 2020 surged past the number
of deaths in counties that voted for Joe Biden. The second was that the
percentage of fully vaccinated people in Biden-voting counties
consistently tracked ahead of the percentage in Trump-voting ones. In
fact, by the end of September, a lower percentage of residents of
Trump-voting counties had been vaccinated than had been vaccinated in
Biden-voting ones by the end of June.
As we�ve reported previously, 2020 voting and vaccination rates
correlate strongly. In other words, more pro-Trump counties are pretty
consistently less vaccinated. (Top left on the graph below is
strongly
Post by a322x1n
pro-Biden and heavily vaccinated; bottom right is strongly
pro-Trump and
Post by a322x1n
less vaccinated.)
The pattern over the summer, then, was that Biden-voting counties
continued to outpace Trump-voting ones in vaccinations � and that
Trump-voting counties continued to make up more of the coronavirus death
toll.
What�s important to remember, too, is that there are a lot more
people
Post by a322x1n
in those Biden-voting counties. If we adjust the death toll by
population, we see that Trump-voting counties really pulled away from
Biden-voting ones over the course of the fourth wave.
So we�ve connected some dots: more deaths in more Republican places
that
Post by a322x1n
are less vaccinated, comporting with Kaiser�s assessments of the
number
Post by a322x1n
of preventable deaths. These are correlations, not necessarily proof
that Republicans are suffering more preventable deaths. There was a
surge in the more-Republican Sun Belt last summer, too, as Florida Gov.
Ron DeSantis (R) liked to remind people as his state made up a
disproportionately large share of deaths this summer. Here, though,
we�re looking at counties nationally, not just at states. What�s
more,
Post by a322x1n
it�s possible that Florida�s vaccination numbers were inflated by
winter
Post by a322x1n
residents who usually reside in northern states, leaving the state more
at risk.
Now, we come to the other side of the political question, the one
that�s
Post by a322x1n
harder to answer. How many of these people who didn�t get vaccinated
chose not to do so? There�s been good reporting on barriers to
vaccine
Post by a322x1n
access, including location and scheduling. Deaths of those who
couldn�t
Post by a322x1n
get vaccinated are as preventable as the deaths of those who chose not
to.
To answer this question, we have little recourse but to look at
anecdotal data � for example, that Fox News�s prime-time
programming,
Post by a322x1n
heavily watched and often cited by Republicans as a trusted news source,
has consistently and relentlessly spurred skepticism about the
vaccines.
Post by a322x1n
Analysis by the watchdog group Media Matters found that Fox News aired a
segment or commentary undercutting vaccination efforts on every day from
April through September, save two. The network continues that effort
apace.
The network regularly casts those who resist vaccination or vaccine
requirements as heroes and those who adhere to recommendations as
guileless sheep. It�s a constant on a network that�s watched by
millions
Post by a322x1n
of people every night, a group that includes a disproportionately large
number of Republican.
To assume that a viewer of that coverage or a consumer of other
right-wing efforts to foment a cultural fight over the vaccine was led
to not get vaccinated and then died is not only a fair assumption but an
unavoidable conclusion.
The question, then, is: How many of those preventable deaths could have
been prevented if politics had been
excised from the conversation?
Indeed.

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