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  • 2022-01-11 (xsd:date)
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  • Do 75% of All Covid Deaths Involve People With 4 Comorbidities? (en)
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  • In January 2022, a number of conservative commentators started posting messages falsely claiming that 75% of all COVID-19 deaths involved people with at least four comorbidities. This was evidence, they claimed, that the COVID-19 pandemic was overblown and that the disease (which has resulted in more than 830,000 deaths in the United States alone) was not as dangerous as the government was saying. Donald Trump Jr., for example, wrote on Twitter: Del Bigtree, a television producer and CEO of the anti-vaccination group Informed Consent Action Network, wrote: CDC director admits over 75% of Covid deaths had at least 4 pathological conditions (comorbidities). Since the total death rate is 0.27% this means healthy people have a 0.0% death risk. #WakeUp #NothingToFearButFearItself. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not say that all COVID-19 deaths involved people with four comorbidities. The CDC said that a new study found that 75% of such deaths among fully vaccinated individuals involved people with four comorbidities. Contrary to the posts above, this study supports the idea that vaccinations are quite effective against COVID-19. The claim stems from remarks made by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky about a recent COVID-19 study during an appearance on the television show Good Morning America. Walensky was responding to a question about some encouraging headlines regarding a new study talking about how well vaccines are working to prevent severe illness. Walensky briefly summarized the study on 1.2 million vaccinated individuals and then said: The overwhelming number of deaths, over 75%, occurred in people who had at least four comorbidities. So really these are people who were unwell to begin with. It is this last sentence that went viral on social media. In the clip's full context, however, it's clear that Walensky wasn't talking about all COVID-19 deaths, but COVID-19 deaths among fully vaccinated individuals. Here's a transcript of this exchange: This exchange can be glimpsed around the 2:30 mark of the following video: https://youtu.be/gxZT7ra-oxs?t=152While it's clear in the original video that Walensky was talking about fully vaccinated individuals, an edited version of this clip makes it seem as if Walensky was referring to all COVID-19 deaths. In the following video, the reporter's question (which notes that this is encouraging news about how well vaccines are working) and Walensky's summary of the study (which notes that she is referring to a study of 1.2 million vaccinated individuals) were both removed. (en)
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