Read the Wiki for posting rules. Many posts are removed because OP didn't read the rules.

Notes from the mods:

  • parent
    parent root

  • An acquaintance who was fully vax-positive during Covid is now in denial, specifically about the toll of Covid. Back then, they went to the US to get vaccinated when it was hard to get in our country, and advised me on that process too when I asked.

    Now they’re saying (FB comment on a post by a mutual friend) that the death toll from Covid was mostly people who were already “at death‘s door” (their words) and that “alone [it] killed very few.”

    I know plenty of anecdotal cases that refute this, but what statistics would do so?

    parent

    It's a tricky one because COVID testing is way down from its heyday (probably at least 90% less) so deaths aren't attributed to it even though it continues to kill and harm on a large scale.

    Like you say, a lot of what we have is anecdotes, but there are countless stories of people who see an unusually large number of deaths in their circle.
    And while the elderly and the vulnerable are still the main victims of COVID, younger, 'healthy' individuals are increasingly more represented in the deaths as well.
    People who are nearing retirement age, thinking they can take it easy soon, but they don't realize that their actions and their government's betrayal are railroading them to have their ticket punched.

    Sorry, I know this isn't what you asked for.

    parent root

    Yes, it’s hard now when Covid testing is way down and the tests aren’t very sensitive to current variants, but surely there are studies from the earlier period of Covid – when deaths were high and tests were more accurate and widespread – that would refute the denialist narrative.

    And are younger ‘healthy’ individuals really increasingly more represented? My recollection is that there were, sadly, plenty of those right from the beginning and have been, all the way through.

    So, can anyone point to studies to support or refute either of these claims?

    parent root

    Here are some numbers for Michigan from 2020 to current.
    It shows that even for 2020, it definitely wasn't only people "at death's door."

    I've seen studies that broke down deaths by age group and linked to some of them, and the age ranges that your average person expects to be 'safe,' such as 35-55, also had significant death numbers (5-10%+).

    I think the most interesting part of the above link is when you look at the ratio of COVID vs. pneumonia deaths.
    In 2020 through 2022, they are roughly 50-50. In 2023, there are over twice as many recorded pneumonia deaths compared to COVID, and over three times as many in 2024.
    And in the current year, the difference is nearing six times (660 COVID vs. 3,681 pneumonia).

    In my country, we had the same kind of statistics. COVID deaths were down over 80% because no one here tests anymore, but "deaths related to respiratory diseases" spiked like it were the upward part of a roller coaster.

    parent root

  • Ambulance demand spikes as flu season worsens

    NHS figures indicate fewer than half of eligible people in London have had the free flu vaccine this season.

    Experts have predicted the worst flu season for a decade, fuelled by a new type of a flu virus.

    parent