As far back as August 2020, I have been decrying the American press for its nearly complete silence on comorbidities, the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient, when discussing COVID-19.
Mortality data have shown from the very beginning that the COVID-19 virus age-discriminates, with deaths overwhelmingly concentrated in people who are older and suffer comorbidities. This is perhaps the only uncontroversial piece of evidence we have about this virus. Nearly all US fatalities have been among people older than 55; and yet a large number of Americans are still convinced that the risk to those younger than 55 is almost the same as to those who are older.This misperception translates directly into a degree of fear for one’s health that for most people vastly exceeds the actual risk.
A year later, the media mentions that General Colin Powell had a significant health condition that left him vulnerable to infection.
After former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s death from complications of COVID-19, experts pointed out that the 84-year-old Powell had a history of medical conditions that significantly raised his risk of severe COVID-19, though he was fully vaccinated.Among them, Powell had multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer that, both by itself and as a result of treatments given for the disease, can weaken the immune system.”Myeloma patients, they make a lot of antibodies. But, they only make one type. So their ability to make normal antibodies to fend off infections is impaired. They also have T-cell, or cellular immunity, defects that contribute to their inability not only to fight off infections, but mount effective responses to vaccines,” said Dr. James Berenson, medical and scientific director of the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research.
Of course, the press is most interested in maintaining the narrative that vaccination is the most critical factor in ending the pandemic. It is becoming apparent that many vaccinated people come down with COVID, and, some like Powell sadly dying, they are scrambling for “alternative facts.”
As I am a generous spirit, I would like to help our media’s coverage. It turns out myeloma isn’t the only comorbidity that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists as contributing factor to the severity of COVID infections. There is a reasonably long list, and many of these conditions are common among those who have died.
The CDC website has a whole section of comorbidity coverage as well. Per the CDC:
For over 5% of these deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned on the death certificate. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 4.0 additional conditions or causes per death.
And here is a snapshot of the staggering number of comorbidities to compare against the total number of COVID deaths:
In a nutshell, those who suffer the worst effects of COVID are elderly with underlying health conditions or obese. Instead of pushing for vaccines, boosters, and vaccine blending, our media would do well to encourage everyone to get as healthy as possible.
Suppose the press had challenged public-health officials with this instead. Additionally, perhaps Americans would trust the reporting and analysis related to the coronavirus. Trust in the press has hit historic new lows, and the politicized screed passed out as “science” is part of the reason.
In a related topic, our press derided Florida’s Governor Rob DeSantis for keeping his state open and focusing on providing monoclonal antibody treatments to his citizens. However, the news has been silent on Florida’s recent success. So, I would like to shine a spotlight here.
New infections per 100,000 residents dropped to 12 over the past week, according to the New York Times coronavirus tracker. Over the past 14 days, cases dropped by 48%.Other states with far more expansive pandemic restrictions are seeing COVID-19 continue to spread at faster rates than Florida.In New York, for example, the rate of new cases is more than double that of Florida’s at 25 per 100,000 residents over the past week.In Washington state, the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents was at 31 during the past week.
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