New study shows vaccine refusal's staggering cost in human life

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/10/15/2058232/-New-study-shows-vaccine-refusal-s-staggering-cost-in-human-life

New study shows vaccine refusal's staggering cost in human life
Laura Clawson
Daily Kos Staff
Friday October 15, 2021 · 9:34 AM EDT


COVID-19 is now the second-leading cause of death in the United States, despite the availability of safe, effective, and free vaccines. The promise of those vaccines showed itself when they first became widely available and COVID-19 dropped to be seventh on the list of causes of death. Then came the delta variant, and the levels of vaccination in the U.S. were not enough.

That proved deadly: A new study concludes that 90,000 deaths could have been avoided over a period of four months, from June through September, if more people had gotten vaccinated.

COVID-19 was the top cause of death in the U.S. for a period in late 2020 and early 2021, beating out the usual reliable No. 1 of heart disease. But by June, COVID-19 had dropped below cancer, accidents, stroke, and other respiratory illnesses—down by Alzheimer’s. Not anymore.

In September, according to the estimate released by the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation, COVID-19 was the top cause of death for people aged 35 to 54, second on the list for people 25 to 34 and 55 to 64, and third for people 65 and older. It was fourth for people aged 15 to 24, sixth for children 5 to 14, and seventh for children 1 to 4. The under-12s are still waiting for a vaccine to be authorized, but for everyone else, that didn’t need to happen.

More than half of the 90,000 preventable deaths—49,000 of them—occurred in September alone. Deaths declined somewhat in early October, but we’re still talking about a seven-day average over 1,600 deaths per day. Most of them preventable.

Meanwhile, Republicans are making opposition to vaccine mandates a core part of their party identity, above even fealty to corporate power. In this new study, we see the deadly cost of that stance.

[Sherman A1]

1. Anyone who chooses to remain unvaccinated

Deserves no sympathy in my opinion.

[NurseJackie]

5. I celebrate the death of every anti-vax idiot (and anti-mask idiot).

The sooner Covid wins and kills them all off, the better off we'll all be. With each and every death... one mouthpiece for lies and misinformation has been SILENCED. With each and every death... another human incubation chamber is eliminated and the risk of further mutations and spreading new variations is shut down.

With each and every death... valuable hospital resources aren't WASTED on someone who didn't want to live anyway. What a shame it is that they put our healthcare workers at risk and strain the system to the breaking point. How fucking SELFISH it is that they are preventing others from receiving the live-saving care that they NEED! The longer they live, these "covid-hoax" idiots are killing MORE than just themselves.

I don't even feel sympathy for the loved ones they leave behind. Why? Because this is what they WANTED! They knew the risks, they were warned. They saw the death and devastation. And worst of all they KNEW they had loved ones who'd be left behind, but they didn't care. If these idiots didn't care a SINGLE IOTA for their family, wives, husbands, children or their friends... then why should I? It's WASTED EMOTION to care about them.

The SELFISH BASTARDS made a CHOICE to give a "gift of their own death" to their loved ones, right?

Deserves no sympathy in my opinion.

Absolutely zero sympathy from me as well. They are members of a fucking DEATH CULT!! This is what they want. They remind me of the zealot snake handlers who act surprised when the snake bites them.

They deserve nothing except contempt and ridicule.

[Sherman A1]

7. Eloquently Stated

That is precisely how I feel.

[NurseJackie]

9. Thanks. I'm not sure about it being...

Thanks. I'm not sure about it being eloquent (it's more of an angry rant than anything else) but I appreciate the compliment and the hat-tip.

There are some folks who give me a lot of grief for my hard-nosed and unsympathetic stance. They think that ridicule and schadenfreude is wrong and unseemly. They seem to prefer a more gentle and coddling approach (as if this were only week-one of the vaccine trials). Fuck that shit. The only thing that's wrong and unseemly are the SENSELESS DEATHS among the innocent and most vulnerable that could have been prevented.

Anyway, in the face of those who oppose me on this, it's good to know that I'm not alone in my feelings.

[Demobrat]

8. I don't celebrate their deaths, exactly,

but I sure don’t feel sorry for them. That would be like feeling sorry for a habitual drunk driver who hit a tree, or an arsonist who got burned in his own fire.

[NurseJackie]

12. I think I understand your point. However...

I think I understand your point. However, if the arsonist had previously been successful in setting fire to multiple apartment buildings and nursing homes with people inside who died in the conflagration... wouldn't you celebrate that his reign of terror had ended?

If the habitual drunk driver had been running busloads of children into a ravine on a daily basis, wouldn't you celebrate that she had at long last crashed into a tree with an impact strong enough to force her lifeless body through the shards of her windshield so that it ultimately ends up flying into the same ravine with countless other children who had died at her hands?

I think it's important to remember and to keep in mind that none of my celebrating is happening in a vacuum. It's not without reason. It's not because I 'hate humanity.' It's not as though these people are blameless innocent victims. They're a member of a death cult. This is their goal. They do not care. Let them die. Give them what they want.

They deserve nothing more than a folding cot in a circus-tent-sized hospice facility... set up somewhere on the back acre of the county fairgrounds.

This needs to end NOW and these people are prolonging the misery for everyone else.

[Dustlawyer]

15. While I understand the anger I look at the maskless/unvaccinated as dupes of the RW media and

political machine. I don’t really have a lot of sympathy for them either.

I reserve my anger for those responsible for the message and the propaganda system they created. These deaths are on their hands and they know it but don’t care.

If there was ever a reason to fight to stop the two root causes of most of the country’s problems, including this one, it is this. The ability for media outlets to lie to their viewers to manipulate them to thinking and doing what the oligarchs (big advertisers) want is one root cause. The other is our campaign bribe/donation system funded by the same people (big donors/advertisers) that control our politicians. I believe they got to Manchin and Sinema to block everything to help Repugs win next year.

They have been manipulating a large section of our country’s population for their benefit. While I believe they don’t want COVID either, their leader at the time thought to claim it was a hoax by Democrats instead of facing it. He didn’t want to wear a mask due to his vanity so here we are.

COVID is the BIG LIE! If we want to stop this crap it will take a majority of Americans demanding truth in news and an end to all campaign donations, Super PACs, dark money, revolving door…. COVID has shown us how dangerous the perpetuation of this system is! We cannot address other issues such as climate change, immigration, guns, infrastructure and many others unless and until we fix these root causes that allow a shadow government to control our politicians and media.

[traitorsgalore]

20. So do I, they're evil incarnate

They don't care if they eliminate the entire human race. They're mass murderers spreading germ warfare. I was thinking today about putting a $10,000 bounty on every anti-vaxer's head, inspired by the Texas law that hunts women down. A $5,000 fine for mask-less maskholes would be great too.

The normalization of these covicidal murderers is the greatest mind-fuck of our generation.

[NurseJackie]

21. Honestly, I believe that they're being "empowered" by those who coddle them...

... and those who feel that we must "reason" with them and "negotiate" with them and on and on and on. This isn't week-one of the vaccine. We're not in the trial stages. They've had long enough.

They don't need to be normalized. You said it perfectly. Thank you!

[COL Mustard]

10. You're Too Kind. I've No More Fucks To Give For Them

[Clash City Rocker]

17. Thanks for the song, it's f**king hilarious

[mucifer]

2. Thanks for posting. FYI: Link to the actual study

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/covid19-and-other-leading-causes-of-death-in-the-us/?utm_campaign=KFF-2021-Coronavirus&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=170316430&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-82gSMRwSq8UvZY7Fq8UuhKPSG6mxvTJTCmw1CS4L1JqP_-SSukmCjHq9hoNQQBRSjNLu6QhjeGLi2d6efZAY2DdldiHg&utm_content=170316430&utm_source=hs_email

[gademocrat7]

3. Unvaccinated individuals are selfish fools.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Right to Lifers are their own hypocrisy

[Marthe48]

6. Ohio was updting deaths 1x weekly, now back up to 2x wk.

Oh. Dept. of Health update Tuesday and Friday since sometime in Sept., because the number of deaths started rising again. 393 people have died since Oct. 1, 2021.

318 Ohioans died from Oct. 12 to Oct. 15 If you look at local obits, there are many, many people age 30-60 who died.

[KS Toronado]

11. Wouldn't mind seeing reQublicOns keeping

up the pace that they're killing themselves off

[Farmer-Rick]

13. The Koch brothers and others are funnelling money into anti-vaxxer groups

Most of the violence and anti-vaxxer crap is being funded and backed by the people we allow to accumulate our national wealth without paying taxes. These are the same people bailed out during the 2008 crash with our tax dollars.

The filthy rich are misdirecting the justifiable anger at a failed economic system in order to force their agenda on the US. Remember they are the ones promoting Trump in all his ugliness.

The blame for these deaths falls squarely on the shoulders of the filthy rich.

[roamer65]

14. Less CO2 emissions.

Cold, but true.

[lindysalsagal]

16. Vax refusal is a powerful signal of loyalty to the religious group

Because religion can't control a virus, it has to reject it outright, preferring fake boogiemen that the religion can supposedly "protect" it's member from: i.e. Satan, demons, atheists, etc. The signal must be expensive to display, therefore securing the member's special standing amongst other members. Vax refusal is a powerful one, because the rest of society knows it is a personal sacrifice. It also is easier to risk because the actual incidence of live virus carriers is low. So, the vax refuser gets a huge payoff for a meager risk.

If the major religious leaders would relinquish this payoff, themselves, they could convince the followers to get vaxxed, because the sacrifice of refusal would lose it's emotional power. Indeed, if they admitted that they cannot control a virus, outright, they'd reverse the notion entirely, and getting vaxxed would become the powerful loyalty signal to protect the group.

I see this entirely the fault of world religious leaders. They want to claim their "pro-life" status, and yet, nearly a million of "god's children" have needlessly died.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. K&R

[dalton99a]

19. It's a shame that the cult leaders are not participating in the mass suicide

[pansypoo53219]

22. let darwin be darwin.