Press now adding context to COVID deaths to fit new narrative

The press is bending over backward today to provide context to the number of people dying from COVID who are fully vaccinated. They provided no such context last year when the pandemic began.

When deaths started piling up during the beginning of the pandemic, Gov. Tim Walz and a willing press used the raw numbers to scare Minnesotans into following his executive orders, giving up their freedoms in the process.

A very high percentage of the deaths were among the elderly, with most living in some form of congregate care. Many had serious comorbidities and most likely died “with” COVID rather than “from” COVID. With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that less than 100 Minnesotans under age 50 died with or from COVID in 2020, and many of them had serious comorbidities.

Whenever Walz went on TV to scare Minnesotans, he used raw death totals, making people believe they could be next, no matter their age. Remember the morgue? The media provided no context.

Whenever someone tried to point this out and offer some context, they were shouted down as uncaring or accused of politicizing the pandemic.

Fast forward to today. The press is working overtime to prove that breakthrough cases are rare and only occurring among the elderly. Minnesota Public Radio is now reporting breakthrough cases by adjusting for age — something they never did when the deaths were mounting last year.

Adjusted for age, unvaccinated Minnesotans have been about four times more likely to get COVID-19 than those who’ve been vaccinated — and 16 times more likely to be hospitalized or die from it.

Forget the raw data — we need context! Just because 40% of the deaths are among people who are vaccinated doesn’t mean our vaccination strategies aren’t working!

For the record, I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to provide context to breakthrough cases. I just reject the selective use of it to support this year’s narrative (vaccines are working) over last year’s (COVID mostly affects the sick and elderly).

Lies, damned lies and statistics.