BWorld, Seven trends in COVID cases, vaccination, and causes of death

* My article in BusinessWorld,  December 20, 2021.
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In discussing the chart accompanying this piece, here is the data on vaccination rates as a percentage of population, as of Dec. 18: 81-84% for Denmark, Canada, Spain, South Korea; 72-79% for France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, the US, and Vietnam; Switzerland 68%, Poland 57%, Indonesia 55%, and the Philippines 51%. (Source: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations)

One, high vaccination rate countries continue to have a high if not a record-high number of COVID cases. Record highs recently were experienced by the UK, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzer-land, Norway, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Two, some low vaccination rate countries experience declining cases. Indonesia and the Philippines are clear example.

Three, a vaccination plateau continues in many of these countries. Vaccination rates as of Oct. 31: 76%-81% for Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain; the UK 73%, the US 67%, Switzerland 66%, Poland 54%, Vietnam 53%, Indonesia 43%, the Philippines 30%.

So, Spain and South Korea have marginally increased their vaccination rates from 80-81% on Oct. 31 to 83-84% on Dec. 18; Italy and Norway from 77% on Oct. 31 to 78-79% on Dec. 18; the UK and the Netherlands from 73% and 76% on Oct. 31 to 75% and 77% on Dec. 18.

Last Saturday, Dec. 18, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released the “Causes of Deaths in the Philippines (Preliminary): January to September 2021.” I include in the table in this piece the full year results from 2019 to give some additional perspective, then I computed the change from 2020 to 2021.

Four, there was a big increase of 39,100 deaths from ischemic heart diseases (heart attacks, etc.) in the first nine months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. There was also an increase of 4,400 deaths from hy-pertensive and other heart diseases.

Five, there was a big increase of 28,500 deaths from COVID, over the same months in 2021 and 2020.

Six, there was a big decline of 15,400 deaths from neoplasms/cancer, pneumonia, and tuberculosis. These could be instances of people with cancer and tuberculosis who got COVID and were counted as COVID deaths.

Seven, deaths from assault and suicides (intentional self-harm) declined. These could be due to closed bars and reduced gathering of people. Good thing that suicides have declined this year. The increase in heart diseases could be related to rising cases of myocarditis post-vaccination. In the Open VAERS, COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports (https://openvaers.com/covid-data), there were 965,841 re-ports through Dec. 10. According to these reports, there were 20,244 deaths, 106,129 hospitalizations, 35,529 severe allergic reactions, 33,675 permanently disabled, 19,039 myocarditis/pericarditis, 10,229 heart attacks. 

Meanwhile, COVID Call to Humanity (CCH, https://covidcalltohumanity.org/) put out a full-page ad in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Dec. 1, an “Open Letter to the Filipino People: An Appeal to Common Sense Regarding Forced Vaccinations.”

They highlighted some facts that “All the COVID-19 vaccines currently being administered by the Philippine government are still experimental in nature, (RA 11525, Section 2c) have not yet completed Stage III clinical trials… Based on official WHO statistics, the COVID-19 vaccines have generated more than 2.5 million reports of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) worldwide within this past year. (WHO VigiAccess database, vigiaccess.org).” Then the Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines (CDC Ph, https://cdcph.org/) put out its own full-page ad in the same paper on Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, “Every Life Matters: An Open Letter to the Filipino People Regarding the Medical, Ethical, Legal and Economic Issues of Mandatory Vaccination.”

They pointed out, among others, that “The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) must be upheld. The Philippines is a signatory… provides for, among others, the right to life (Article 6), the right to freely consent to medical experimentation (Article 7), and the right to thought, conscience and religion (Article 18). These rights cannot be derogated from even ‘in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation.’ (Article 4)… intended to prevent a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust and the flagrant human rights violations by Nazi and Fascist countries during World War II, all ostensibly committed in the name of public welfare.”

CDC Ph then made these calls, “Revoke IATF Resolution No. 148-B for being unreasonable, oppressive, discriminatory, and confiscatory of people’s lives, liberty, and property without due process of law. Categorically declare the COVID-19 vaccination to be voluntary, and to order all public and private sector agencies and offices to ensure free and informed choice in the implementation of the vaccination program…”

There has been a significant rise in number of total deaths this year as vaccinations rolled out. The huge vaccine procurements (P70 billion plus P12.5 billion for logistics, storage and transportation in 2021, a planned P61-billion procurement in 2022, logistics not included yet) contributed to huge jump in government borrowings (P73 billion/month in 2019, P208 billion/month in 2020, P247 billion/month until October 2021). There has been reduced mobility of people, work and business as vaccine discrimination continues. There is an absence of data and studies of the long-term health effect of vaccines. There is the entry of the more infectious but mild variant Omicron that contributes to natural infection leading to natural immunity.

These are among the reasons why the seemingly blind pursuit to mass vaccination and implicit vax mandate via discrimination should pause.

Merry Christmas, dear readers.