It is being reported today that a study at Imperial College London “modelled the spread of the disease in 185 countries and territories between December 2020 and December 2021, [and] found that without Covid vaccines 31.4 million people would have died, and that 19.8 million of these deaths were avoided.”
That is a staggering, historical achievement. At the same time, it reminds me of how bad people are at basing their beliefs on evidence. If we could effectively update our beliefs based on empirical information, people around the world would be celebrating this achievement and hosting parades for vaccine scientists. As things are, I have to wonder if with the political lessons taken from this pandemic we would even make such an effort in the future. Quite possibly through political polarization and the linkage of beliefs about medical facts with personal identity and ideology the world at large has become more fragile rather than more resilient through this experience.
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The Dangerous Rewiring of Canadians’ Minds
The convoy blockades highlight the risk of a fact-free, conspiracy-filled future that could destroy our democracy.
https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2022/06/22/Dangerous-Rewiring-Canadian-Minds/
Covid-19 vaccines saved an estimated 20m lives during their first year
Their impact in poor countries depends on how effectively governments prioritised recipients
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Nonetheless, a new study finds that jabs cut the disease’s death toll by 63% during their first year.
Without lockdowns or vaccines, COVID would have killed 800,000 people; PHAC study
The worst-case free-for-all scenario estimated that 34 million Canadians would have got the virus had it been allowed to run free
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/without-lockdowns-or-vaccines-covid-would-have-killed-800000-people-phac-study
A study finally shows just how much deadlier COVID has been for Republicans.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/10/covid-deadlier-republicans-study.html