All the data shows that the post-vaccine delta variant is more infectious, especially because it can be spread with the help of fully vaccinated individuals. (Related: Fully vaccinated Americans are SPREADING covid's delta variant, health expert warns.)
This is supported by data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. Since July 5, cases per million have risen from 35 cases per million to over 350 cases per million.
But despite this, an investigation conducted by journalist Taylor Penley for The Western Journal shows that the fatality rate in the U.S. began declining sharply around July 15.
The data from Johns Hopkins shows that the fatality rate went from around 2.29 percent on July 15 to around 0.70 percent as of Tuesday, Aug. 10.
"It's a sharp contrast to a few short months ago when the fatality rate in the U.S. reached 2.91 percent around March 2. And it begs us to ask why news of this decline isn't more widespread," wrote Penley.
Delta fatality rate difficult to figure out
Multiple sources point out that the data is inconclusive on whether or not the post-vaccine delta variant is deadlier.
Because the data is inconclusive, so-called public health experts instead like to point out that most of the COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are likely due to the delta variant. This conveniently ignores the fact that most current COVID-19 cases are because of the post-vaccine variant.
"Since the latest projections suggest that more than 94 percent of current COVID-19 cases are due to [the delta variant] … we can be fairly confident that the overwhelming majority of deaths we are seeing are due to delta," said Dr. Francesca L. Beaudoin, interim chair of epidemiology at Brown University.
Steffanie Strathdee, Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences at the University of California, San Diego's Department of Medicine, explained why it is difficult for researchers to calculate the post-vaccine delta variant's death rate.
She said the U.S. is "falling short of surveillance." It is understood that a vast majority of cases currently active in the country are from the delta variant, but a lack of exact numbers makes it difficult to understand its death rate.
"If we only test people who are sick, those who have mild symptoms or who are asymptomatic don't end up in the denominator," she said.
Complicating matters further is the fact that analysts are not factoring in people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This means that the death rates for fully vaccinated individuals are not even considered, let alone compared to the death rates for unvaccinated people.
Stephen Kimmel, chair of the University of Florida's Department of Epidemiology, explained that other factors also have to be taken into account.
"Fatality rates will also differ based on a person's underlying risk factors," he said. "They will be much higher in the elderly and those with underlying risk factors and lower in young healthy individuals."
Mainstream media continues delta variant fearmongering
But this lack of conclusive data regarding the delta variant's supposed deadliness has not stopped mainstream media outlets from attempting to frame it as such.
National Geographic recently headlined an article: "Why is delta more infectious and deadly? New research holds answers." CNN anchor Jim Acosta mockingly called the variant the "DeSantis variant," and warned Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about "all of the funerals in the days to come."
"The establishment media's fixation remains on the brooding, powerful presence of this variant that's [supposedly] taking the country – and the world – by storm," wrote Penley. She further speculated that the fearmongering regarding the delta variant is all about keeping the population controlled. She wrote:
"We can speculate why they're avoiding reporting any progress: Governments that have used the coronavirus as an excuse to control the population could be loath to allow perceptions of the situation to improve too much; Big Tech and the establishment media, which have been abetting those governments from the beginning, have an incentive to downplay it."
Learn more about the attempts to overemphasize and fearmonger about the post-vaccine delta variant by reading the latest articles at Pandemic.news.
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