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TenSC's avatar

Thanks for your analysis. From a layman’s POV, the PCR test is and has been ripe for manipulation. So much of the fear narrative and so much of the data depends on PCR data taken at face value as accurate & valid. If even a small amount of it is not, the narrative cannot be supported. So it would not surprise me at all it PCR tests are either are outside any control parameter or are being manipulated to try and achieve some result. Or both.

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Adriana's avatar

thanks for analyzing this! the fear mongering around Omicron has been non-stop and South Africa has been the main example friends and family point to as a way to propagate fear and distrust.

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John's avatar

To make sense out of South Africa's data, follow Pieter Streicher - so far the news about Omicron is good, except (possibly) less so for the vaccinated. https://twitter.com/pieterstreicher

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Juan Chamie's avatar

Thanks John. I've seen it. He's assuming legit data. If cases are artificially inflated, severity is underestimated. Time will tell.

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Juan Chamie's avatar

Thanks Alex. I've seen it. He assumes the data is legit.

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Alex Eckelberry's avatar

Yeah. Concerning when we have potential data fidelity issues like this.

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Damascena Tanis's avatar

I’ve been wanting to ask you, if I can get this question answered by a statistician it would satisfy a huge question for me.

I’m unvaccinated and totally convinced by the science behind ivermectin. I’ve been taking it prophylactically. Our 14 yr old son got sick, and I did not. Despite lots of time spent with him.

What I’ve been curious about is I keep seeing that cases are rising in areas like Great Britain with high vaccination. Even the vaccinated make up a larger portion of people in hospital.

What I’m curious about is in the US we hear that the unvaccinated make up 90% of hospitalizations.

What is the difference in death rates between the two countries?

Is there a way to tell whether or not vaccines are positively impacting serious outcomes?

Is there any provable benefit?

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TRM's avatar

Half the population is under 25 years old in sub-saharan Africa. I don't know if that holds true all the way down to SA or not. They are going into their summer so seasonal detrending might be a factor.

I know the people of SA won a court case for Ivermectin use as a treatment. How widespread is it?

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Beth Price-Almeida's avatar

Hopefully more widespread than it is here (I assume you meant Ivermectin use). Just about the time I heard Ivermectin and COVID prophalaxsis in the same sentence, they started locking it down and it is still nearly impossible to get in Alabama. It can be ordered from overseas, India, i think. But, I've been hearing bad things about what is actually sent. I'm sort of screwed because I told my doc that neither myself, my husband, or my son would be getting the vaccine and we had not had covid yet, and I was told that not getting the vaccine especially for my kid was like letting him sit and play in the middle of a busy highway. That, of course, pissed me off so then I responded with at least it's voluntary playing in the street and I didn't push him into the middle of oncoming traffic like I would you! So, no doc, no medicine. We are taking the vitamins and I added Holy Basil as well.

I'm starting to get a little upset by this whole 'pandemic' issue. Generally speaking, (if that's even possible now), pandemics don't last that long do they? My family is 3, we can't lose one or we lose all. I know that sounds selfish but normal scared people can be that way as long as they get under control pretty quick, right?

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