Red Covid

[ATeam]

There's talk now of "Red Covid."

'Red COVID'? Coronavirus deaths are highest in counties with the largest share of Trump voters

The vaccination gap between Democrats and Republicans is mirrored by a partisan divide in COVID deaths, which peaked in October

www.marketwatch.com

 

[Turtle]

That's what happens when you politicize something that's not at all political. Politicizing a vaccine makes about as much sense as politicizing a sphygmomanometer.

 

[ATeam]

In this case, what happens when you politicize something that ought not be political is fewer Republicans than Democrats get vaccinated, so more Republicans die.

 

[Turtle]

I wasn't aware that the CDC, or anyone else, actually tracked political affiliation of covid deaths. Ya learn something new every day.

 

[Pilgrim]

That's what happens when you politicize something that's not at all political. Politicizing a vaccine makes about as much sense as politicizing a sphygmomanometer.

That being said, we've all seen the quote from VP Harris (remember her?): "But if Donald Trump tells us we should take it, I’m not taking it.” Biden took a similar position. Then at their hypocritical best, they've mandated to those ignorant, redneck Trump voters along with the African-Americans - 90% of whom voted for Biden, and are 30% vaccinated - that they either get the jab or lose their jobs and suffer other penalties. They politicized the vaccine from the outset and are now surprised at the resistance? What's wrong with this picture?

 

[coalminer]

Did Kamala Harris Refuse To Be Vaccinated with the 'Trump Vaccine'?

Harris also allegedly discouraged others from being vaccinated against COVID-19 during the 2020 election campaign.

www.snopes.com

Here is what she said.


Sent from my iPhone using EO Forums

 

[Pilgrim]

Here is what she said, regardless of how Snopes spins it. "Refuse to be vaccinated..." is not the point.

"If the public health professionals, if Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I'll be the first in line to take it, absolutely. But if Donald Trump tells us that we should take it, I'm not taking it," Harris said.

In doing so she politicized the vaccine from the outset, at a time at a time when politicians should have been making a bipartisan effort to get people to accept it. But since Trump was telling everyone they should take the vaccine at that time, logic follows that she was declaring her refusal to follow his recommendation to take it.

Kamala Harris Says She Wouldn't Trust a Vaccine Trump Recommended

 

[Ragman]

Here is what she said, regardless of how Snopes spins it....

Odd, when it fits their position, Snopes is the go to reference. When it doesn't, it's a spin.

Smh

 

[muttly]

Did Kamala Harris Refuse To Be Vaccinated with the 'Trump Vaccine'?

Harris also allegedly discouraged others from being vaccinated against COVID-19 during the 2020 election campaign.

www.snopes.com

Here is what she said.


Sent from my iPhone using EO Forums

Joe and Kamala both politicized the new vaccine during the campaign and sowed doubt in whether people should take it with their comments.
Supposed “81million voters” heard that message.
They made the bed…

 

[Pilgrim]

Odd, when it fits their position, Snopes is the go to reference. When it doesn't, it's a spin.

Smh

Not even close. Read the 2nd sentence: "Refuse to be vaccinated..." is not the point." She politicized the vaccine, pure and simple. That's the topic of discussion and the Snopes opinion is irrelevant.

 

[muttly]

Odd, when it fits their position, Snopes is the go to reference. When it doesn't, it's a spin.

Smh

Can we fact check this post?

 

[Turtle]

Odd, when it fits their position, Snopes is the go to reference. When it doesn't, it's a spin.

Smh

You can count on one hand how many times something political out of Snopes is the go to reference for somebody on the Right.

 

[ATeam]

I wasn't aware that the CDC, or anyone else, actually tracked political affiliation of covid deaths. Ya learn something new every day.

The CDC is not doing that analysis. Various other entities are (media, foundations, a legislative caucus). Click link for examples:

COVID-19 deaths are much higher in Washingtonâs Republican counties, analysis shows

The death toll from the “fifth wave” of COVID-19 is hitting Republican counties in Washington much harder than Democratic ones, according to a new analysis.

www.opb.org

Washington Post reporter Philip Blump put it succinctly:

"More deaths from the virus occur in places where there are more cases.
There are more cases in places where vaccination rates are lower.
Vaccination rates are lower in places that voted more heavily Republican in 2020.”

That's the way it is now. It is not the way it was earlier in the pandemic.

This Reuters article talks about the time when Democratic strongholds were hit the hardest. "U.S. counties that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election reported 39 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 residents, according to an analysis of demographic and public health data. "In counties that voted for Republican Donald Trump, 13 of every 100,000 people had died from the virus."

That's a 3 to 1 Clinton county/Trump county ratio. (For perspective, the current U.S. death rate per 100,000 people is people is 214, ranging from 51 to 323 depending on the state.)

In May, 2020, the term "Blue Covid" would have been as apt as "Red Covid" is today. At that time, before vaccines, the virus spread more easily in urban centers, where Democrats tend to outnumber Republicans. At that time, it could have been truthfully said that:

More deaths from the virus occur in places where there are more cases.
There are more cases in urban areas.
Urban areas are places that voted more heavily Democratic in 2016.

As with most COVID-19 topics, this is nuanced. The time period matters. The presence or absence of vaccines matters. People's acceptance of or resistance to the vaccines matters. The variant and characteristics of the virus matters. The available treatments and their impact on death rates matter. Regarding the political affiliation of the people who died of COVID-19, What is true in one time period or in one place may not be not true in others.

With these nuances noted, it seems true today that the virus is killing more Republicans than Democrats.

I know of no study that precisely tracks the "political affiliation of covid deaths," but one could presumably be done. In states where voters declare their political party affiliation when registering to vote, someone could list all deceased people in a given time period and their cause of death. The covid deaths could be cross-referenced with the voter registration list to determine the descendants' political affiliation. Thus, the political affiliation of covid deaths could be precisely known.

Stated more clearly, the political affiliation of people who died of COVID-19 could be precisely known if such a study was done.

 

[Turtle]

The CDC is not doing that analysis. Various other entities are (media, foundations, a legislative caucus).

Yes, I'm aware of the politicized narrative that's being promoted by those who have a need to promote such narratives. There probably are more Republicans, who embrace freedom more readily than Democrats, dying from covid, but that's been cycling up and down per state from the beginning. The Anti Vax Mandate protesters in the larger cities are mostly not Republicans, though. And the cycles are ignored by the media when it's unfavorable to the left, and it's played up when it's unfavorable to the right. No surprises there. But regardless of state or county voting history, blacks who voted overwhelmingly Democrat and are vaccinated in smaller a numbers re dying in the largest per capita numbers. But they're not dying because they're unvaccinated, it's because of system racism.

 

[Pilgrim]

Here's an interesting website that provides up-to-date stats about covid since the beginning of the outbreak by state. You can click at the top of each category to see how each state is being affected by covid, eg - deaths/1M population, total deaths, total cases, etc. As usual, the user can use these numbers to support several different viewpoints, but the one that jumps out at me is total deaths by state. Looking at the top ten, it would appear that covid has claimed more blue voters than red according to raw numbers by state. Also, note that the state that tops the deaths/1M population is Mississippi, which also has the largest percentage of African-Americans in their population. By scrolling down one can see how the number of covid cases and deaths ebbs and flows over time.

United States COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer

United States Coronavirus update with statistics and graphs: total and new cases, deaths per day, mortality and recovery rates, current active cases, recoveries, trends and timeline.

www.worldometers.info

 

[ATeam]

...blacks who voted overwhelmingly Democrat and are vaccinated in smaller a numbers re dying in the largest per capita numbers.

I believe that too has changed as black vaccine hesitancy has lifted. "12.4 percent of the general population is Black. Black Americans are also getting vaccinated at a rate slightly higher than their share of the population in recent weeks, according to the CDC, at 14.6 percent." (NBC News)

 

[Turtle]

I believe that too has changed as black vaccine hesitancy has lifted. "12.4 percent of the general population is Black. Black Americans are also getting vaccinated at a rate slightly higher than their share of the population in recent weeks, according to the CDC, at 14.6 percent." (NBC News)

It all ebbs and flows with the different cycles. And as Pilgrim noted, stats like that can be cherry picked to support any position. Blacks are getting more vaccinated in recent weeks, but they still have a long way to go to get to the same percentages as other groups. Blacks have a long history of being experimented on by the government so it's understandable the reticence they have.