Here In the free state of Florida there has been no lockdown of small businesses for some time. Mask wearing has declined markedly, except in church, some supermarkets and medical facilities where they are following CDC dictates. People are shaking hands and hugging again. The community where we reside is essentially back to normal. Nevertheless, COVID cases, deaths and ER visits continue to decline and, compared to the states such as New York and California where there have been stricter regulations, there seems to be no difference in all these virus measurements. Or if anything the numbers slightly favor Florida. In the U.S. overall the daily numbers of cases, deaths and ER visits for COVID continue to decline and, once again, if you survey the various states, they all are pretty much following the same pattern, whether they were "lockdowners" or not.
You find the same lack of lockdown effect when comparing countries. For example, there's little difference in mortality statistics between the Nordic countries, all of which had limited government mandates (for example no mandated mask wearing) and other E.U. countries, which generally had very strict lockdowns. But COVID statistics are now improving in all these countries, so what accounts for that?
Well, all these countries are vaccinating, and what's interesting is that the COVID statistics, cases and deaths, seem to correlate well with each country's success in getting its people vaccinated. The 3 leading countries in this regard are Israel, U.K. and U.S., with the percent of population vaccinated respectively in these countries being roughly 65, 55 and 45. Both Israel and the U.K. have had a dramatic improvement and now have exceptionally low levels of cases and deaths. Each of these three countries have been improving significantly more than the E.U. countries which have been late to the vaccination game but are now doing better.
Some of the improving situation may simply be due to the virus running its course, but of the things humans are doing to fight back it looks as if it's the vaccine rather than lockdowns that is saving the day. And that isn't even taking into account the major adverse economic and health effects of lockdowns which have been destroying lives and causing excess deaths apart from the virus, in particular among younger people and those with lower incomes and social status. In some cases these consequences will extend into the future long after the virus is a memory.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's the vaccine that the usually reviled drug companies developed and which our former President dramatically expedited by skillful financial arrangements, an innovative distribution plan and forceful cutting of bureaucratic red tape. Our new President's primary initial efforts have involved undoing Mr. Trump's actions wherever he can, but he hasn't been foolish enough to interfere with the vaccine production or distribution which he inherited although he's done his best to expropriate the credit for Mr. Trump's achievement.
Look at the attached graph of daily U.S. vaccinations. It shows a steady rise from the moment the vaccines received FDA approval, well before Mr. Biden was inaugurated. There is not the slightest deviation of the vaccination administration curve to suggest any impact of the actions of the present administration. It's noteworthy that since vaccinations reached a peak at the beginning of April there's a significant decline in daily vaccinations as demand has been satisfied. Mr. Biden's target of 70% vaccinated by July 4th, so touted in the major media, is merely a prediction of the natural course of things that were previously set in motion and which he has had almost nothing to do with.
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