A little something about the author of the opinion piece.
During his testimony in December 2020, Kory erroneously claimed that the antiparasitic medication ivermectin was a "wonder drug" with "miraculous effectiveness" against COVID-19.
And? Ivermectin is a notable antiviral medication that many, many Americans took to limit the COVID viral spread in their body. The media's attack on it was purely from a Pharma profit motive.
> With the worst of COVID behind us, annual deaths for all causes should be back to pre-pandemic levels — or even lower because of the loss of so many sick and infirm Americans.
Since we now know that Covid can lead to long-term suppression of the immune system and that a significant part of infected people have other lingering issues, this is obviously false.
If Covid immunosuppression is the problem, then why are young people (per the article) a disproportionate share of the excess deaths?
> Unlike in the pandemic’s early phase, these deaths are not primarily among the old. For people 65 and over, deaths in the second quarter of 2023 were 6 percent below the pre-pandemic norm, according to a new report from the Society of Actuaries. Mortality was 26 percent higher among insured 35-to-44-year-olds, and 19 percent higher for 25-to-34-year-olds, continuing a death spike that peaked in the third quarter of 2021 at a staggering 101 percent and 79 percent above normal, respectively.
Indeed, that suggests they are correct - unless you have a better explanation of why older people are doing better than pre-pandemic.
> In the United Kingdom, where post-pandemic excess deaths in similar demographics also persist, a government-funded independent inquiry is underway. “With each passing week of the COVID inquiry,” the BBC reported recently, “it is clear there were deep flaws in the way decisions were made and information provided during the pandemic.”
The linked BBC article has a lot to say about the mistakes that were made during the pandemic (e.g. waiting too long before the first lockdown in March 2020), but nothing about post-pandemic excess deaths. Throwing around quotes taken out of context again, are we?
It definitely implies so. It’s authored by Pierre Kory, one of the leaders of a small group called the “Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance”[1]. They promoted numerous non-solutions during the pandemic and seem to be generally discredited.
I’m really cautious about the conclusions in this article. It would be a big change for him to start making well reasoned, good faith arguments on this subject matter all of a sudden.
Certainly seems that way, and it's written by a guy who promoted ivermectin as a "wonder drug" and had his certification revoked by the American Board of Internal Medicine. WTF is this doing on HN?
If that is implied, it is verifiably false. In the EU we had higher Covid vaccine coverage, including coverage with all vaccines given in the U.S., plus one more which wasn't given in the U.S. and which is also the only one with known adverse effects - AstraZeneca's. And we don't have any excess mortality now. So it's certainly not vaccines.
The author makes a case against lockdowns which is hurtful to our mental health and suggests that vaccines are somewhat responsible for excessive deaths in the younger population.
The easier explaination is that those people were going to die of covid (vaccinated or not) didn't. They are sickened by either the virus, the vaccine or both. The robust cytokine storms that occurred in younger people might harm them more than older people.
Since when is COVID behind us? We are all living with a novel virus that is deadly in many mammals except bats. We are seeing people developing long covid with each new infection. We’re seeing vaccines cause similar syndrome for an unfortunate few where antibodies created causes autoimmune issues.
The science is not perfect. Vaccines aren’t sterilizing, current treatments aren’t effective enough to prevent disease progression, and we are only approaching the 5 year mortality mark.
When we develop more effective vaccines and treatments, perhaps we will see this start to settle alongside all the other challenges that continue to get worse.
[+] [-] Quick2822|2 years ago|reply
During his testimony in December 2020, Kory erroneously claimed that the antiparasitic medication ivermectin was a "wonder drug" with "miraculous effectiveness" against COVID-19.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Kory
[+] [-] joemazerino|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] graphe|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bad_alloc|2 years ago|reply
Since we now know that Covid can lead to long-term suppression of the immune system and that a significant part of infected people have other lingering issues, this is obviously false.
[+] [-] Amezarak|2 years ago|reply
> Unlike in the pandemic’s early phase, these deaths are not primarily among the old. For people 65 and over, deaths in the second quarter of 2023 were 6 percent below the pre-pandemic norm, according to a new report from the Society of Actuaries. Mortality was 26 percent higher among insured 35-to-44-year-olds, and 19 percent higher for 25-to-34-year-olds, continuing a death spike that peaked in the third quarter of 2021 at a staggering 101 percent and 79 percent above normal, respectively.
Indeed, that suggests they are correct - unless you have a better explanation of why older people are doing better than pre-pandemic.
[+] [-] BaculumMeumEst|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rob74|2 years ago|reply
The linked BBC article has a lot to say about the mistakes that were made during the pandemic (e.g. waiting too long before the first lockdown in March 2020), but nothing about post-pandemic excess deaths. Throwing around quotes taken out of context again, are we?
[+] [-] SpaceL10n|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] readthenotes1|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] api|2 years ago|reply
Very shallow junk article with no analysis.
[+] [-] liveoneggs|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hnthrowaway121|2 years ago|reply
I’m really cautious about the conclusions in this article. It would be a big change for him to start making well reasoned, good faith arguments on this subject matter all of a sudden.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_Line_COVID-19_Critical...
[+] [-] kidros|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sva_|2 years ago|reply
> Dr. Pierre Kory, M.D., is president and chief medical officer of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance.
Just look him up.
[+] [-] anovikov|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Eumenes|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ErasticBrub|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] graphe|2 years ago|reply
The easier explaination is that those people were going to die of covid (vaccinated or not) didn't. They are sickened by either the virus, the vaccine or both. The robust cytokine storms that occurred in younger people might harm them more than older people.
[+] [-] thenerdhead|2 years ago|reply
The science is not perfect. Vaccines aren’t sterilizing, current treatments aren’t effective enough to prevent disease progression, and we are only approaching the 5 year mortality mark.
When we develop more effective vaccines and treatments, perhaps we will see this start to settle alongside all the other challenges that continue to get worse.
[+] [-] infecto|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mngdtt|2 years ago|reply