Re: 'Another young person…' [Village News, Benson Letter, 2/17/22]

The author of the subject letter notes that now there are more vaccinated people in hospitals than unvaccinated. That sounds like a real case against the vaccines, doesn't it? Only it’s not. When comparing these two groups, you have to take into account that the vaccinated group is much larger (about three times larger); so, for a true comparison, percentages must be used.

As of Feb. 14, the CDC determined the following: “Unvaccinated people are about six times more likely to test positive than vaccinated people, nine times more likely to be hospitalized, and 14 times more likely to die from COVID-related complications.” Search on "Unvaccinated 14 Times More Likely to Die From COVID" for citation.

The author made the following gross misstatement: “...over 20,000 documented deaths from this experimental shot.” The vaccines are far from being experimental. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are FDA approved. Approval of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is pending, on hold based on a safety question. Even so, the benefits are still considered to outweigh the risks of using the J&J vaccine. And consider this:

“More than 547 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the United States from Dec. 14, 2020, through Feb. 14, 2022. During this time, VAERS received 12,304 preliminary reports of death (0.0022%) among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine.” “Continued monitoring has identified (only) nine deaths causally associated with J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccination.” I repeat: only nine deaths caused by a COVID-19 vaccine.

The author also is apparently unaware that no vaccine is 100% effective: not one. They all are chosen based on their effectiveness and safety: the benefit must far outweigh the risk, For consideration, a vaccine must be at least 50% effective. The Moderna Vaccine (two doses) is rated 93% effective, Pfizer (two doses) 88%, and Johnson and Johnson (one dose) 71%. Like most vaccines, their effectiveness wanes with time, so follow-on shots are necessary.

The author also presents the case of the married couple where the vaccinated one had a severe reaction to a COVID-19 infection while the unvaccinated one’s response was mild. Looking at just two cases to establish an expectation of outcome is, to put it mildly, unrealistic. The CDC has literally millions of cases from which to draw conclusions such as those above.

John H. Terrell