Texas Has Seen Nearly 9,000 COVID-19 Deaths Since February; All but 43 Were Unvaccinated

Colleen DeGuzman, reporting for The Texas Tribune:

Of the 8,787 people who have died in Texas due to COVID-19 since early February, at least 43 were fully vaccinated, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.

That means 99.5% of people who died due to COVID-19 in Texas from Feb. 8 to July 14 were unvaccinated, while 0.5% were the result of “breakthrough infections,” which DSHS defines as people who contracted the virus two weeks after being fully vaccinated.

I got an email yesterday from a reader (well, supposedly former reader now) who was angered by my item linking to the “I’m sorry, but it’s too late” story from the Alabama ICU doctor who said the last thing her unvaccinated patients, hospitalized and unable to breathe on their own, do before being intubated is to beg for the vaccine. His email:

Your incessant corona whinery is getting rather long in the tooth, but this disgusting gloating piece takes the cake. Even though it probably is fake Facebook bullshit anyway, to even imply that this disgusting ‘told you so, now you’re dead’ attitude is somehow commendable is just tasteless, and it reflects on you personally as you are sharing it.

Unsubscribed.

I’m a natural born gloater, I know, but there’s nothing gloating about my posts about COVID and vaccinations. These stories are heartbreaking at the micro level, and infuriating at the macro level. I am sad and I am angry about the state of vaccination denial, and the roles that powerful sources like Fox News and Facebook — neither of which should be trusted by anyone but both of which are trusted by zillions — have played in promoting it.

You don’t need any aptitude for numeracy at all to look at numbers like these from Texas to see that if you can get vaccinated for COVID, you should, as soon as possible. Both for your own personal good and for the good of humanity.

★ Thursday, 22 July 2021