Bobby. wrote on Sep 12
th, 2024 at 3:58pm:
Why did so few people die in Africa where there were hardly any vaccines?
Hmm, it might have had something to do with this?
The Missing Millions: Uncovering the Burden of Covid-19 Cases and Deaths in the African RegionIf it's too much to read then just scroll to the bottom:
Quote:Conclusion
Available evidence underscores the significant burden of COVID-19 infections and mortality in African countries, challenging initial assumptions of lower susceptibility and lower mortality rates compared to other countries.
Although we may never know the full extent of COVID-19 infection and mortality on the African continent, the impact of the pandemic is very certainly greater than official data suggest.
COVID-19 cases and deaths in African countries were significantly underreported due limited testing and health care access. Additionally, the younger population age structure, a proposed protective factor for African countries, was insufficient to offset higher mortality at all ages due to limited, costly, and inadequate health care.
Although some factors, including geographic and environmental factors, government responses, and community responses may have limited the potential of the first pandemic wave, the protectiveness of these elements was generally not sustained and their effectiveness against a highly transmissible novel virus was limited.
It's a lot like the underreporting of cases nowadays.
For example - earlier this year, WA Premier Roger Cook said he was "concerned" about (reported) Covid cases getting close to 500 a week when wastewater testing suggested that cases were actually something like 30,000 or 40,000 a week.
I'm not sure if these pollies believe their own BS sometimes... and I really don't know if I should be more "concerned" about if they do or if they don't.
Both scenarios are more than a bit of a worry (even if they're not surprising).