Why are we talking about twelve-month all-cause mortality after COVID-19 vaccination?
The usual suspects…
Let’s Talk About Twelve-Month All-Cause Mortality After COVID-19 Vaccination
In this case, we have Retsef Levi and Joseph Ladapo claiming that ‘Florida adults who received the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine in the initial series had higher risk of 12-month all-cause, cardiovascular, COVID-19, and non-COVID-19 mortality compared to matched mRNA-1273 recipients, with differences in cardiovascular and COVID-19 mortality primarily driven by adults 60 and older.’
What does that mean?
Basically, they are claiming that people who received a Pfizer vaccine had 40% higher all-cause mortality than those who got a Moderna vaccine over 12 months.
So, did they?
Well, while it is something they observed, the reason is not really something you can tell from their study…
Why not?
Unfortunately, they did not directly match study participants on important individual health characteristics, including chronic diseases, smoking, obesity, and general health status.
Why is that important?
Because one group could have had more risk factors that put them at increased risk for death.
What else?
They only included 17.4% of the eligible population in their study.
And because there was no unvaccinated comparison group, the study cannot tell us whether either vaccine increased mortality compared with remaining unvaccinated.
“In conclusion, although absolute rates of infection, hospitalization and death in both vaccine groups were low regardless of the vaccine received, our data suggests that compared to BNT162b2, vaccination with mRNA-1273 resulted in significantly lower rates of SARS-CoV-2-infection and SARS-CoV-2-related hospitalization. These differences were greater with longer follow-up time since vaccination and even more pronounced in the Delta variant era.”
Comparison of Moderna versus Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outcomes: A target trial emulation study in the U.S. Veterans Affairs healthcare system
Lastly, another, better study, had already found no statistically conclusive difference in COVID-related mortality between Pfizer and Moderna vaccines!
So the paper from Retsef Levi and Joseph Ladapo does not support that Pfizer COVID vaccines caused the observed excess deaths.
It’s simply another attempt to scare people away from getting vaccinated.
More on COVID Vaccine Deaths
Does the Pfizer COVID Vaccine Have Nine Pages of Side Effects?
Evaluating USA state-level excess death levels vs. total vaccination rates during the pandemic
Do Pfizer vaccines “kill” 2 people for every 1 saved? Evaluating Steve Kirsch claims.
No Evidence Excess Deaths Linked to Vaccines, Contrary to Claims Online
Twelve-month all-cause mortality after initial COVID-19 vaccination with Pfizer-BioNTech or mRNA-1273 among adults living in Florida: Statewide cohort study https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590113326000556
"And because there was no unvaccinated comparison group, the study cannot tell us whether either vaccine increased mortality compared with remaining unvaccinated."
So for all we know, the Moderna vaccine lowered the all cause mortality rate.