MOST COVID-19 DEATHS WORLDWIDE WERE AMONG OLDER PEOPLE.

The high mortality rate from COVID-19 among the elderly was a fact everyone knew, but a lot of people ignored. The hysteria, confusion, and “misinformation” stirred by certain public health officials served to make people of all ages fear SARS-CoV-2 beyond what was reasonable and realistic. The de-emphasis on isolating the elderly and vulnerable adults from the virus led to millions of preventable deaths. 

Globally, more than 80% of COVID-19-related deaths between 2020 and 2021 occurred in people aged 60 years or older. This age group is generally more susceptible to the virus because of numerous co-morbid illnesses and compromised immune systems. These folks also had a median vaccination rate of 76%, ranging from 33% in low-income countries and 90% in more affluent countries. And they often reside in facilities that house dozens of other people just as susceptible as they are. 

The strong emphasis on protecting the elderly was lost in the confusion and chaos surrounding the unknown facts about testing, masks, modes of transmission, social distancing, plexiglass barriers, vaccines, and immunity. The elderly have always been the most at risk from influenza, and other communicable diseases, but with COVID-19, that fact seemed to be forgotten. It was more important to call Wuhan lab leak proponents conspiracy theorists, users of Hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin charlatans, and keep healthy children at home, not in school. Well, America sacrificed thousands of her senior citizens in a preventable situation. What a travesty.

Reference: MEDICAL NEWS IN BRIEF: Most COVID-19 Deaths Worldwide Were Among Older People. JAMA 2923 March 7;329(9):704.