According to the CDC, among 1,228,664 persons who completed primary vaccination during December 2020–October 2021, severe COVID-19–associated outcomes (0.015%) or death (0.0033%) were rare. Risk factors for severe outcomes included age ≥65 years, immunosuppressed, and six other underlying conditions. All persons with severe outcomes had at least one risk factor; 78 percent of persons who died had at least four.
The top health official made the comment on ABC's Good Morning America on Friday, days after Dr. Anthony Fauci said on TV that statistics on child hospitalizations are being overblown. Vaccine mandate skeptics have said the COVID-19 death toll was aggravated by people who died with COVID-19 as opposed to dying of COVID-19, and some of them said they were made into outcasts or punished on social media for making these arguments.
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"This is a stunning admission and one that is quite literally at the crux of my Facebook lawsuit against their fact-checkers," Conservative commentator Candace Owens tweeted. "I reported on the scam of them calculating deaths 'with COVID' years ago and fact-checkers called me a liar."
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"The overwhelming number of deaths, over 75%, occurred in people who had at least four comorbidities," Walenksy said. She added that this was "encouraging news" considering the spread of the Omicron variant, which health officials believe is more transmissible than other strains but causes less severe illness.
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Walensky was referring to a study that used data from U.S. healthcare facilities to look at more than 1.2 million adults who completed "primary vaccination" between December 2020 to October 2021. Among the tiny percentage of those who died (36 people), 78 percent suffered from at least four comorbidities.
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Some on Twitter took Walensky's comment to indicate if COVID-19 mainly kills people with comorbidities, it is a good sign.
"It is 'encouraging' to [Walensky] that chronically ill and disabled Americans are dying … our deaths clearly don't count," tweeted Matthew Cortland, a lawyer who said he suffers from a chronic illness.
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The CDC told the Washington Examiner that Walensky did not mean to marginalize people with existing health problems.
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"She is deeply concerned and cares about the health and well-being of people with disabilities and those with medical conditions who have been impacted by COVID-19," the CDC said. "The CDC director continues her commitment to protect all Americans in this next stage of the pandemic." More than 839,000 deaths in the United States have been attributed to COVID-19.