2 Years On: What Has Media Reported About Comorbidities & Covid So Far ?

Disclaimer: The information on this website is used for educational purposes with all rights reserved to the original researchers, for further reading read their original paper and do your own research & comparisons on each subject, the name of the original author of each paper will be hyperlinked and will be referenced/cited. Any information I have taken out of each paper will have quotation marks at the start & the end of the information. In no way shape or form is the information on this website intended to be misleading. It’s about sharing as much information as possible so that comparisons can be made on each subject highlighting key points. All information gathered will be taken from a mixture of sources such as open access journals & papers, features, editorials, opinions, news, video and others.

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What Is A Comorbidity ?

Sarah McGeorge (2012) from The British Geriatric Society defines morbidity as “illness or disease”, which is mainly used in a healthcare setting. Comorbidities refers to an individual having two or more illnesses or diseases.

Comorbidities, Conditions & Covid-19

The Impact of Pre-existing Comorbidities and Therapeutic Interventions on COVID-19:“Prevalence of pre-existing comorbidities among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Prevalence of pre-existing comorbidities determined from an extensive meta-analysis of 76,993 hospitalized COVID-19 patients (1). Hypertension (16%), cardiovascular disease (12.11%), and diabetes (7.87%) were the most prevalent pre-existing co-morbidities. As this data is representative of hospitalized patients, the prevalence of these among mild/moderate cases may be different, and as more data is analyzed these may change”. by Callender & Colleagues (2020)

Callender & Colleagues (2020). wrote an article in the Frontiers of Immunology on the 11th of August 2020 The Impact of Pre-existing Comorbidities and Therapeutic Interventions on COVID-19: It’s clear from evidence that those with “pre-existing comorbidities are at a much greater risk of dying from COVID-19”. Conditions & morbidities highlighted were hypertension and cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, cancer, respiratory diseases, liver disease and autoimmune disease.

Statistics from Eurostat. (2021). highlighted that 43% of the population in Europe were at a normal weight in 2019 (pre-pandemic), 53% of the population were classed as being overweight, they have also noted that 36% were pre-obese and 17% were obese with 3% being underweight. When looking a bit more in depth at the figures those between the ages of 18-24 had 25% of the age group being overweight compared to the age group of 65-74 had 66% of the age group being overweight. These figures may possibly highlight why a larger proportion of the older population sadly succumb to covid as generally older age groups tend to have comorbidities which interlink with each other causing symptoms to worsen. As it is stated in many research papers and articles since the start of the pandemic/epidemic being overweight/obese is the leading cause of death associated with covid behind age as being overweight brings on and makes so many underlying health conditions worse.

Over half of adults in the EU are overweight – by Eurostat 2021

Sawadogo & Colleagues (2022) Overweight and obesity as risk factors for COVID-19-associated hospitalisations and death: systematic review and meta-analysis: Within this paper 208 studies were analysed from 32 countries with a total of 3,550,997 participants. They have come to the conclusion that being “overweight was associated with an increased risk of COVID-19-related hospitalisations but not death, However, patients with obesity were at increased risk of both COVID-19- related hospitalisations and death”. Research has shown that covid worsens with “older age, male sex and comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, chronic respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease. These comorbidities are related to obesity and dysfunctional adipose tissue, thus predisposing people living with obesity to a greater risk of severe COVID-19. Studies have reported that adipose tissues are rich in ACE2 receptors, which act as a port of entry for SARS-CoV-2 to human cells. Additionally, obesity has been shown to alter immune function and increase the susceptibility to infection from different pathogens”.

Being overweight is classed as having as BMI of 25-30 and being obese is classed as having a BMI of 30-40 & morbid obesity is classed as having a BMI of 40+. Even though being overweight while having covid may not lead to death it should be important to stop that individual from becoming obese especially if they have underlying health conditions as it makes their conditions worse compared to individuals with a healthy BMI of between 19-25 with no underlying health conditions.

Covid Cases & Deaths Per Country In Europe

CountryCasesDeathsPopulation Size
Malta63,409504525,285
Croatia812K13,0734.047 million
Iceland44,97444366,425
Greece1.65M21,88810.72 million
Slovenia527K5,6962.1 million
Latvia302K4,7261.902 million
Romania1.9M59,21219.29 million
UK15.1M152K67.22 million
Ireland1.09M6,0355.09 million
Lithuania564K7,6432.795 million
Sweden1.56M15,51310.35 million
Netherlands3.53M21,14817.44 million
Belgium2.41M28,61211.56 million
Norway505K1,3815.379 million
Cyprus224K6731.207 million
Austria1.43M13,9158.917 million
Luxembourg123K934632,275 
Denmark1.11M3,4845.831 million
France13.6M124K67.39 million
Italy8.55M141K59.55 million
From Our World in Data and JHU CSSE COVID-19 Data ·as of 17th of January 2022

The above table that I have put together is only accurate until the 17th of January 2022 as numbers change on a daily basis. When comparing cases and deaths to each population of each country in Europe it is evident that Covid only affects around or less than 1% of their population. This doesn’t show the true and full picture as a vast majority of those individuals who have sadly succumb to covid had one or more underlying health condition, have an average BMI of 30 and an average age of 65+.

The death and case rate is relative to the size of each countries population, the bigger the population a country has the higher the death and case rate compared to a country with a smaller population. Countries with the highest deaths in Europe are France, UK, & Italy, these countries have a population larger than 55 million. The countries with the smallest death rates are Malta, Iceland, Luxembourg and Cyprus who have a population less than 1.3 million.

Below is a table of some countries in Asia, by comparing Europe and Asia a trend has emerged, countries with a larger population tend to have a larger proportion of cases and deaths with some countries being the exception as their death rate is so low. It’s worth noting that some countries may not have adequate provisions to report their case and death rates. Asia & Europe have many differences as Asia has a larger older population than Europe and has different and varied lifestyles and diets which makes cultural differences an important aspect to take into consideration.

Covid Cases & Deaths Per Country In Asia

CountryCasesDeathsPopulation Size
China106K4,6361,439,323,776
India40.9M493K1,380,004,385
Indonesia4.32M144K273,523,615
Pakistan1.41M29,219220,892,340
Bangladesh1.76M28,308164,689,383
Japan2.51M18,692126,476,461
Philippines3.53M53,871109,581,078
Vietnam2.22M37,43297,338,579
Turkey11.3M86,87184,339,067
Iran6.31M132K83,992,949
Thailand 2.42M22,14569,799,978
Myanmar535K19,31054,409,800
South Korea811K6,71251,269,185
Iraq2.19M24,34740,222,493
Afghanistan161K7,40338,928,346
Saudi Arabia675K8,93134,813,871
Uzbekistan220K1,55433,469,203
Malaysia2.86M31,95232,365,999
Yemen10,9422,00629,825,964
Nepal944K11,69729,136,808
North Korea25,778,816
Sri Lanka 608K15,38621,413,249
Kazakhstan1.3M18,45418,776,707
Syria51,2302,98217,500,658
Cambodia 121K3,01516,718,965
Jordan1.19M13,15710,203,134
Azerbaijan647K8,68310,139,177
United Arab Emirates838K2,2349,890,402
Tajikistan17,6631259,537,645
Israel2.71M8,5998,655,535
Laos133K5387,275,560
Lebanon900K9,5616,825,445
Kyrgyzstan197K2,8676,524,195
Turkmenistan6,031,200
Singapore339K8535,850,342
Oman331K4,1345,106,626
Palestine505K5,0765,101,414
Kuwait528K2,4924,270,571
Georgia1.13M14,8703,989,167
Mongolia440K2,1043,278,290
Armenia362K8,0352,963,243
Qatar335K6412,881,053
Bahrain355K1,4031,701,575
Timor-Leste19,8941221,318,445
Bhutan4,4304771,608
Maldives131K274540,544
Brunei16,29398437,479
From Our World in Data and JHU CSSE COVID-19 Data, https://www.worldometers.info/geography/how-many-countries-in-asia/

Vaccination Rate In Asia

Country1 Dose2 DosesBooster
China1.23B (86.9%)
India950,308,975 (68.9%)728,875,616 (52.8%)13,992,574 (1.0%)
Indonesia129M (47.0%)
Pakistan108,173,867 (49.0%)84,731,497 (38.4%)2,758,593 (1.2%)
Bangladesh95,440,321 (58.0%)59,771,538 (36.3%)1,264,745 (0.8%)
Japan101,375,787 (80.6%)99,849,807 (79.3%)6,093,568 (4.86%)
Philippines59,389,080 (54.2%)7,704,701 (7.0%)
Vietnam79,080,967 (81.2%)71,946,807 (73.9%)
Turkey57,486,690 (68.2%)52,500,475 (62.2%)32,846,228 (38.9%)
Iran61,056,612 (72.7%)54,447,739 (64.8%)19,300,345 (23.0%)
Thailand 52,277,992 (74.9%)48,438,172 (69.4%)16,115,403 (23.1%)
Myanmar22,106,391 (40.6%)18,847,061 (34.6%)
South Korea44,674,323 (86.3%)44,092,774 (85.2%)27,952,416 (54.0%)
Iraq9,325,542 (23.2%)6,365,752 (15.8%)
Afghanistan4,557,740 (11.8%)3,912,336 (10.1%)
Saudi Arabia25,646,719 (73.7%)23,785,581 (68.3%)8,951,321 (25.7%)
Uzbekistan19,393,905 (56.7%)13,133,344 (38.4%)
Malaysia26,091,557 (80.6%)25,720,100 (79.5%)12,307,360 (38.0%)
Yemen588,626 (2.0%)344,582 (1.2%)
Nepal16,830,395 (57.8%)14,407,775 (49.4%)
North Korea
Sri Lanka 16,733,188 (76.3%)13,958,389 (63.7%)5,468,208 (24.9%)
Kazakhstan9,230,742 (49.2%)8,803,633 (46.9%)
Syria2,277,523 (13.0%)932,422 (5.3%)
Cambodia 14,360,705 (85.9%)13,773,041 (82.4%)6,244,136 (37.3%)
Jordan4,598,992 (45.1%)4,248,768 (41.6%)
Azerbaijan5,245,925 (51.9%)4,750,763 (47.0%)2,189,591 (21.7%)
United Arab Emirates9,890,485 (>99%)9,346,350 (94.5%)4,436,796 (44.9%)
Tajikistan4,522,962 (47.4%)3,759,499 (39.4%)2,386 (0.0%)
Israel6,692,594 (72.6%)6,102,839 (66.2%)5,109,012 (55.4%)
Laos4,653,477 (64.0%)3,835,288 (52.7%)
Lebanon2,450,328 (35.9%)2,043,657 (29.9%)462,101 (6.8%)
Kyrgyzstan1,353,117 (20.5%)1,099,520 (16.7%)
Turkmenistan3.21M (53.2%)
Singapore4,929,611 (86.7%)4,786,538 (84.2%)3,154,741 (55.5%)
Oman3,181,438 (62.3%)2,967,168 (58.1%)32,412 (0.6%)
Palestine2,079,315 (43.3%)1,530,174 (31.9%)2,779 (0.1%)
Kuwait3,368,291 (78.9%)3,258,446 (76.3%)380,911 (8.9%)
Georgia
Mongolia2,269,843 (69.2%)2,170,723 (66.2%)1,008,116 (30.8%)
Armenia1,045,611 (35.3%)837,694 (28.3%)5,650 (0.2%)
Qatar2.22M (77.0%)
Bahrain1,226,114 (72.1%)1,195,735 (70.3%)945,298 (55.6%)
Timor-Leste672,455 (51.0%)564,583 (42.8%)
Bhutan593,980 (77%)570,751 (74.0%)
Maldives397,740 (73.6%)370,052 (68.5%)82,091 (15.2%)
Brunei407,042 (93.0%)403,385 (92.2%)
From Our World in Data and JHU CSSE COVID-19 Data, https://www.worldometers.info/geography/how-many-countries-in-asia/ 3rd Feb 2022

Vaccination Rate In Europe

Country1 Dose2 DosesBooster
Malta460,002 (87.6%)444,336 (84.6%)320,386 (61.0%)
Croatia2,287,471 (56.5%)2,193,513 (54.2%)594,785 (14.7%)
Iceland305,935 (83.5%)285,667 (78%)224,389 (61.5%)
Greece7,682,723 (71.7%)7,223,008 (67.4%)4,541,294 (42.4%)
Slovenia1,259,378 (60.0%)1,206,666 (57.5%)573,239 (27.3%)
Latvia1,332,260 (70.1%)1,282,161 (67.4%)403,861 (21.2%)
Romania8,029,230 (41.6%)9,931,630 (41.1%)
UK52,203,675 (77.7%)48,115,948 (71.6%)36,821,284 (54.8%)
Ireland4,001,339 (80.1%)3,860,529 (77.3%)2,638,723 (52.8%)
Lithuania1,938,620 (69.4%)1,854,693 (66.4%)852,472 (30.5%)
Sweden7,815,401 (75.5%)7,519,284 (72.6%)3,387,383 (32.7%)
Netherlands13,349,032 (76.5%)12,293,421 (70.5%)7,752,708 (44.5%)
Belgium9,044,715 (78.3%)8,842,522 (76.5%)6,175,857 (53.4%)
Norway4,306,443 (80.1%)3,972,484 (73.8%)2,472,501 (46.0%)
Cyprus654,343 (54.2%)620,714 (51.4%)360,473 (29.9%)
Austria6,719,249 (75.4%)6,695,416 (75.1%)4,249,281 (47.7%)
Luxembourg472,404 (74.7%)429,705 (68.0%)281,233 (44.5%)
Denmark4,841,283 (83.0%)4,706,183 (80.7%)3,451,692 (59.2%)
France53,565,214 (79.5%)51,008,962 (75.7%)30,310,863 (45.0%)
Italy49,710,746 (83.5%)45,563,649 (76.5%)29,509,737 (49.6%)
From Our World in Data Up Until 21st of January 2022

Comparison Between The Overweight Percentage Between Age Groups Per Country In Europe

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Share_of_overweight_population_by_sex_and_age,2019(%25).png

France has a population size of 67.3M, Deaths: 124K+ and a total vaccination rate of 75.7%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 22.3% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 57.2%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 57.2%. According to Population Reference Bureau France has 20.3% of their total population who are 65+. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 52.9% compared to 42.0% of females.

Italy has a population size of 59.55M, Deaths: 141K+ and a total vaccination rate of 76.5%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 18.0% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 58.8%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 58.8%. According to Population Reference Bureau Italy has 22.8% of their total population who are 65+. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 55.3% compared to 37.1% of females.

Malta has a population size of 525,285, Deaths: 504 and a total vaccination rate of 84.6%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 38.6% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 73.7%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 73.7%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 71.0% compared to 58.0% of females.

Croatia has a population size of 4.047 million, Deaths: 13,073 and a total vaccination rate of 54.2%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 27.3% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 78.7%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 78.7%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 73.2% compared to 58.5% of females.

Greece has a population size of 10.72 million, Deaths: 21,888 and a total vaccination rate of 67.4%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 23.4% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 74.7%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year old as they have an overweight percentage of 74.7%. According to Population Reference Bureau Greece has 21.8% of their total population who are 65+. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 66.8% compared to 49.1% of females.

Slovenia has a population size of 2.1 million, Deaths: 5,696 and a total vaccination rate of 57.5%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 26.1% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 72.9%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 72.9%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 66.3% compared to 49.8% of females.

Latvia has a population size of 1.902 million, Deaths: 4,726 and a total vaccination rate of 67.4%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 22.3% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 73.5%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year old as they have an overweight percentage of 73.5%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 60.1% compared to 56.9% of females.

Romania has a population size of 19.29 million, Deaths: 59,212 and a total vaccination rate of 41.1% as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 25.4% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 72.3%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 72.3%. According to Population Reference Bureau Romania has 18.2% of their total population who are 65+. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 66.9% compared to 50.9% of females.

Ireland has a population size of 5.09 million, Deaths: 6,035 and a total vaccination rate of 77.3%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 39.7% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 59.7%. The most at risk group could be the 45 to 64 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 61.5%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 62.3% compared to 46.4% of females.

Lithuania has a population size of 2.795 million, Deaths: 7,643 and a total vaccination rate of 66.4%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 20.1% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 74.0%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 74.0%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 60.2% compared to 53.9% of females.

Sweden has a population size of 10.35 million, Deaths: 15,513 and a total vaccination rate of 72.6%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 27.5% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 60.1%. The most at risk group could be the 45 to 65 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 60.9%. According to Population Reference Bureau Greece has 19.9% of their total population who are 65+. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 57.1% compared to 45.7% of females.

Netherlands has a population size of 17.44 million, Deaths: 21,148 and a total vaccination rate of 70.5%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 25.0% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 60.2%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 60.2%. According to Population Reference Bureau Netherlands has 18.9% of their total population who are 65+. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 55.1% compared to 45.1% of females.

Belgium has a population size of 11.56 million, Deaths: 28,612 and a total vaccination rate of 76.5%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 26.2% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 62.6%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 years olds as they have an overweight percentage of 62.6%. According to Population Reference Bureau Greece has 18.7% of their total population who are 65+. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 56.2% compared to 44.6% of females.

Norway has a population size of 5.379 million, Deaths: 1,381 and a total vaccination rate of 73.8%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 28.2% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 57.6%. The most at risk group could be the 45 to 65 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 61.0%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 57.7% compared to 43.3% of females.

Cyprus has a population size of 1.207 million, Deaths: 673 and a total vaccination rate of 51.4%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 23.5% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 65.7%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 65.7%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 59.4% compared to 40.8% of females.

Austria has a population size of 8.917 million, Deaths: 13,915 and a total vaccination rate of 75.1%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 27.2% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 66.4%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 66.4%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 60.6% compared to 44.1% of females.

Luxembourg has a population size of 632,275, Deaths: 934 and a total vaccination rate of 68.0%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 24.1% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 62.5%. The most at risk group could be the 65 to 74 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 62.5%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 58.5% compared to 38.4% of females.

Denmark has a population size of 5.831 million , Deaths: 3,484 and a total vaccination rate of 80.7%, as of 2019 (pre-pandemic) 18-24 year olds have an overweight percentage of 26.0% compared to 65-74 year olds who have an overweight percentage of 57.6%. The most at risk group could be the 45 to 65 year olds as they have an overweight percentage of 59.6%. The total percentage of males above the age of 18 who were overweight was 57.8% compared to 43.3% of females.

Out of the 18 countries analysed France, Italy, Malta, Croatia, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, Romania, Lithuania, Netherlands, Belgium, Cyprus, Austria & Luxembourg show that the 65 to 74 year olds are the most at risk group within their country as their category has the highest overweight percentage. Whereas Ireland, Sweden, Norway & Denmark show that the 45 to 64 year olds are the most at risk as they have the highest overweight percentage in their countries.

Comparing males to females within the EU shows that 60.2% of males are overweight compared to 45.7% of females who are overweight. Research has shown that Covid binds to ACE2 which is found in fat tissue. As males have a higher percentage their population being overweight that would put them in the higher risk category but females have long-covid for a longer period of time compared to males.

Comparison Between Countries In Asia

China has a population size of 1,439,323,776 , Deaths: 4,636 and a total vaccination rate of 86.9%.

India has a population size of 1,380,004,385 , Deaths: 493K and a total vaccination rate of 52.8%.

Indonesia has a population size of 273,523,615 , Deaths: 144K and a total vaccination rate of 47.0%.

Pakistan has a population size of 220,892,340 , Deaths: 29,219 and a total vaccination rate of 38.2%.

Bangladesh has a population size of 164,689,383 , Deaths: 28,308 and a total vaccination rate of 36.3%.

Japan has a population size of 126,476,461 , Deaths: 18,692 and a total vaccination rate of 79.3%.

Philippines has a population size of 109,581,078 , Deaths: 53,871 and a total vaccination rate of 54.2%.

Vietnam has a population size of 97,338,579 , Deaths: 37,432 and a total vaccination rate of 73.9%.

Turkey has a population size of 84,339,067 , Deaths: 86,871 and a total vaccination rate of 62.2%.

Iran has a population size of 83,992,949 , Deaths: 132K and a total vaccination rate of 64.8%.

Thailand has a population size of 69,799,978 , Deaths: 22,145 and a total vaccination rate of 69.4%.

Myanmar has a population size of 54,409,800 , Deaths: 19,310 and a total vaccination rate of 34.6%.

South Korea has a population size of 51,269,185 , Deaths: 6,712 and a total vaccination rate of 85.2%.

Iraq has a population size of 40,222,493 , Deaths: 24,347 and a total vaccination rate of 15.8%.

Afghanistan has a population size of 38,928,346 , Deaths: 7,403 and a total vaccination rate of 10.1%.

Saudi Arabia has a population size of 34,813,871 , Deaths: 8,931 and a total vaccination rate of 68.3%.

Uzbekistan has a population size of 33,469,203 , Deaths: 1,554 and a total vaccination rate of 38.4%.

Malaysia has a population size of 32,365,999 , Deaths: 31,952 and a total vaccination rate of 79.5%.

Yemen has a population size of 29,825,964 , Deaths: 2,006 and a total vaccination rate of 1.2%.

Nepal has a population size of 29,136,808 , Deaths: 11,697 and a total vaccination rate of 49.4%.

Sri Lanka has a population size of 21,413,249 , Deaths: 15,386 and a total vaccination rate of 63.7%.

Kazakhstan has a population size of 18,776,707 , Deaths: 18,454 and a total vaccination rate of 46.9%.

Syria has a population size of 17,500,658 , Deaths: 2,982 and a total vaccination rate of 5.3%.

Cambodia has a population size of 16,718,965 , Deaths: 3,015 and a total vaccination rate of 82.4%.

Jordan has a population size of 10,203,134 , Deaths: 13,157 and a total vaccination rate of 41.6%.

Azerbaijan has a population size of 10,139,177 , Deaths: 8,683 and a total vaccination rate of 47.0%.

United Arab Emirates has a population size of 9,890,402 , Deaths: 2,234 and a total vaccination rate of 94.5%.

Tajikistan has a population size of 9,537,645 , Deaths: 125 and a total vaccination rate of 39.4%.

Israel has a population size of 8,655,535 , Deaths: 8,599 and a total vaccination rate of 66.2%

Laos has a population size of 7,275,560 , Deaths: 538 and a total vaccination rate of 52.7%.

Lebanon has a population size of 6,825,445 , Deaths: 9,561 and a total vaccination rate of 29.9%.

Kyrgyzstan has a population size of 6,524,195 , Deaths: 2,867 and a total vaccination rate of 16.7%.

Singapore has a population size of 5,850,342 , Deaths: 853 and a total vaccination rate of 84.2%.

Oman has a population size of 5,106,626 , Deaths: 4,134 and a total vaccination rate of 58.1%.

Palestine has a population size of 5,101,414 , Deaths: 5,076 and a total vaccination rate of 31.9%.

Kuwait has a population size of 4,270,571 , Deaths: 2,492 and a total vaccination rate of 76.3%.

Mongolia has a population size of 3,278,290 , Deaths: 2,104 and a total vaccination rate of 66.2%.

Armenia has a population size of 2,963,243 , Deaths: 8,035 and a total vaccination rate of 28.3%.

Bahrain has a population size of 1,701,575 , Deaths: 1,403 and a total vaccination rate of 70.3%.

Timor-Leste has a population size of 1,318,445 , Deaths: 122 and a total vaccination rate of 42.8%.

Bhutan has a population size of 771,608 , Deaths: 4 and a total vaccination rate of 74.0%.

Maldives has a population size of 540,544 , Deaths: 274 and a total vaccination rate of 68.5%.

Brunei has a population size of 437,479 , Deaths: 98 and a total vaccination rate of 92.2%.

Note that deaths still occurred even with vaccines being implemented within each country, with the numbers presented it is up to you to decide if the vaccines had any bearing or were effective in any way shape or form. Some other factors include, old age, war, lack of research, politics, underlying heath conditions, current weight status, population size and other factors.

Comorbidities And Other Conditions Within The United States 2020-2022

The CDC Provisional Death Counts for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) “For over 5% of these deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned on the death certificate. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 4.0 additional conditions or causes per death. For data on deaths involving COVID-19 by time-period, jurisdiction, and other health”. Conditions Analysed were Influenza and pneumonia, Chronic lower respiratory diseases, Adult respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory failure, respiratory arrest, other diseases of the respiratory system, hypertensive diseases, ischemic heart disease, cardiac arrest, cardiac arrhythmia, heart failure, cerebrovascular diseases, other diseases of the circulatory system, sepsis, malignant neoplasms, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular and unspecified dementia, renal failure, intentional and unintentional injury such as poisoning and other adverse advents, all other conditions and causes (residual). Below is conditions that contributed to deaths where Covid-19 was listed on death certificates.

ConditionAll Ages0-2465-74
Influenza and pneumonia428,9741149105,573
Chronic lower respiratory diseases75,37913319,333
Adult respiratory distress syndrome93,37740126,188
respiratory failure344,61381586,371
respiratory arrest17,937563798
other diseases of the respiratory system40,96620510,018
hypertensive diseases160,8847236,931
ischemic heart disease90,7062520,425
cardiac arrest103,77734324,994
cardiac arrhythmia64,4995812,854
heart failure64,0664911,934
cerebrovascular diseases41,034649276
other diseases of the circulatory system60,94529614,137
sepsis85,61029124,017
malignant neoplasms42,58610711,839
diabetes132,90822936.844
obesity43,97659410,243
Alzheimer’s disease25,43101681
vascular and unspecified dementia68,60505912
renal failure93,11919024,184
intentional and unintentional injury such as poisoning and other adverse advents19,0921914077
all other conditions and causes (residual)346,674143782,622
Covid-19874,0402761199,864
Weekly Updates by Select Demographic and Geographic Characteristics – Comorbidities and other conditions United States as of 7/02/2022
COVID-19 Mortality Overview United States as of 7/02/2022
COVID-19 Mortality Overview United States as of 7/02/2022
Underlying Medical Conditions and Severe Illness Among 540,667 Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19, March 2020–March 2021 – by Lyudmyla Kompaniyets et al – Underlying health conditions along side covid-19 in the United States

Whats Already Known About Non-Communicable Diseases (Underlying Health Conditions) ?

The World Health Organisation. (2021). published a fact sheet regarding non-communicable diseases on the 13th of April 2021: All deaths globally can be attributed to non-communicable diseases which account for around 71%. Approximately 15 million global deaths who are aged between 30-69 who sadly pass away from non-communicable diseases (underlying health conditions) each year with 85% being premature and majority preventable. The four main diseases that account for 80% for all premature NCD deaths are cardiovascular disease, cancers, respiratory disease and diabetes.

Pharmaceutical Companies & Redacted Information

Contract Between The European Commission and AstraZeneca

MEP shames EU chief von der Leyen: Pharma companies have taken over your job, they are in charge!– by Publicae Feb 15, 2021
// MEPs press conference on the abusive use of Green Certificate – EU Parliament // – by Ivan Vilibor Sinčić Oct 29, 2021

Contract Between The UK Government& AstraZeneca

What Has Been Reported By Media?

2020

An article written in Food Navigator by Oliver Morrison in March 2020 titled Coronavirus and obesity: industry urged to act post-crisis highlights a key factor with the severity of Covid: “The coronavirus pandemic should give the food industry increased impetus to make healthier products, according to experts, after an NHS audit in the UK revealed over three quarters (76.5%) of critically ill coronavirus patients are overweight“. Opportunities have been missed within the 2 years to tackle the obesity crisis as leisure had been closed on a number of occasions but fast food outlets were aloud to stay open which have lead to the worsening of health conditions with sedentary behaviour increasing. Evidence from many reputable sources such as the Obesity Review Journal, The British Heart Foundation and others have even published research and articles near the start of 2020 stating that being overweight and having underlying health conditions increases the risk of serve disease and death from covid.

Kristen Rogers. (2020). 16th of April 2020, What exactly are ‘underlying conditions?’ And why people with them may experience more serious illness from coronavirus: This article was broken down into different areas, these areas included were: Older adults, Those with lung disease, asthma or heart conditions, The immunocompromised, Severe obesity, Diabetes, Kidney and liver disease, Neurodevelopmental conditions.

An article by Dawn Fallik. (2020). on the 22nd of April 2020 in Science News titled COVID-19 is hitting some patients with obesity particularly hard: Major risk factors for the severity of covid include: “Those over 65, as well as having a compromised immune system are still major risk factors for being hospitalized with, and dying from, COVID-19. But some doctors say that some of their sickest patients are those under 60 who are obese”. Within this article a paper by Arthur Simonnet & Colleagues. (2020). titled High Prevalence of Obesity in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) Requiring Invasive Mechanical Ventilation from the Obesity Society on the 9th of April 2020 was discussed. The results from the paper highlighted that Obesity was prevalent in 47.6% of patients and severe obesity was prevalent in 28.2% of patients, those analysed “85 patients (68.6%) required IMV (Invasive Mechanical Ventilation). It was found that 85.7% of patients who had a BMI of >35 required IMV the most. This article also refers to various articles by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention which was last updated in April 2021. COVID-19 Information for Specific Groups of People, People with Certain Medical Conditions, & COVID-19 Risks and Vaccine Information for Older Adults.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6915e3.htm by Shikha Garg & Colleagues(2020).

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. (2020). published an article on the 7th of August 2020: They highlighted that the UK Government published a policy paper on 27th of July 2020 called Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives. along side their press release New obesity strategy unveiled as country urged to lose weight to beat coronavirus (COVID-19) and protect the NHS where it is stated “Living with excess weight puts people at greater risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19, with risk growing substantially as body mass index (BMI) increases. Nearly 8% of critically ill patients with COVID-19 in intensive care units have been morbidly obese, compared with 2.9% of the general population”. The statement by the Department of Health and Social Care clearly highlight that having excess weight puts you at greater risk from covid compared to the general population. It is a possibility that the general population that they refer to may have underlying health conditions but do not have a BMI of 30+ so it would fall under a different category for classification.

Shelby Lin Erdman. (2020). 26th of August 2020, Obesity increases risk of complications from Covid-19, damages vaccine efficacy, study finds: Erdman wrote an article in CNN Health discussing how obesity increases the risk of complications from Covid, this article refers to a paper in The Obesity Review Journal titled Individuals with obesity and COVID-19: A global perspective on the epidemiology and biological relationships by Barry M. Popkin & Colleagues (2020) (this paper has been cited in my other articles). Erdman highlights “Obesity was already a known risk factor for more severe cases of Covid-19 because the underlying health conditions associated with the condition, including heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure”.

On the 27th of November 2020 The British Heart Foundation wrote an article “What factors put you at risk from coronavirus?” they also highlighted being overweight or obese puts you at risk of severe illness from covid. Other health conditions/morbidities that was highlighted were your age, being a male, having underlying health conditions such as dementia & stroke, heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, asthma, kidney disease, Down syndrome, hypertension, your ethnic background, your job, where you live and smoking. Within their article they highlighted a paper “Features of 16,749 hospitalised UK patients with COVID-19 using the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol” written by Docherty & Colleagues (2020) on MedRxiv: The results from this study had a median age of 72, the most common comorbidities that were found within hospital patients were “chronic cardiac disease (29%), uncomplicated diabetes (19%), non-asthmatic chronic pulmonary disease (19%) and asthma (14%)”. Under half (47%) had no underlying conditions but they found that “Increased age and comorbidities including obesity were associated with a higher probability of mortality”.

Tim Hanlon. (2020) from CGTN Europe wrote an article 28th of July 2020, COVID-19 linked to obesity: Which nations are Europe’s most overweight?: This article is interesting because it directly points to Malta, Iceland and the UK which seem to all have an issue with getting their population fit and healthy and states “Obesity is now being pointed to as a factor in deaths from COVID-19”. At the time when this article was written in CGTN there had been evidence emerging from around the globe “suggesting people who are overweight are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19”. Even though the government did say being overweight puts you at greater risk of severe illness or death they shut the leisure sector meaning that the obesity epidemic got worse with sedentary behaviour increasing as well as dietary habits changing resulting in a worse health outcome for the UK. A quote within this article from Francesco Rubino, chairman of metabolic and bariatric surgery at King’s College London said “The [coronavirus] pandemic really brings to the fore the need to tackle obesity more aggressively, One lesson from the pandemic of COVID-19 is that not treating obesity is not an option.” Another quote within this article puts it perfectly, Susan Jebb, a diet and population professor at Oxford University said “Obesity puts extra pressure and metabolic strain on almost every organ system of the body,” and “So it’s perhaps not surprising that it also exacerbates the risk of COVID-19 complications.”

Marlene Cimons. (2020). wrote an article in the Washington Post on the 23rd of August 2020 If you need a lifesaving reason to lose weight, the novel coronavirus provides it: This health article in the Washington Post in America states “Obesity, a significant public health problem among both American adults and children, is one of the risk factors for severe disease and death from covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Others include older age and such underlying medical conditions as heart disease and diabetes, both of them related to obesity”. This article refers to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention article Adult Obesity Facts, from 1999-2018 obesity within America “increased from 30.5% to 42.4%. During the same time, the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%”. The CDC also stated “Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. These are among the leading causes of preventable, premature death”.

Zhang Ni. (2020) from xinhuanet.com wrote an article on 23rd of December 2020 titled The latest health data of Chinese people have been released! Have you reached the standard?: A report was released from the State Council Information Office titled Nutrition and Chronic Diseases of Chinese Residents (2020), it was found that “The overweight obesity rate of residents in all age groups in urban and rural areas continues to rise, and the overweight and obesity rates of residents aged 18 and above are 34.3% and 16.4% respectively”.

2021

Robert Booth (2021) from The Guardian wrote an article on the 26th of January 2021, Why has Britain suffered more than 100,000 Covid deaths?: Before the pandemic it was evident that the UK was a really unhealthy nation. After the Prime Minister at the time Boris Johnson was hospitalised the “NHS has identified obesity as a cause of clinical vulnerability to Covid”. Within the UK 3.9 million people were diagnosed with diabetes in 2020 which rose by 100,000, compared to other countries in Europe the UK has a large portion of the population who are 65+, which sits at 18.3% according to the Population Reference Bureau. Robert Booth also highlights those “aged 80 or older 70 times more likely to die than those under 40”.

The Mail Online published an article by Connor Boyd and Natalie Rahhal. (2021) on the 4th of March 2021 Major report reveals 90% of ALL coronavirus fatalities have occurred in countries where HALF of people are overweight: It was found by the World Obesity Federation that “Covid deaths have been 10 times higher in countries where over half of adults are overweight, and they have accounted for a staggering 90 per cent of global deaths”. Even though around 518,500 Americans have sadly passed away from complications with covid that is still a small proportion of their population as they have a population size of 329.5 million which is not 1% of their entire population. Out of the American population it was estimated that “70 million Americans are obese”. I agree with this paragraph in their article where they state: “Thousands of lives might have been saved if the population was slimmer, experts said, and lockdown measures may not have needed to be as drastic if fewer people were overweight or obese and had a lower risk of ending up in hospital”.  

US obesity crisis to blame for it having one of the world’s worst Covid death rates: Major report reveals 90% of ALL coronavirus fatalities have occurred in countries where HALF of people are overweight 4th of March 2021 by Connor Boyd and Natalie Rahhal., “Covid-19 deaths from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus pandemic tracker and World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Observatory adult overweight estimates”.

Lauren Mascarenhas and Zamira Rahim. (2021). 5th of March 2021 Covid-19 death rates 10 times higher in countries where most adults are overweight, report finds: Its been reported that researchers have found by the end of 2020 that countries “death rates were more than 10 times higher in countries where more than half the adults are overweight, compared to countries where fewer than half are overweight”. Researchers used data from the World Health Organisation & John Hopkins University it was “found that of 2.5 million Covid-19 deaths reported by the end of February, 2.2 million were in countries where more than half the population is overweight”. An analysis that was conducted using studies involving around 160 countries world wide to collect the data, by analysis of these studies researchers found that “Covid-19 mortality rates increased along with countries’ prevalence of obesity”. It is evident that countries with an overweight population less than 40% had a lower covid-19 death rate compared to countries with an overweight population of over 50%. At the time of the CNN article was written it was reported that Vietnam had an overweight population of 18.3%. At the time of writing this article 2022 Vietnam had a death rate of 37,432 out a population of 97,338,579. Other countries who have a low death rate compared to Vietnam include “Japan, Thailand and South Korea”. Japan has a death rate of 18,692 in 2022 out of a population of 126,476,461, Thailand has a death rate of 22,145 in 2022 out of a population of 69,799,978 and South Korea has a death rate of 6,712 in 2022 out of a population of 51,269,185. Countries with an overweight population above 50% such as the United Sates who have an overweight percentage of 67.9%, the US has death rate of 911K in 2022 when writing this article out of a population of 329.5 million. The report stated that “Age is the predominant factor affecting risk of hospitalisation and death from Covid-19, but the report finds that being overweight comes a close second”.

2022

Jen Christensen. (2022). 3rd of January 2022 Can weight loss help protect against Covid-19?: This article by CNN highlights that obesity is “the second leading cause of preventable death, after smoking” and with covid-19 makes it so much worse. This article refers to an original research paper by Meghan O’Hearn & Colleagues. (2021). that was published in the Journal of The American Heart Association on the 25th of February 2021 titled Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalizations Attributable to Cardiometabolic Conditions in the United States: A Comparative Risk Assessment Analysis: It was found that “Patients with cardiometabolic conditions, in particular obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and heart failure, have a high risk of poor outcomes from coronavirus disease 2019 infection”. It was also found “Top risks were obesity (30.2%), hypertension (26.2%), and diabetes mellitus (20.5%). (Attributable proportions are multiplicative, not additive, when 2 or more exist.)”. This article by Jen Christensen is great because it refers to many different research articles and papers from reputable sources. Authors & research papers that were referenced were Barry Popkin: Individuals with obesity and COVID-19: A global perspective on the epidemiology and biological relationships,  US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Body Mass Index and Risk for COVID-19–Related Hospitalization, Intensive Care Unit Admission, Invasive Mechanical Ventilation, and Death — United States, March–December 2020, Min Gao & Colleagues: Associations between body-mass index and COVID-19 severity in 6·9 million people in England: a prospective, community-based, cohort study and others.This article discussed if weight-loss could help protect against covid-19, to answer this question a paper published on December 29, 2021 from Ali Aminian & Colleagues titled Association of Weight Loss Achieved Through Metabolic Surgery With Risk and Severity of COVID-19 Infection was used, “The findings from this study show an association between weight loss achieved with surgery and improved outcomes of COVID-19 infection, suggesting that obesity can be a modifiable risk factor for the severity of COVID-19 infection”. The study analysed 11,809 patients with obesity who were positive with SARS-CoV-2 within a surgical group “weight loss surgery was significantly associated with a 49% lower risk of hospitalization, 63% lower risk of need for supplemental oxygen, and 60% lower risk of severe disease during a 12-month period after contracting COVID-19 infection”.

An article on the 18th of January 2022 written in TheNew Age News by Colin Todhunter. (2022). titled Comorbidities and Covid-19: There has been emerging data that “shows that lockdowns seemingly had limited, if any, positive impacts on the trajectory of Covid-19”. There is a list from the CDC in America linking comorbidities to the severity of covid-19, conditions that were included were “cancer, chronic kidney disease, heart disease, Down syndrome, obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus”. Within this article it refers to research that was conducted in a hospital in Germany those who sadly died with a SARS-CoV-2 infection had a “median number of chronic comorbidities was four and ranged from three to eight”. Conditions that were most prevalent were “Arterial hypertension (65.4%), obesity (38.5%), chronic ischemic heart disease (34.6%), atrial fibrillation (26.9%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (23.1%)”. It was also highlighted that some of the patients (15.4%) had type 2 diabetes and chronic renal failure (11.5%) was also found. It is interesting to note that “the odds ratio of death for a patient with a comorbidity compared to one with no comorbidity was 2.4”. The trend within this article and other seems to highlight that the more prevalent underlying health conditions are the higher the odds of being admitted to intensive care or death, “especially if the pre-existing disease is hypertension, heart disease or diabetes” all of which can be brought on or made worse by obesity.

Julie Steenhuysen and Manas Mishra. (2022) from Reuters News on the 19th of January 2022, Prior COVID infection more protective than vaccination during Delta surge -U.S. study: This article points to how individuals who were previously infected with the Delta variant of covid were better protected than those who have been vaccinated “suggesting that natural immunity was a more potent shield than vaccines against that variant, California and New York health officials reported”. It has been reported that those who were vaccinated and had previously survived covid had higher infections compared to those have never been vaccinated who had the lowest infections. This evidence comes from Tomás M. León & Colleagues on January 29th 2022 by the CDC titled COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations by COVID-19 Vaccination Status and Previous COVID-19 Diagnosis — California and New York, May–November 2021.

Within news articles you have conflicting information as there may be a possibility of sponsorship from pharmaceutical companies to push vaccines even if the research is saying that natural immunity more effective for the average individual who has no underlying health conditions compared to those with conditions who may need that added bit of protection for the short term.

RT News. (2022). 27th of January 2022, New coronavirus strain found: This article by RT news refers to a research paper by Qing Xiong & colleagues on January 25th 2022 in Biorxiv stating where they found a strain of covid called NeoCoV. “SARS-CoV-2, which was first identified in Wuhan and later caused the Covid-19 pandemic, uses ACE2 to enter the human body”.

Paul Best (2022) from Fox News Lockdowns only reduced COVID-19 death rate by .2%, study finds: ‘Lockdowns should be rejected out of hand’ 1st of February 2022: Its estimated that lockdowns only stoped the spread of covid during the first lockdown in spring 2020 by about 0.2% in the United States & Europe according to a Johns Hopkins University meta-analysis of a number of studies. This article refers to a paper by Jonas Herby, Lars Jonung, and Steve H. Hanke titled A LITERATURE REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF LOCKDOWNS ON COVID-19 MORTALITY which was published in January 2022. It’s stated within this article “We find little to no evidence that mandated lockdowns in Europe and the United States had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality rates”. The meta analysis narrowed down 24-34 studies out of a total of 18,590, its focus was on the effect of compulsory non-pharmaceutical interventions or NPIs. The paragraph below is from page 40 of the paper.

“Studies looking at specific NPIs (lockdown vs. no lockdown, facemasks, closing non-essential businesses, border closures, school closures, and limiting gatherings) also find no broad-based evidence of noticeable effects on COVID-19 mortality. However, closing non-essential businesses seems to have had some effect (reducing COVID-19 mortality by 10.6%), which is likely to be related to the closure of bars. Also, masks may reduce COVID-19 mortality, but there is only one study that examines universal mask mandates. The effect of border closures, school closures and limiting gatherings on COVID-19 mortality yields precision-weighted estimates of -0.1%, -4.4%, and 1.6%, respectively. Lockdowns (compared to no lockdowns) also do not reduce COVID-19 mortality”.

Connor Boyd and Gina Martinez (2022). co-authored an article on 2nd of February 2022 titled Lockdowns, school closures and limiting gatherings only reduced COVID mortality by 0.2% at ‘enormous economic and social costs’, study finds: This news article also referenced the meta-analysis by Jonas Herby, Lars Jonung, and Steve H. Hanke, the researchers are professionals and experts field of economics and not health. It’s stated within this news article “Economists who carried out a meta-analysis found draconian restrictions imposed in spring 2020 — including stay-at-home orders, compulsory masks and social distancing — only reduced Covid mortality by 0.2 per cent” and “They warned that lockdowns caused ‘enormous economic and social costs’ and concluded they were ‘ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument’ going forward”. The report had been criticised and accused of cherry picking studies to suit their narrative which has apparently raised doubts because they “have been vocal about lockdowns and vaccine mandates on social media”. Its also been highlighted that there has been a consensus that lockdowns and restrictions have increased non-covid deaths and made so many conditions worse because they couldn’t get access to healthcare for their condition,“the best explanation for differing Covid death rates in countries was ‘differences in population age and health’ and the ‘quality of the health sector”.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10466995/New-study-says-lockdowns-reduced-COVID-mortality-2-percent.html

Julia Kollewe. (2022). Pfizer accused of pandemic profiteering as profits double, 8th of February 2022: In 2021 Pfizer has made around £27 billion in sales which is the equivalent of $34 billion “making it one of the most lucrative products in history”. The increase in profits throughout the pandemic/epidemic has lead to accusations of “pandemic profiteering” and they have been accused of “ripping off public health systems”. Within the UK it is estimated that Pfizer has sold 189 million doses for a £2.8 billion to the NHS which is well above the production costs.

Luke Andrews. (2022). Now scrap daily Covid death figure, experts say – as statistics show ‘official’ toll overblows fatalities by up to 40%, 9th of February 2022: There have been experts and critics of daily publication of Covid deaths as it is not fit for purpose as it “is a flawed dataset because it includes everyone who died in the weeks after they caught Covid, regardless of their cause of death — meaning theoretically even car crash victims can be included”. Professor Robert Dingwall, a former Government Covid adviser has claimed that system was built for “speed rather than accuracy” .Professor Dingwall, a sociologist at Nottingham Trent University also said “The value of data published daily on the dashboard is diminishing rapidly. If there is going to be a package at the end of the month for removing restrictions, that may be an appropriate point to start looking at [removing daily stats from] the dashboard [Their use] has become increasingly questionable, and the only merit it has had throughout has been the speed at which info appears rather than the accuracy of the data. The daily death data has always had a fairly loose relationship with underlying mortality rates — but that has changed significantly with Omicron”.

Data has shown a pattern with hospitalisations where “less than half of Covid patients were actually being treated for the virus”. The article by the dailymail by Luke Andrews suggests that “NHS England data showed of 11,967 Covid patients on wards just 5,719 — or 47 per cent — were actually being primarily treated for the virus”.

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