A good example of why many people don’t trust government on COVID – Wirepoints

By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner

Illinois officials, healthcare professionals and the media continue to push the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” narrative to shame the unvaxxed into getting jabbed. It’s the unvaxxed, they say, that are overrunning hospitals and spreading the virus.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, for example, claimed in January that 85 percent of Illinoisans hospitalized with COVID, and 95 percent of those in ICUs, were unvaccinated. And two weeks ago, Illinois Health Director Dr. Ngozi said 89 percent of current hospitalizations were of the unvaxxed.

To get to those numbers, officials and healthcare professionals have been playing fast and loose with the definition of the “unvaxxed” in hospitals. By lumping together the unvaccinated with the vaccinated but unboosted, they’re trying to push the unvaxxed numbers higher.

Their intent may be more jabs in arms – the data shows vaccines are effective in reducing the risk of serious illness and death – but their approach is deceptive. Just like the CDC’s withholding of data from the public, it’s a sure way to lose people’s trust.

Take how Advocate Aurora Health, one of the largest hospital networks in Illinois and Wisconsin, is pushing for more vaccinations. Its Jan. 7, 2022 Facebook post says in big, bold red numbers that 93 percent of hospitalized COVID patients across the network are “unvaccinated,” as are 94 percent of ICU patients. The graphic’s title pits the “Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated.” 

Only when you look at the fine print do you see what’s going on.* Advocate combines vaccinated but unboosted patients with unvaxxed patients and calls them all “unvaccinated.” That’s where the “fast and loose” comes in.

Advocate’s bold, red messaging in the graphic is misleading, but at least the hospital network included a note on its definitions. In contrast, Gov. Pritzker and Dr. Ezike don’t advertise their definition of unvaxxed in comments to the media. 

Just look at some of the media headlines that were published as a result: 

Those headlines simply don’t reflect the reality on the ground since the appearance of Omicron. It’s wrong to blame the unvaxxed when everyone can get and spread Omicron, vaccinated or not. That’s reflected in the hospitalization numbers we have access to.

A January 28, 2022 screenshot provided by an employee from one of the Advocate network’s largest hospitals, Lutheran General, reveals that just 40 percent of patients on that day were unvaxxed, while 59 percent were vaccinated and/or boosted.

And that day wasn’t a one-off either. Multiple screenshots from Lutheran General for January and February show the percentage of vaxxed patients often exceeded 50 percent. 

Lutheran General is just one hospital, of course. But its numbers are consistent with what Illinois officials have been stating to the media. Throw the “vaccinated with no booster” in with the “unvaccinated” patients and you get 80 to 95 percent “unvaxxed,” similar to Pritzker and Dr. Ezike’s numbers.

If the statewide numbers are significantly different than what we’ve described above, we invite the Pritzker Administration to share the full data with us.

********

An argument may be made that the “vaccinated but unboosted” should be considered “unvaxxed” because the vaccine loses effectiveness over time. That’s reasonable, but Pritzker and Ezike should be transparent if they want to use that argument.

Instead, their definitional sleight of hand is sure to have created even more mistrust.

*Vaccinated patients have completed a full vaccine series, plus booster, if eligible. Unvaccinated patients have not yet completed the initial vaccine series or are due for a booster.

 

P.S. What makes the above all the more disingenuous, and more confusing for Illinoisans, is the fact that the government’s definition of vaccinated and unvaccinated is inconsistent. 

For instance, the state defines a “breakthrough” death as anyone who completed the full series of vaccine shots, boosted or not.  And for vaccine passports, Chicago considers anyone who completed the full series of vaccine shots, boosted or not, as vaccinated.

Both of those definitions clash with how officials have defined vaxxed and unvaxxed for hospitalized patients.

Read more about the COVID pandemic in Illinois:

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Ryan G.
2 years ago

The other thing that’s disingenuous about this is that there are many elderly who are too frail to tolerate the vaccine. It’s doesn’t take much for someone in that condition to pass away or require hospitalization whether from covid or something else. But of course, no effort is made to parse this data further. Truth is not on their agenda.

nixit
2 years ago

What happened in between the 2nd shot and boosters? Why were so many fine getting the two shots in Spring but didn’t go back for the booster in the Fall? Was it because those mass vaccination sites closed down? Possible access issue? I mean, every corner pharmacy has been giving out shots.

Honestly, we did all this outreach to get vaccinations to the poorest neighborhoods in the first round. Why didn’t they get boosted?

Marie
2 years ago

Government/covid-19 is very similar to an ex spouse. You don’t trust anything they say you don’t believe anything they do especially after they did their best to shake you down and weaponize your children. You must verify the info they give you. The government is doing everything to block your ability to verify but you must find a way otherwise you’re screwed. Last time I saw a doctor he asked me if I had the booster I said “no” but I might as soon as I could see some clinical trials. He dropped the subject.

Fauci Fraud
2 years ago

What do the jabbed and unjabbed have in common?

They’ll never be fully vaccinated against China virus.

The jabs were never about healthcare. They were about control.

Manfred Downstate
2 years ago

Ted & John, thanks very much for this story and the data. I knew the screamer headlines about Illinois hospitals being “overwhelmed by the unvaccinated” simply could not be true when, per your Daily Summary chart, 76.4% of Illinoisans 18 and older are vaccinated (which presumably refers to the “two-dose = vaccinated” definition). Gov. J.B. and the medical establishment’s claims had to be phony, I just didn’t realize they were that phony.   At least the fine print in Advocate Aurora Health’s vaccine promo made something transparent: their gross manipulation of the term “vaccinated.” Generously defined, the durability of the… Read more »

Platinum Goose
2 years ago

So if you’re vaxed and boosted you’re probably also avoiding a lot of situations that could get you infected. You don’t attend family functions, you don’t go out to eat, you work from home, etc. Essentially the fear of the virus is controlling you and keeping you from contracting it and ending up in the hospital. That could account for the low numbers (if you believe the numbers). Personally I’m trying to live my life. I did get infected, I think it was a Christmas gathering but honestly I don’t care who gave it to me. I’ve been walking around… Read more »

Waggs
2 years ago
Reply to  Platinum Goose

My completely amateur analysis is as follows, based on observation of friends, family, and colleagues: Those who are triple jabbed, are also a.) avoiding communal gatherings in public and private and b.) many times wearing N95 or double masks. Many of these people came down with a severe case of omicron in the last 8 weeks (pretty ill for 7+ days). All people NOT doing the above, came down with mild cases (1-2 days). Could it be because the first group’s immune systems have been weakened by practically eliminating their exposure to any germs? Your immune system, just like your… Read more »

Joey Zamboni
2 years ago

***—the data shows vaccines are effective in reducing the risk of serious illness and death ––***

*The data*…

I’m sorry, but if they have been (provably) manipulating the *data*, how can you really trust any of it…?

My suspicion is that the *surge* in the hospitals is from adverse vax reactions…

Of course they will never report that…

debtsor
2 years ago
Reply to  Joey Zamboni

“Their intent may be more jabs in arms – the data shows vaccines are effective in reducing the risk of serious illness and death”

Does it? The CDC has refused to release data on the effectiveness of the vaccine boosters for the 18-49 group, because the data could be ‘misinterpreted’.

Uh huh.

Ex Illini
2 years ago

I don’t have a problem with vaccinations, as long as they’re needed and properly tested. In this case, the vaccines were unnecessary for the great majority of people and they were rushed to market. I have zero confidence in what politicians and the media tell me at this point. Granted, I already had serious reservations given the liberal media’s blatant bias, but after the multiple disclosures of how the Covid numbers were manipulated to instill fear, I trust nothing that comes from their mouths.

Honest Jerk
2 years ago

There was a time when I trusted news sources in general such as network broadcasts and newspapers. Either I changed or they changed because those days are long gone. Now I mostly trust Fox and Newsmax and that’s about it nationally.

debtsor
2 years ago
Reply to  Honest Jerk

News has always been biased left, but they went full communist during the Obama years; and then became hysterical propaganda during Trump. The proliferation of alternative news sources has really put a dent in the daily readership of local newspapers and national network news programs. Like Bongino said about that hit piece against him a few weeks ago, to paraphrase, his daily audience is 20x the readership of the author who writes the hit pieces. He doesn’t even need to respond to requests for comment anymore. And he’s right, Bongino is just one of dozens of other programs I can… Read more »

Rob M
2 years ago
Reply to  debtsor

Bongino is a grifter too, like all the rest. His grift will never be the level of Limbaugh, but give him time. For being so devious and radical, the Democrats are sure doing a good job of destroying any chances of holding on to the House and the Senate. Trump keeps kissing Putin’s ass by calling his maneuver in Ukraine “genius”, but doesn’t say what he’d do. Harris vs. Trump in 24 would be very entertaining. If they’re so good at “rigging” and “ballot harvesting”, how come they didn’t “rig” more Senate seats to give them a cushion for Manchin… Read more »

debtsor
2 years ago
Reply to  Rob M

“Trump keeps kissing Putin’s ass by calling his maneuver in Ukraine “genius”, but doesn’t say what he’d do.”

That’s one quote, taken out of context, he said that this would have never happened during his presidency, and Joe Biden is weak. All of which is true.

Your TDS is so tiresome.

Rick
2 years ago

Our doctor at the urgent care center told us 70% of his delta cases last August were vaccinated. I believe him, that was in August before anyone started playing games with the stats like now. Delta was infecting everyone equally basically at that time, and delta was a brutal one, a far cry from omicron.

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A statewide concern: Illinois’ population decline outpaces neighboring states – Wirepoints on ABC20 Champaign

“We are not in good shape” Wirepoints’ Ted Dabrowski told ABC 20 Champaign during a segment on Illinois’ latest population losses. Illinois was one of just three states to shrink in the 2010-2020 period and has lost another 300,000 people since then. Ted says things need to change. “It’s too expensive to live here, there aren’t enough good jobs and nobody trusts the government anymore. There’s just other places to go where you can be more satisfied.”

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