Alex Berenson vs. Washington Post on Danish COVID Study - Who Is Right?
Never have two analyses differed so much on a single study about the new "Omicron" variant and hospitalizations. My money is on Alex.
Saturday, December 18th, was a tale of two very different reports about the same studies from Denmark, which deserve plaudits for their transparency. One from the Washington Post authored by Chico Harlan. The other came from former New York Times science reporter and author Alex Berenson.
Their reports could not be more different. Let’s start with the crux of Harlan’s fear-mongering at the Washington Post. I question whether Harlan read the studies or studied the data. He instead relied selectively on a couple of “experts.” Narratives gotta narrative.
As omicron drives a new phase of the pandemic, many are looking to Denmark — and particularly the government institute devoted to testing, surveillance and modeling — for warnings about what to expect.
The emerging answer — even in this highly vaccinated, wealthy northern European country — is dire. For all the defenses built over the last year, the virus is about to sprint out of control, and scientists here expect a similar pattern in much of the world.
“The next month will be the hardest period of the pandemic,” said Tyra Grove Krause, the chief epidemiologist at Denmark’s State Serum Institute, a campus of brick buildings along a canal.
Ever since the omicron variant emerged in November, the best hope has been that it might cause less severe sickness than the delta version it is competing with, which in turn might make this wave more manageable and help the transition of covid-19 into an endemic disease. But Denmark’s projections show the wave so fully inundating the country that even a lessened strain will deliver an unprecedented blow. (Emphasis added)
Now, Berenson on the very same study which, unlike the Post, he links (two studies, actually, here and here) for your own edification. You can check his work.
The Danes are now publishing extremely detailed daily data about Covid cases and hospitalizations - not just about Omicron, but all Covid variants.
And, in news that will surprise precisely no one who has been alive the last two years, they paint a picture entirely different than what the media claims.
Omicron - which continues to appear significantly less dangerous though more transmissible than earlier variants of Covid - has been used as a cover for vaccine failure.
Most new Covid cases in Denmark occur in people who are vaccinated or boosted - and that is true for both Omicron and earlier variants. More than 76 percent of non-Omicron Covid infections in Denmark are in vaccinated people, along with about 90 percent of Omicron infections.
Further, only 25 of the 561 people currently hospitalized in Denmark for Covid have the Omicron variant. The Danes do not provide an exact number for patients in intensive care with Omicron, saying only that it is fewer than five.
Perhaps the most stunning fact about Omicron and Denmark is that its rise actually parallels a marked slowdown in the growth of Danish hospitalizations and intensive care patients. Those rose roughly fivefold between mid-October and late November, as the Danes left the happy vaccine valley. Since then they have barely budged, rising about 20 percent.
Berenson’s post goes on to detail how the Danes, like South Africa, have experienced rather limited hospitalizations from the new variant.
Who to believe? The science reporter and author who has yet to be proven wrong about his vaccine analyses (a few have tried) and reporting on the “efficacy” of vaccines, or the no-name reporter from a newspaper that still hasn’t returned its Pulitzer for promoting the Russia-Trump collusion hoax?
Oh, sure, Berenson is controversial in some circles. He’s not a medical professional, nor does he pretend to be one. He was banned from Twitter for his work, which deviated from the party line. But he first cross swords with the culture when he published a book (Tell Your Children) that challenged prevailing views (and money) about marijuana. I suspect that may have more to do with cancellation attempts against him than anything COVID.
When prevailing elitist authorities seek to silence people who disagree with them, we should pay careful attention. Challenging and arguing is one thing; silencing people into submission or worse is quite another, as law professor and author Jonathan Turley has frequently noted. We would all be better informed to let a real public debate ensue.
Regardless, the evidence continues to amass that we should ignore the fear mongers in the media and our health bureaucracy that “Omicron” is something to be feared, justifying more stupid and failed lockdown and school closure strategies.
It is time to follow Colorado’s lead, among other states such as Florida. Viruses are gonna virus. The pandemic is becoming endemic. It is time to focus on protecting the vulnerable, accelerating therapeutics over dubiously effective vaccines, and moving on with our lives.
All of us should want to follow media professionals we can trust. That trust can and must be earned. Let’s start by being more selective. As for me, I’m dismissing the Washington Post.