Health Insights from the first year of COVID-19 in Australia

IN C19 Prey
1
  • Updated:1 year ago
  • Reading Time:3Minutes
  • Post Words:741Words
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released a report on the September 10 2021 titled: “Health Insights from the first year of COVID-19 in Australia.

75% of all COVID-19 deaths occurred in those living in residential aged-care facilities (P.4)

Only 3% ended up in ICU (P.7)

Natural Infection may provide lifelong immunity – and a recent study suggests at least 8 months (P.9)

They are now more aware of a range of treatments from corticosteroids to blood thinners to reduce the risk of death in certain patients. (p.11)

The TGA has only registered the vaccines for provisional approval, and only after the safety, quality and effectiveness of the vaccine is established will it be a full registration can be granted – and only then, can the Australian Government determine whether it will include them in its subsidised immunisation program. (P.12)

At the time of writing, evidence was still emerging on how effectively the current COVID-19 vaccines reduce infection rates or stop transmission of the virus. (P.13)

Vaccinated ‘may have’ breakthrough infections (P.13)

That the initial vaccine trials only had “reduction of disease” as their main outcome, rather than “reduction in transmission of the virus”. (P.13)

Even with a high proportion of people vaccinated, it is still unclear whether herd immunity will be possible, or whether available vaccines will be effective against new variants. (P.14)

The vaccines were fast-tracked and the first US clinical trials began 66 days after the RNA sequences was uploaded to the gene-bank by China and that three contracts were signed before we had any safety-evidence or trial data to review. (P.15)

The Pfizer vaccine implements new technology using mRNA (‘messenger RNA’) that enables cells to make a protein which triggers an immune response to produce antibodies against the virus. (P.16)

The TGA’s provisional approval was based on Pfizer’s clinical trials. (p.17)

AstraZeneca can cause blood clotting / low platelet levels, and Pfizer can cause heart problems. (P.18)

The effectiveness of Pfizer was studied in vaccination programs in Israel, USA, and UK. (P.19-20)

There is not yet definitive proof that vaccination stops transmission of the virus. (P.24)

Evidence is still emerging on how well they prevent transmission of the virus or how long any immunity from natural infection or vaccination lasts. (P.25)

909 deaths from COVID-19 “notified through surveillance systems” – 58% were over the age of 85 (34% over age 90) (P.26)

COVID Deaths were below 1% for those younger than 59yo (P.34-35)

“The median age at death for COVID-19 registered deaths was 87 years, which is higher than that for all causes of death in 2020 which is 83 years of age. (P.30)

In other words, having CV-19 adds 4 years to your life expectancy?! (Or that the infection didn’t really change life expectancy)

75% were people living in residential aged-care facilities (P.36)

A “death” due to COVID is defined as a death “resulting from a clinically compatible illness” in a “probable” or confirmed COVID case – unless they died in a car accident, etc. (P.46)

It is not possible to differentiate whether they died of COVID-19 or something else. (P.47)

88% of deaths had associated causes listed – an average of 2.4 associated causes, and over half had another causal condition and 73% had pre-existing chronic conditions (P.31, P.38)

Pneumonia was the most common condition (56%) and Respiratory failure, other infections, cardiac complications and renal failure were other common conditions (P.32)

Dementia was an associated cause in 41% of deaths and is already the 2nd leading cause of death in the general Australian population due to influenza and pneumonia (P.33)

Australia recorded “lower than expected total mortality” compared with last 5 years (P.40)

Influenza/Pneumonia were lower (P.40-42)

(we know they stopped testing as the symptoms were identical – even though they failed to disclose that in the report and put it down to increased hygiene and “hand-washing” rather than the more obvious answer to anyone who still has a brain)

Penny... on Health
Penny... on Health

Truth-seeker, ever-questioning, ever-learning, ever-researching, ever delving further and deeper, ever trying to 'figure it out'. This site is a legacy of sorts, a place to collect thoughts, notes, book summaries, & random points of interests.

DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is not medical science or medical advice. I do not have any medical training aside from my own research and interest in this area. The information I publish is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, disorder, pain, injury, deformity, or physical or mental condition. I just report my own results, understanding & research.