Last update: Tuesday 6/14/22
Its second paragraph declares, "The rising star of the conservative Maga movement – named for Trump’s “make America great again” campaign slogan – has beaten the former president in several recent polls of party activists, some of whom appear to finally be growing weary of Trump’s “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen."
The editor of this blog had come to the same conclusion a few weeks ago, which caused him to analyze some CDC data and post his findings on this blog in two parts:
The editor reasoned if the governor became a candidate, he would probably make his contrarian management of the pandemic a centerpiece of his campaign because that is what would most distinguish him from the other GOP wannabes.
So how did he do ... so far? No, we're not talking about his opposition to mandates. By time the election gets into high gear next year, few voters are going to be persuaded or not by what he did or did not do; they will be persuaded by the results he achieved, or did not achieve. So what have been the results of his policies so far? Ironically, Governor DeSantis seemed to adopt the CDC's oft stated goal, saving lives, as his own, an ironic posture given his opposition to most of the CDC's guidance for achieving that goal.
In this instance the most direct measure of lives saved is the number of lives lost, specifically, the deaths per hundred thousand residents of a state.
- As shown in Part II of the notes cited above, the bad news for the residents of Florida is that the number of COVID deaths per 100,000 for all of its residents was substantially higher than the number of deaths per 100,000 in California and New York. Florida's rate was 323 per 100,000; whereas California's was only 243; and New York's was only 183 per 100,000. Florida's death rate was also higher than the national average, which was 302 deaths per 100,000.
- As also shown in Part II of the notes cited above, the good news for Florida is that the number of deaths per 100,000 for residents 65 and older was about the same as California's, lower than New York's, and higher than the national average. Florida's was 1,196, California's was 1,186, and the national average was 1,425 deaths per 100,000.
Death rates and vaccination rates
So why did Florida do so well with residents 65 and over, but so badly with its younger residents? A huge segment of Florida's seniors are not like the senior residents of other states because they are affluent, well-educated retirees from other states, especially states in the in the Middle Atlantic and New England regions. Their education and affluence enabled them to appreciate the high priority access Governor DeSantis provided for them. So a high percentage of this select group became vaccinated voluntarily as soon as possible.
- "Governor Ron DeSantis: Florida Putting Seniors First and Leading the Nation in Vaccinations for Those 65+", Press Release, Governor Ron DeSantis, 1/23/21
As shown in Part II, Florida vaccinated 91.3 percent of its oldest residents, more than California's 90.8 percent, but a tad less than New York's 92.3 percent. Having high vaccination rates for seniors is consistent with Florida's death for seniors having low death rates California and New York, two other high vax states.
On the other hand, Florida only vaccinated 67.1 percent of all of its residents vs. California's 72.3 percent and New York's 92.3 percent. Florida's lower overall vaccination rates than California's and New York's are consistent with its having higher overall death rates than California and New York.
A troubling question
California and New York achieved their higher vaccination rates through mandates imposed on public and private sector employers. Governor DeSantis' opposition to mandates doomed his state's younger residents to lower vaccination rates and therefore higher death rates than California and New York.
The data in Part II strongly suggests a troubling question: Had Governor DeSantis made one exception to his anti-mandate posture by requiring public and private sector employers to vaccinate their employees ... AND ... Had he still opposed masks, remote classes and all of the other mitigations recommended by the CDC, would the death rate for all residents in Florida have been as low as the death rates in California and New York?
____________________________________
Links to related notes on this blog:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments will be greatly appreciated ... Or just click the "Like" button above the comments section if you enjoyed this blog note.