Coronavirus and Misleading Headlines for April 7th 2021

I've been reading too many misleading headlines in the Detroit Media landscape recently and I'm frustrated by this misinformation.

Media companies can present information in certain ways, and the way that this information is presented makes a difference for public perceptions, especially around coronavirus vaccine efficacy.

The headline I'm talking about is this one that I saw circulated on several news media outlets: "246 fully vaccinated Michiganders got COVID-19 between January and March, state reports"

This information is true, but it misleads the public into thinking that the coronavirus vaccines are not safe and effective.

The media organizations neglected the greater context in their initial reporting, failing to state clearly that 1,700,000 Michigan residents have been vaccinated and only 246 of those have become ill with Covid-19.

If I were to re-write this headline, it would say: "99.99% of vaccine recipients in Michigan have not become ill with Covid-19"

This speaks clearly to the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

Additionally, some media outlets also reported that 3 fully vaccinated Michiganders have died after being fully vaccinated.

This is true, but again misleading.

When taken in the greater context of 1,700,000 (or 1.7 million) fully vaccinated Michiganders, that means that only 0.00017% of those fully vaccinated Michiganders have died from coronavirus.

That means that 99.9999% of those who have achieved full vaccination have NOT died from the coronavirus.

Further, these media organizations did not fully discuss the cases and left out pertinent details.

I would like to know, and these media outlets should report:

• - How old were the people who got sick?

• - Did these people have pre-existing conditions?

• - Were these people taking medications that would suppress an immune response, like steroids or drugs for auto-immune conditions?

• - Did these patients have HIV/AIDS or another condition that suppresses normal immune functioning?

• - Did these patients die from COVID or were their deaths due to another cause, such as heart attacks, strokes, etc…?

My biggest fear is that people who are opposed to vaccinations will use these misleading headlines as "evidence" that the vaccines don't work, when, in fact, these vaccines are safe and effective.

Thanks for reading, and reach out to your City or County health department to get the vaccine.

If you live in the City of Detroit:

• - Call: 313-230-0505

• - Monday-Friday from 9 am until 6 pm.

• - Any resident of the City of Detroit who is age 16+.

• - Any person who works in the City of Detroit whose job requires them to work from their job site.

• - There will be no cost to individuals for the COVID-19 vaccination.

Thanks again,

- Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC