But for the last several months it has had more deaths per-capita, and nearly all those people are vaccinated. In the last six weeks, 656 people have died of Covid in New South Wales, Australia’s largest state. More than 85 percent were vaccinated, and most of them had been boosted.
Even more concerning, Australia has also had a large increase in non-Covid deaths. During the first three months of 2022, Australia had almost 20 percent more deaths than normal. Even excluding Covid deaths, deaths were almost 10 percent above normal. Figures for April and May from Victoria, its second-largest state, suggest excess deaths have risen even further since then and may be running 30 percent above normal – a stunningly high level.
It is hard to overstate what the unspooling crisis in Australia may mean for vaccine and lockdown advocates. Because it so successfully contained Covid in 2020 and 2021 and then used mRNA and DNA/AAV vaccines so aggressively, Australia is a near-perfect test case for what Omicron and future variants will do to a population that was mass vaccinated before being exposed to Covid.
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Clearly, the vaccines have failed. The question now is how long the Omicron wave will last, and how many deaths Australia may have by year-end. The rise in overall mortality is also telling, because the excuses that public health advocates have offered in other countries – health-care delays or “long Covid” – do not apply in Australia.
For now, Australian national and state governments continue to push boosters – and to publish honest data showing just how poorly the shots are working.
No points for guessing whether the honesty or the booster campaigns are likely to end first.