Opinion
editorial

Daily COVID deaths are just 0.00026 percent of the US population — it’s time to move on

By
Post Editorial Board
Published Dec. 3, 2021, 7:11 p.m. ET
Gov. Kathy Hochul was admirably level-headed when discussing the five NYC-area Omicron cases. Kevin P. Coughlin / Office of th

The seven-day average of daily new COVID cases stands at 86,413, according to the CDC. That’s 0.026 percent of the population of the United States.

The seven-day average of COVID hospitalizations is 6,386. That’s 0.0019 percent of the population.

The seven-day average of COVID deaths is 860, or 0.00026 percent.

Having 860 people die a day of a disease is tragic, but you know what 95 percent-plus of those people had in common? They were unvaccinated.

At a certain point, and we are far past it, society needs to ignore those who refuse to take a life-saving vaccine that has been proven safe again and again. If they won’t produce a vaccination card to eat in a restaurant, well, enjoy takeout. The rest of us want to take our masks off.

Omicron obviously threw us a curveball, and as they should, officials took precautions. But now research shows that Omicron cases are fairly mild and vaccines hold up well against it.

Gov. Kathy Hochul was admirably level-headed at Thursday’s press conference when she announced five local Omicron cases. We hope she and others stick to calm. This is no time for renewed panic, and we certainly don’t need new lockdowns and restrictions.

Politicians are enjoying their “emergency” powers far too much, and the media plays into every fearmongering statement. So let’s please get some common sense:

  • Cases are irrelevant. At the beginning, they showed the scope of the pandemic and mapped hotspots. Now, they include both the unvaccinated and vaccinated, and we know for a fact that people who are vaccinated and get infected overwhelmingly have minor symptoms.
  • Hospitalizations are important, but treatments for COVID thankfully have improved — lives are being saves.
  • The death rate is the true measure of the pandemic’s impact. That’s the number you should be looking at. And again, this figure is almost completely about the unvaccinated. And it’s 0.00026 percent.

There will never be “COVID zero.” With vaccines, we now have the tools to mitigate it. President Joe Biden, stop bowing down to “President” Dr. Anthony Fauci, as you called him, and most importantly, get him off TV. Americans are ready to move on.