Also via Twitter, this chart shows how vaccines have affected death rates in the UK. It compares the prior wave with the current one in the UK. The vertical axis is days of the wave, up to the 5oth day. Then it shows per capita deaths. Notwithstanding a similar case rate, the death rate is way, way down. The vaccines are doing what they are supposed to do.
That seems like a bold conclusion from limited data which is what you have cautioned. Who is getting tested? What are the cycle rates? Symptomatic? Are all the deaths non-vaccinated? If they are how old are they?
Compare this to Sweden now please who has a lower vaccination rate and seems to be doing fine.
I believe I read on this blog that as pandemics go, the old and frail will die off first and then deaths will fall precipitously as the pandemics wane. That would happen with or without vaccines. Not saying the vaccines have had no impact, but I think the first factor is playing a larger impact than most people recognize.
It could be that a lot of the vulnerable have already gotten sick and died, but that is a big population.
Or perhaps the delta variant is a lot less dangerous.
Your favorite Alex stated in his latest substack “the United Kingdom is now reporting more deaths now than it did in late July 2020” but he didn’t source it. Would YOY be a better comparison than wave over wave?
To add to the other comments, it is also probably that doctors are now actually treating patients early instead of telling them to stay home until their lips turn blue. But that might be a psychological effect of the vaccines rather than a physiological effect.