Australia's state of Victoria is known for particularly rigid COVID-19 restrictions on its population of 7 million, with police infamously arresting a pregnant woman for "inciting" an anti-lockdown protest.
About 95% of the state's adults have received COVID vaccines and most are boosted with mRNA shots. Yet, Victoria's official government data shows deaths in August soared to the highest level in at least 13 years, reports investigative reporter Alex Berenson.
He noted that Victoria's database is better than most, with state law requiring physicians and funeral directors to report deaths online. The deaths are registered immediately, and the figures rarely are adjusted later.
In 2022, so far, Victoria has registered 32,533 deaths overall, which is 20% above its average for the same eight-month period from 2017 through 2021.
And COVID deaths have spike since the introduction of the vaccines. More than two-thirds of Victoria's COVID deaths have occurred in 2022.
And that's amid the omicron waves that have been significantly milder than previous variants.
Meanwhile, British government data indicates adults aged 40-74 who have received mRNA booster shots are twice as likely to be hospitalized as those who haven't recently been boosted.
Similarly, in June, an analysis of Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccine trials by British Medical Journal Editor Dr. Peter Doshi and other medical scientists found the mRNA shots are more likely to land a recipient in the hospital than to provide protection from a severe adverse event.
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