In at least three provinces lately, Canadians who are double-vaccinated have been more likely to test positive for COVID than the unvaccinated, a fact that has been seized on by anti-vaccination activists as supposed evidence the shots don’t work.
On Monday in Alberta , for instance, 89 in 100,000 people who had received two doses of vaccine tested positive for the coronavirus, compared to 68 in 100,000 of those who have so far avoided vaccination.
But experts say the trend probably stems from statistical “biases” — the nature of the people who have been getting tested and who most frequently were exposed to the virus — and definitely not some strange quirk of immunization. […]
“It’s curious,” admits Dr. Mark Loeb, an infectious-disease doctor and professor at McMaster University. “The first thing for me that comes to mind is, I don’t see any biological explanation for this. I don’t think that makes sense.”
The “confusing” trend can be logically explained but “it behooves us not to hide from these data or to minimize them, but instead to wrestle with them,” says University of Ottawa epidemiologist Raywat Deonandan.
77% of yesterday’s new cases in Saskatchewan were among the fully vaccinated, who make up about 74% of the population. Yes, it’s probably skewed by the fact that the unvaccinated are less likely to seek out testing and be added to the official government count, unless they’re truly sick. But that’s always been the case, and the shift in relative percentages have been moving steadily toward equilibrium just the same.
The passport mandate is logically unsustainable and scientifically unsound, and judging by the recent signals, the Saskatchewan government knows it.
