GOP voters had higher excess deaths rates after COVID vaccine rollout

The death gap between Democrats and Republicans was larger in counties with lower vaccination rates.

See full article...

 

[pininfarina575]

well, as sad as people dying for anything for any reason is, those types of people not realizing they are quite figuratively thinning their kind out by choosing against vaccination and having higher chance dying or at least being impacted more significantly than they needed to be, may be a good thing for the long term of humanity?

 

[Da Truff]

Seriously, what was the Republican play here? To what end was it in their interests to let their voters die of a (mostly) preventable disease?

Fascism tends to be very self-destructive. Unfortunately, it also tends to kill a lot of innocent people before it runs its course.

 

[Da Truff]

Why bring racism into this?

How do you separate the modern Republican party and racism?

 

[DerpGentley]

I suspect the fatality rate would have to be far far larger to do that. A lot of people died, but I suspect not remotely enough to swing a red state.

It's somewhat unlikely to swing a state, but I would not be at all surprised if it swings a couple individual elections. It's just not that unusual to have a few decisions that come down to the wire, where the margin is a couple thousand voters, and sometimes much less. Obviously, the closer the margins, the smaller the impact is likely to be (a state that votes 70% GOP is likely to have higher losses than one who votes 51% GOP), but it is chipping away at a demographic (older, white, rural) that is already struggling.

 

[train_wreck]

Another way to slice the data:

...


Article:
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation...death-rate-compares-favorably-to-californias/
Study:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)00461-0/fulltext

So in a fantasy world where i add lots of old people to California, the old people die and that balances out the numbers versus Florida. I love word problems!

Also FFS the findings of the study literally state:

The political affiliation of the state governor was not associated with lower SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 death rates, but worse COVID-19 outcomes were associated with the proportion of a state's voters who voted for the 2020 Republican presidential candidate.

 

[Super King]

I'm not sure if this will ever happen, but it would be pretty fascinating to someday see any potential links between a partisan gap in excess deaths and a swing state going blue in any given election. I'm not sure if the data to correlate this exists, or if the effect is strong enough in any one place to actually manifest, but it would be a fantastic (if seemingly obvious) lesson in why policies that actively kill off your own voter base might be a bad idea.

Also on that note, Republicans think it's just Democrats getting abortions... So by that logic in 18 years there will be Democrat baby boom voting...

 

[Statistical]

The level of self own from covi anti-vaxxers is impressive.

https://www.thesudburystar.com/news...nsplant-due-to-vaccination-status-dies-report
Not in the US but short story guy in his 30s had kidney failure. His health and age makes him high candidate for transplant. He needs COVID vaccine to be put on list. Refuses. Tries to "heal himself". Dies. Leaves behind a wife and four kids with no life insurance.

The irony of this photo

Maybe they should make an extended edition of this shirt with unalive.

 

[FireWraith]

It may be worse than this. In southeast Ohio and Appalachia in general, there are lots of registered Democrats who haven't voted for a Democrat in decades (to give you a hint why, they haven't voted for a Democrat since 1968 specifically). Similarly in Florida, older voters may retain party affiliation from decades gone by. You register your political party once, and it stays the same unless you specifically go through the effort of changing it.

If you've ever wondered in polls who those x% of Democrats are who think Trump is the bee's knees, it's not all people messing with pollsters. Some of it is Dixiecrats who refuse to associate with the same party that ended slavery.

So if you use registration data, you'll get some Republicans mixed with your Democrats. Not so much the other way around.

Keep in mind too that many places (though not necessarily those two states, I don't know offhand for them) that primaries are closed, meaning only registered members of that party can vote. And when the area is red or blue enough that the primary controls who the winner is, people sometimes register as that party just to have a say in those primaries.

 

[DerpGentley]

I'm trying to understand this line from the study:

Research before the COVID-19 pandemic has also found evidence of higher death rates in Republican-leaning counties than Democratic-leaning counties.

What are they trying to say, that some Democrat voters don't ever die?

(I'm sure that isn't actually what they meant, but at the end of the day the death rate is 100% for mortals. )

Edit: Seriously - what is that quote supposed to mean? That people moved out of Democrat counties as they become more frail and are replaced by healthier voters?

Republicans tend to skew older, they tend to view efforts at improved health as a government effort to take away their freedom, whether it's cars, cigarettes, diet, pesticide use, or whatever. They are more likely to be gun owners. they are more likely (at least on a state basis) to be overweight. Basically, if there is a risk factor that impacts health, Republicans seem to lean into it.

Covid is not where this cult of stupid started, it is just a more aggressive example of the existing norm.

 

[bennett_cg]

It may be worse than this. In southeast Ohio and Appalachia in general, there are lots of registered Democrats who haven't voted for a Democrat in decades (to give you a hint why, they haven't voted for a Democrat since 1968 specifically). Similarly in Florida, older voters may retain party affiliation from decades gone by. You register your political party once, and it stays the same unless you specifically go through the effort of changing it.

If you've ever wondered in polls who those x% of Democrats are who think Trump is the bee's knees, it's not all people messing with pollsters. Some of it is Dixiecrats who refuse to associate with the same party that ended slavery.

So if you use registration data, you'll get some Republicans mixed with your Democrats. Not so much the other way around

Hi, voter from Ohio here!

Ohio actually has an open party registration system, so your "registration" is mapped to the ballot you request for a primary.

It is certainly possible, given our abysmally low primary turnout (~30%), that someone long ago voted in a primary and has since only voted in general elections, but it doesn't seem likely

 

[OrangeCream]

Or that Democrats become non-Democrats in ways that don't involve death at higher rates than Republicans. Which has also been happening for a couple decades.

Please cite your sources?

Everything I've read has shown that both parties are losing people to 'independent' classifications, but only Republicans are dying at greater rates.

And if comparing county statistics, it could be that more Democrats move away from Democrat counties before dying than Republicans. I don't have stats on this, but Republican or swing states with low taxes like FL and AZ come to mind as retirement areas.

You do have data. This article you're commenting on:
https://meincmagazine.com/health/2023...ess-deaths-rates-after-covid-vaccine-rollout/The authors—all researchers at Yale University—focused on Ohio and Florida because those were the only two states with readily available public data on voter registration.

The study involved death data on 538,159 people in Ohio and Florida, age 25 and older, and their linked voter registration files. The researchers did not have complete data—the linked data didn't contain a cause of death or vaccination status. But, they could evaluate excess weekly deaths by age, state, county, and party affiliation. They found that the gap in excess deaths was larger in counties with lower vaccination rates, suggesting that lack of vaccination among Republican voters may partly explain the higher death rates.

Thus, they concluded "well-documented differences in vaccination attitudes and reported uptake between Republican and Democratic voters may have been factors in the severity and trajectory of the pandemic."

You're making assertions absent data while ignoring actual data. Are you trying to claim only Republicans move to Florida to retire? So that skews the data showing more Republicans dying? Or that more Democrats move away from Florida before dying?

Because there's data on that too:
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/l...ate-people-are-moving-to-we-want-to-know-why/more people moved to Florida than any other state in the country
People leaving Florida are going to Georgia more than any other state

There is also data over multiple decades:
https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroo...-for-democratic-rather-than-republican-party/Americans living in counties that voted Democratic during presidential elections from 2000 to 2016 experienced larger decreases in death rates than residents of counties that voted for a Republican candidate

This predates the pandemic::
The overall study period covered five presidential elections from 2000 to 2019 and included data for 99.8% of the US population.

Between 2001 and 2019, mortality rates decreased by 22% in Democratic counties (from 850 to 664 per 100,000), but by only half that (11%) in Republican counties (from 867 to 771 per 100,000).

Consequently, the gap in mortality rates between Republican and Democratic counties jumped by 541%, from 16.7 per 100,000 in 2001 to 107 deaths per 100,000 in 2019.

Please note, they saw this effect with 99.8% of the population. This wasn't cherry picking one county or one state or one region. This was effectively the entire US adult population.

 

[OrangeCream]

My original comment was not about the change after vaccines became available, but about study stating the death rates were higher in Republican counties before Covid.

The finding that Republican voters saw greater excess death rates post vaccination doesn't surprise me. The study also couldn't determine if the was the vaccine or other social factors, such as social distancing. It makes sense to me that those on the vanguard of resuming social mingling would have been more likely to catch the earlier, more deadly strains. I don't know how to distinguish risk factor related to more exposure to the deadlier variants from vaccine efficacy.

You could always look at data that predates the pandemic to confirm that this data is just one more point of a trend:
https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroo...-for-democratic-rather-than-republican-party/The overall study period covered five presidential elections from 2000 to 2019 and included data for 99.8% of the US population.

Between 2001 and 2019, mortality rates decreased by 22% in Democratic counties (from 850 to 664 per 100,000), but by only half that (11%) in Republican counties (from 867 to 771 per 100,000).

Consequently, the gap in mortality rates between Republican and Democratic counties jumped by 541%, from 16.7 per 100,000 in 2001 to 107 deaths per 100,000 in 2019.

 

[SixDegrees]

Also on that note, Republicans think it's just Democrats getting abortions... So by that logic in 18 years there will be Democrat baby boom voting...

When it comes to thinking several moves ahead, it's hard to find republicans who are masters of tic-tac-toe.

 

[gsgrego]

Why bring racism into this?

Because republicans are racist. And fascist and bigots, and exists, and pedos.

 

[train_wreck]

That's true, there are plenty of white racists on the D side too

Lot more of ‘em on the R side tho

 

[hillspuck]

Unfortunately this is indicative of the lack of eduation and critical thinking among the population that votes Republican.

Unfortunately, it's not exactly those two things. I unfortunately know plenty of Republicans who are educated and normally have excellent critical thinking, but who toe the line about vaccines. It's cognitive dissonance and tribalism, and it cuts across people you might just lump into "dumb" and "smart". It's like saying "only uneducated people with no critical thinking are religious." It's simply not true.

 

[Godspeec]

This must be genetic. The propensity to believe in inter-subjective delusions is pervasive in the affected population as is the exploitation of that deficit by the ruling class in their communities.

 

[Totally Radical Liberal]

Title: "GOP voters had higher excess deaths rates after COVID vaccine rollout"
typical garbage rage-baiting we've come to expect from lamestream media
Great job Ars *slow clap

I haven't seen a single hint of rage. Lots of exasperation and sarcasm but no rage. I suspect you don't know what words mean. Might I suggest some public education before you engage with the internet again? You could probably use some help with critical thinking too.

 

[ewelch]

That first paragraph could no doubt spawn a whole new false flag conspiracy amongst the ignorant masses.

 

[train_wreck]

This must be genetic. The propensity to believe in inter-subjective delusions is pervasive in the affected population as is the exploitation of that deficit by the ruling class in their communities.

Well i was reading an article on The Conversation that was looking at general attitudes regarding racism, bigotry, etc by region. From the earliest days of the country the southeast had a large proportion of immigrants from Scotland/Ireland/Britain who idol-worshipped the old feudal societies where white noblemen reigned and generally took the “manifest destiny” idea to its head, whereas the northeast and midwest had a more diverse immigrant base that had more of a Dutch/Italian/Scandinavian heritage that placed more value in collaboration and appreciation of different cultures. So not necessarily genetic but geographically linked. It was a compelling case IMO.

 

[Totally Radical Liberal]

This must be genetic. The propensity to believe in inter-subjective delusions is pervasive in the affected population as is the exploitation of that deficit by the ruling class in their communities.

Not at all. It's upbringing. Education. That's why the GOP is going after schools. They want them to teach children to be good conservatives by concealing alternatives and facts disadvantageous to their cause. For example, the horrific treatment of slaves, the fact slavery was the cause of the Civil War, the near total genocide and theft of and from the native Americans, the radical, rebellious beliefs and terrorist aggression of the American revolution, all whitewashed to help hold up their ideology of unquestioning adherence.

Don't question, follow. It's patriotic. Believe. Religion is sacred. Faith is sacred. Trust the government, but only the good government--your parents' government--not the opposition government. Don't think about it, just obey and vote. It's how you get the situation we're in now where facts are the enemy of a large chunk of the population.

 

[fractl]

Death rate means rate at which people die.

No, seriously, it meant Democrats lived longer.

If 2 Democrats died every week and 3 Republicans died every week, then you can say the Republican death rate was 50% greater.

Or, that the Republicans had a higher death rate than Democrats.

It's a bit more complex than that. You have to factor in population size (i.e. how many Republicans or Democrats), age, etc. So 2 Democrats dying per week vs. 3 Republicans would be expected if there were 50% more Republicans.

Now, I know there aren't 50% more Republicans, just pointing out a flaw in your analogy. A better one would be 2 Democrats dying per week per 1000 Democrats vs. 3 Republicans dying per week per 1000 Republicans. Still though, that doesn't take into account age brackets.

It's complicated. That said, we do know that the unvaccinated died from COVID at a (much) higher rate than the vaccinated and that's for all age groups. So if Republicans are more likely to be unvaccinated (RFK Jr. notwithstanding) then it's likely more Republicans have died.

 

[John Long]

It should surprise nobody that madferret9 is also a transphobe and fossil industry shill.

and his real name is madlemming.

 

[NinjaNerd56]

So close…

 

[Dooderoo]

My heartfelt thanks to Joe "Horse Paste" Rogan and other (right wing) grifters who convinced the maga morons to not get vaccinated.

 

[CatBus]

Fair correction. Ok once in the last 32 years.

I think you could fairly say the Republicans haven't won the national popular vote since 1980 in an election where they were not the incumbent party (that's 43 years, people!). In that same period of time, Democrats have succeeded in doing it in 1992, 2008, and 2020.

 

[ajmas]

Beyond party affiliation, how much of a correspondence is there with education levels or other demographics? I just feel the red vs blue approach brings politics into something that could be best described by other social aspects. After all voting colour is not a cause of choices, but a choice based on other factors.

My assumption here is wealth and education differences would also show similar patterns.

 

[autoteleology]

No, Democrats die. They just continue to vote after death. Well, in Chicago anyhoo.

200 invalid votes, in ten years, in a city of 2.7 million people, is extremely strong evidence that voter fraud is a non existent issue. Thanks for proving everyone else right, I guess?

 

[Sajuuk]

I tried finding a study on this. Lots of finger pointing, but all the claims for "the other party" being more racist seem to be subjective.

Oh, look, an incredibly serious person with serious questions.

 

[Urist]

Today's XKCD is especially relevant:

 

[ohkp]

"I'm shocked! Shocked to find gambling going on in here!"

"Your winnings, sir."

 

[Readercathead]

The study is even more interesting with the data they have. It’s a big deal to confirm that Republicans are just doing dumb things that get them killed. We expect the anti-science people to die young because they hate experts and they believe the dumb things preachers, politicians, and right-wing pundits tell them. Very sadly we can also expect their children to have a higher rate of suicide because of misogynistic and queer-phobic authoritarian parenting.

 

[train_wreck]

Beyond party affiliation, how much of a correspondence is there with education levels or other demographics? I just feel the red vs blue approach brings politics into something that could be best described by other social aspects. After all voting colour is not a cause of choices, but a choice based on other factors.

My assumption here is wealth and education differences would also show similar patterns.

I get where you’re coming from, and yes the other factors you mention likely have more of a causality. The thing is that those other metrics do have significant associations with political party affiliation. It’s just in generalization, and i would argue that to a certain degree the parties choose their electorates as much as the electorates choose them (lots of “useful idiots” the Rs lay into).

I am going to guess based on your cavalier spelling of “color” that you are outside the US? It is hard to understate how since 2015 polarization has increased to near dictator levels in terms of blind adherence to a party, or more specifically its leaders. So at this point you do have quite a few people that form their opinions based on party affiliation, even when those opinions are ludicrously provably false. This is how you end up with folks believing in 2 contradictory conspiracy theories at the same time.

 

[ewelch]

I tried finding a study on this. Lots of finger pointing, but all the claims for "the other party" being more racist seem to be subjective.

Bzzzzzt wrong answer. Thanks for playing.

 

[terrydactyl]

But how did the Chinese develop the technology to engineer viruses that target political affiliation?

I dunno, but I bet Hillary's emails had something to do with it!
/s (just in case)

 

[Shavano]

Big pharma gave ivermectin and bleach to Democrats and black people and withheld those real medicines from Republicans, whom they injected with 5G chips, I bet. /s

 

[Shavano]

I dunno, but I bet Hillary's emails had something to do with it!
/s (just in case)

It was Hunter Biden's laptop. I don't think you're even trying to keep up.