Clarity lacking

Re: “Media mind games”, (PostBag, Dec 30).

Eric Bahrt has exhorted readers to study a report published by the European Journal of Epidemiology in September 2021, headlined “Increases in Covid-19 are unrelated to levels of vaccinations”. Those who accept his invitation will discover that on Dec 24, the European Journal of Epidemiology published two critical responses to the report. One response, by three academics at Canada’s Wilfrid Laurier University, described the report as being “incomplete in several ways, presented without caveats and clarifications crucial for readers to consider when critically evaluating this type of analysis”. The response continues: “Clarity in research is especially important during a time of heightened misuse/ misinterpretation of statistics regarding vaccination efficacy and effectiveness, when incomplete and/or misinterpreted information may be co-opted for purposes other than authors’ intentions, potentially leading to further vaccine hesitancy within individuals and/or communities, hindering public health efforts to lower infection rates.”

GEOFFREY GODDARD