The silence is telling
State holding back on critical virus data – unless pushed hard
The Baker administration appears to have withheld critical data about “breakthrough” coronavirus deaths for days — and only released the information because of a Herald public records request.
This is not good enough. It smells like an attempted cover-up.
The public deserves to know as quickly as possible how many fully vaccinated people are contracting the virus.
It took the Department of Public Health 10 days — the longest they could go under the law — to answer the Herald public records request.
Only after being pushed by the request did the Baker administration then release the data to all media. It turns out that there were a total of 4,450 breakthrough cases out of more than 4 million vaccinated people.
Why? What is the DPH afraid of ? A bad news cycle?
The truth is that most of the media lapdogs dutifully rehashed the DPH press release to put the best spin possible on the fact that 79 fully vaccinated people died of COVID. The Boston Globe included the 79 dead in the fourth paragraph, preferring to say in the lead that only .1% of vaccinated people got the virus.
It’s fair to say that those numbers are actually pretty good. It shows the vaccine is mostly working.
But it’s little consolation to the 79 families that are now grieving the loss of loved ones who did their duty and got vaccinated.
The vaccine is not foolproof, and that’s what is worrying about the death totals. We were told earlier that even if vaccinated people did get the virus, it would lead to only minor symptoms. Now we know that’s not exactly true.
And despite the release of the COVID death and illness numbers, we still don’t know details about who exactly is getting sick and dying. Is it the elderly? People with previous conditions? Or totally healthy people?
We just don’t know. When it comes to the deadly coronavirus, knowledge is power. Numbers and data are critical to let people know whether it’s safe to not wear masks, go back to restaurants again and attend sporting events.
With the 2022 gubernatorial election looming, these death and illness totals are important information that could impact how voters think about Gov. Charlie Baker’s handling of the coronavirus.
Baker goes out almost daily and holds feel-good events designed to promote the vaccine. The governor did not announce the 79 fatal breakthrough cases. No surprise there.
The apparent withholding of the breakthrough case numbers is just the latest questionable decision by the Baker administration.
The DPH resisted releasing information about the specific case numbers in cities and towns in Massachusetts, and only after critics called for the release did the administration cough it up.
Then of course there’s the terrible tragedy and deadly dysfunction at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, and the slow initial rollout of the vaccine, complete with a website crash. The administration’s highly touted contact tracing program was a complete waste of money, and the vaccine lottery appears to be a bust, too.