Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines may have fuelled a rise in 'unprecedented' excess deaths in the United States and other Western countries since the pandemic broke in 2020, the latest study published in the BMJ Public Health on Monday, June 4th, 2024.

The study is set to explore the excess mortality in the Western World, including Australia, from 2020 until 2022. Researchers from Vrije Universiteit in the Netherlands discovered that excess mortality has "remained high" since 2020 despite the widespread use of COVID-19 vaccinations and a variety of containment strategies. They did this analysis by looking at mortality data from 47 Western countries. According to the study, the researchers claimed that the trend "raised serious concerns" and asked decision-makers in the public and private sectors to "thoroughly investigate the underlying causes of persistent excess mortality."

The study found that the total number of excess deaths in 47 countries of the Western World was over three million (3,098,456) from January 1, 2020, until December 31, 2022. It further claimed that excess mortality was documented in 41 countries (87%) in 2020, 42 countries (89%) in 2021, and 43 countries (91%) in 2022.

excess death
Image Source: the United Nations

According to the New York Post, the researchers of the study have also stressed the need for thorough investigations into the underlying causes of this level of mass deaths. “Although COVID-19 vaccines were provided to guard civilians from suffering morbidity and mortality by the COVID-19 virus, suspected adverse events have been documented as well,” the researchers wrote.

“Both medical professionals and citizens have reported serious injuries and deaths following vaccination to various official databases in the Western World.”

Impact of Health Strategies on Excess Deaths

“During the pandemic, it was emphasized by politicians and the media on a daily basis that every Covid-19 death mattered and every life deserved protection through containment measures and Covid-19 vaccines. In the aftermath of the pandemic, the same moral should apply,” they added.

According to the analysis, since 2020, there have been over 3 million unnecessary deaths in the US, Europe, and Australia. According to the analysis, of those additional fatalities, over a million happened in 2020 during the pandemic's peak. However, those numbers held steady in the next years, rising to 1.2 million in 2021 and 800,000 in 2022, according to the study. Researchers say these figures include fatalities directly attributable to the virus as well as those resulting indirectly from health strategies employed to curb its spread and impact. The death toll figures include fatalities directly linked to the virus as well as 'indirect effects of the health strategies to address the virus spread and infection,' the study noted.

The researchers also mentioned that there have been reports of major adverse reactions to the vaccinations, such as brain hemorrhages, acute coronary syndromes, and ischemic strokes. According to the report, "indirect effects of the health strategies to address the virus spread and infection" are included in the death toll estimates in addition to deaths that are directly related to the virus.

“This commonality hinders clinical suspicion and consequently its detection as adverse vaccine reactions,” the study stated. The Centre for World University Rankings places Vrije Universiteit 150th out of almost 20,000 universities worldwide. Statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say more than 1.1 million Americans have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic broke out in December 2019.

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