Omicron BA.5 Prefers Hypervaccinated Masking West Germans, Avoids the Former DDR
Vaccine failure in one map
Behold the latest map of 7-day Corona incidence across the Federal Republic of Germany:
This is the Omicron BA.5 wave in central Europe, and it is attended by a curious phenomenon: Every day, you can see more clearly the borders of the old DDR in the district-level data. I’ve traced these in green just to make the phenomenon clearer.
Yes yes, there are systematic demographic differences between East and West Germans, and there are probably some differences in testing rates, but above all, there is an important difference in vaccine uptake. In this map of triple vaccination rates across my country, the old DDR borders are also evident:
East Germans have direct experience with government propaganda, and have proven more resistent to the vaccination campaign than Westerners. Their reward, after being much maligned by state media, is now higher levels of natural immunity and lower rates of BA.5 infection, which appears to prefer vaccinated populations.
As the effects of vaccine failure grow clearer, you have to wonder how long the pandemicists will be able to publish even simple infection statistics, without raising extremely awkward questions.
The two reddest eastern regions – the westernmost districts of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the north (in part Hamburg suburbs), and Berlin suburbs in Brandenburg – obviously have higher vaccine uptake, comparable to the West. It's also interesting that the most vaccinated eastern state, MV in the north, has Corona incidence comparable to Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria in the south, and all their vaccination rates are about the same.
This has been apparent on the New York Times website for many months as well. Every time I look at their side by side maps of vaccination rates and Covid rates, I am struck by the marked positive correlation between the two. What is even more striking is that somehow most New York Times readers don’t (or won’t) see it. They can somehow look at those maps and continue to be enraged, ENRAGED, that some people still won’t get their injections and wear their masks. The cognitive dissonance at work is incredible.