Thread by @charles_gaba

I *knew* it...and that was when it was folks on the *left* who were ripping on her for her response (don't get me wrong, her phrasing still sounds dismissive of those w/comorbidities, but that's a separate issue).

Why the HELL did GMA edit this in the first place?

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1480897040951484418

I know @CDCDirector can't stop the media from editing her comments (or the GOP/MAGA from taking them out of context), but in terms of her *actual* comments, I think the unedited version shows what her mistake was in this exchange.

She was explaining how amazingly effective the vaccines are, based on a new study. OK.

She starts by saying that the severe illness rate AMONG FULLY VACCINATED INDIVIDUALS in this study was extremely low--an extremely tiny number (0.015% is 180 people out of 1.2 million). Fine.

She then says that the *death* rate *among fully vaccinated individuals* was even LOWER: 0.003% of 1.2 million people is just *36 people* who died. Fine.

SHE SHOULD HAVE STOPPED THERE.

*Clinically* it might make sense to also note that 28 of those 36 had comorbidities, because *in a clinical report* you're supposed to include those sorts of details.

But she had ALREADY MADE HER POINT: Yes, the vaccines are extremely effective.

WHY BRING UP COMORBIDITIES??

Once you say only 36 out of 1,200,000 fully-vaxxed people died, there was NO NEED to delve even further into those 36 peoples conditions in this forum. No one who wasn’t already convinced by “36 / 1,200,000” is gonna be convinced by “and 3/4 of them had other health problems.”

If she had stopped with “36 out of 1,200,000” the story would have been “new study shows vaxxes are amazingly effective.” Instead she infuriated disability activists and allies alike while making herself look like a heartless ghoul.

Another important point: *IF* you're going to bring up those populations who are still vulnerable, do it in the context of stressing how important it is to PROTECT those people, not in a way which sounds like you're dismissing them as a rounding error.

https://twitter.com/ElizabethHarm20/status/1480904788019593217

As an aside: Which is easier to understand & grasp the significance of?

--Mentioning "1.2M people" in the study, then two sentences later, referring to "death in 0.003% of those people"

--Saying "Only 36 out of 1.2 million people died"

ANOTHER important point: "comorbidities" can refer to any number of conditions, ranging from obesity to heart disease to diabetes and more.

https://twitter.com/phbehnken/status/1480914582201942016

In fact, according to the CDC itself, 51% of U.S. adults have at least one "comorbidity" and 27% have multiple "comorbidities" which makes her bringing them up in the context she did even less wise.
cdc.gov/pcd/issues/202…

In short:

--She fucked up.
--GMA made it worse.

And while this from 2 days ago shows that she's at least *aware* of the backlash over her comments...the fact that this is the ONLY thing she's said in response so far (to my knowledge) doesn't inspire confidence that she grasps the extent of the anger:

https://twitter.com/CDCDirector/status/1480327258564964356

"CDC is taking steps" makes it sound like this was the first in a thread explaining what those steps *are*...but, nope. That was it.

Maybe they're planning a big 8-step press release or whatever later this week, but so far...nope.