COVID-19 Misinformation may have cost Canada 2,800 lives and $300 million in hospital expenses over the course of nine months, according to an independent research organization that receives funding from the Liberal government..“Misinformation has become a global problem and a defining issue of our time,” said Alex Himelfarb, chair of the expert panel of the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), who created the report. “The unchecked spread of science and health misinformation leaves individuals and society vulnerable to exploitation and threatens our ability to work together to address shared challenges.”.The report examined how misinformation impacted COVID infections, hospitalizations and deaths between March and November of 2021. The CCA came up with the numbers by creating a model, based on "real-world Canadian data," that simulated the behaviour of Canadians 12 and up between March 1 and Nov. 30, 2021. It then examined a scenario where all eligible Canadians got vaccinated, and ones where vaccine-hesitant Canadians did not..The models found that if not for vaccine hesitancy, an extra 2.3 million Canadians would have gotten vaccinated, and the country could have seen roughly 200,000 fewer COVID cases and 13,000 fewer hospitalizations..But the chair of the expert panel said the estimates were very conservative, as they only examined a nine-month period of the pandemic. He also said that the $300 million estimate only covers hospital costs, but the study did not examine the indirect costs of delayed surgeries and missed wages..Throughout the pandemic, several epidemiological models and charts have been found to be misleading or inaccurate, overestimating the impact of the virus or underestimating the impact of public health restrictions..The Imperial College of London model, led by UK Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, predicted that with full lockdowns in place there would be 132,687 COVID-19 deaths in Canada by July 30, 2020. In reality, there were 9,019 actual deaths by that date..Research by the Canadian Medical Association Journal published in June 2022 found that Canada's public health restrictions saved the lives of at least 70,000 Canadians. The study determined this by comparing what Canada's death rate would have been during the two years of the pandemic if Canada had the same death rates as the United States, the country with the highest cumulative number of COVID-19-related deaths..But countries like the United States have overcounted both the number of COVID cases and the number of deaths from COVID. In the US, hospitals received from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service an average of $13,000 for each COVID patient admitted, and $39,000 for each patient put on a ventilator..Many deceased people have also been counted as COVID deaths, even though they died from something else but had merely tested positive for the virus. In June 2020, Toronto Public Health even admitted that individuals who have died with COVID-19, but not as a result of COVID-19, are "included in the case counts for COVID-19 deaths in Toronto.".These factors were not addressed in the CCA's report, nor did it examine the impacts lockdowns had on mortality rates in Canada. A recent Fraser Institute report found that lockdowns were a "radical and untried social policy" that increased excess deaths..READ MORE: Fraser Institute report finds 'radical' lockdowns had extraordinary costs .It estimated that there were 171,000 excess non-COVID deaths through to the end of 2021. Adjusted for population, this would have meant there were 17,000 excess deaths in Canada..The CCA's report also cited misinformation surrounding over-the-counter vitamins and supplements, which can cause injury or death. The report addressed associated adverse effects like heart palpitations, chest pain and tachycardia..But the report also said claims that COVID vaccines have injured and killed people have been "consistently debunked." This is despite many Canadians telling the Western Standard that they experienced severe adverse reactions to COVID vaccines, such as myocarditis, strokes, blood clots and paralysis..READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Vaccine-injured Canadians search for answers.The CCA also neglected to mention Canada's Vaccine Injury Support Program, which has so far accepted 50 of the 1,299 claims submitted and paid out $2.9 million in compensation. Several Canadians claiming to be vaccine-injured told the Western Standard they faced barriers when attempting to apply for the program.."Vaccine hesitancy is a complex phenomenon, with misinformation being only one contributing factor," the report said. "Needle fear, access barriers, and mistrust also contribute to the delay or avoidance of vaccinations."
