First, here is the tweet that Bambi is referring to:
Why doesn’t Ms. Harris tell us that the most important demographic factor found in systematic reviews is age (which does not take a genius to guess): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7568488/
The findings of the systematic review above suggest that “older age, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus conferred a significant increased risk of mortality among patients with COVID-19. In the multivariate analysis, only diabetes mellitus demonstrated an independent relationship with increased mortality. Further studies are needed to ascertain the relationship between possible risk factors with COVID-19 mortality.”
Indeed, the authors of the study concluded the following: “Among the demographic factors, age is one of the most important factors affecting mortality, and in our study, age was significantly associated with increased mortality. Studies have shown that the age-related defects in immune cell function and increased production of inflammatory cytokines may play a role”.
Another important demographic factor seems to be the male sex. Indeed, the studies that they included in their systematic review, which were assessed for the quality of their methods, showed that “the male gender is also a risk factor for severity and higher mortality”.
From where is Ms. Harris getting her data? If she is thinking of urban deaths, perhaps yes, more of the groups from the ethnic background she is referring to, live in dense households or urban centres? Perhaps seniors live with younger family members?
Given the above, is “race” (Bambi prefers a term like “ethno-linguistic background”) the closest proxy to the above?
Mind you, it is also likely that some groups (i.e. African-Americans) may tend to have hypertension or other medical comorbidities (or co-occuring compromising health conditions) such as obesity or (related) diabetes mellitus, which may increase the mortality risk.
Perhaps they will be reluctant to seek medical help (i.e., high costs), but are the United States that bad that they do not treat their poorer citizens? Even bankrupt Lebanon is offering public health care to covid-19 patients and all the vaccination (starting only in February) will be free of charge.
Anyhow, to come back to Ms. Harris’s tweet, when we hear or read her saying the “climate crisis is an existential threat to all of us—particularly poor communities and communities of color who bear the greatest riks from polluted air, polluted water, and a failing infrastructure” and that this is what Mr. Biden “will be tackling on day one”, how can we trust she is genuine on that one too?
Maybe it is just Bambi who is skeptical about the authenticity of this politician?
Maybe Bambi is wrong?
Wrong or right, had she been American and with her as a choice to vote for, Bambi would have skipped as she is allergic to identity politics.
