Antivax has many, many more serious road accidents than others

Correlation is not causation, it bears repeating. This, moreover, is what teachers do This study with confusing resultsThe American Journal of Medicine has published: Antivaxers, or at least those who don’t use the Covid-19 vaccine, are at risk of serious traffic accidents.

Not only a little, statistics show: there is a 72% increased risk of such an event requiring hospital care. “Our theory is that adults who defy public health recommendations may ignore basic road safety rules.”Teachers take note Reported by the motherboard.

How did scientists come to this conclusion? They analyzed data from 11.2 million people living in Ontario and data from 178 medical centers in the same Canadian province. Of these 11,270,763 individuals, as of July 2021, 84% had received the vaccine against Covid-19 and 16% had refused the injection. In the same group, 6,682 persons were hospitalized after a road accident during the month studied.

Of these victims of – or causes of – automobile accidents, 75% received the injection, and 25% refused it. If, like us, you haven’t come to a clear conclusion, scientists have done the math: This indicates a 72% higher risk for the unvaccinated compared to the vaccinated.

Public risk

The authors note that this increased risk is similar to the risk from sleep apnea Closely associated with motor vehicle accidentsAnd it could erode gains made elsewhere with increasingly safer vehicles.

Finally, the authors note that income, age, geographic origin, gender, or medical history did not influence the final outcome. Everyone is worried by this (not so) surprising relationship between not being vaccinated against Covid-19 and taking more risks on the roads.

The result? “These data suggest that vaccine hesitancy is associated with a significantly increased risk of road accidents. Awareness of these risks may encourage people to get vaccinated against Covid.”Write the authors of the study.

These statistics, according to them, can be explained by a “Lacks of trust in government officials or beliefs in individual freedom increase vaccine refusal and road hazards”.

Among other possible factors, according to the same scientists: “Misunderstanding of everyday risks, belief in natural protection, hostility to menstruation, chronic poverty, exposure to misinformation, or other personal beliefs”.

In short, believing oneself invincible in the face of a virus that only harms others, against which any protection is nothing more than a despicable government plot to control people, and believing oneself invincible in the face of flight trees or other users. Road – who pays the price there too.