Hospitals full? Why? Vaccines?

In a video that has spread across social media, largely due to its apparent support of the notion that COVID vaccines are unsafe, several days ago Mark McGowan, the premier for the Australian state of Western Australia, said: “Our hospitals are under enormous pressure. This is the same in Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria. Enormous pressure. This has been something no one has ever seen before, the growth in demand in our hospitals. Why it is, is hard to know.” McGowan then suggests this phenomenon is due to COVID. Source.

Various sources confirm that Western Australia has not had a new COVID-19 case since mid-October (source) and no COVID-19 deaths since May 2020 (source). A majority of the state’s eligible residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Source. While he mentioned COVID as a possible explanation for the hospitals being overwhelmed, despite the dearth in cases, McGowan did not mention the very widespread use of COVID vaccines as possibly contributing to this issue.

Okay then.

Note: Similar figures (few to no COVID cases and deaths but high vaccination rates) are to be found in the states of Tasmania (source), South Australia (source), and Queensland (source).

Note: A little extra for the inquisitive. While mainstream authorities, like McGowan, seem to be eager to blame COVID-19, and the ‘vaccine hesitant’ would be keen to blame the vaccines, could other possible contributors provide an explanation, such as the negative effects of lockdowns, and the firing of unvaccinated healthcare workers? Lockdowns tended to be not as severe in the smaller Australian states. Western Australia’s latest lockdown, for example, ended in early July and lasted for only 4 days. Source. Vaccine mandates for healthcare workers leading to the termination of employment for some would not explain what McGowan called “the growth in demand in our hospitals”.