Dutch vaccines superior to Swedish ones

Everywhere "the Nordics" are celebrated because Covid would have been so well managed there, Sweden first. Sweden is even presented as evidence that excess mortality cannot be caused by vaccination, because Sweden has been heavily vaccinated and may show some excess mortality, but not as much as the rest. Well, we also have something to be proud of: much better vaccines!

By the way, there is also something to be said for the much-vaunted Sweden. In this substack that explains. If you skip the part where, for example, the home country of Pfizer/BioNTech hides the market share per vaccine manufacturer, or that where in a number of countries more jabs have been taken than they have received doses, or where Cyprus now denies in their data that they have pricked children while they were banging the drum about it at the time – if you skip all that you get to the cup Sweden's excess mortality is not 'unusually low' Other 'all cause mortality' analyses also show: depending on which statistical operation you choose, Sweden either got off exceptionally well or was less affected than others, i.e. showed less excess mortality after the vaccinations. You would actually expect a substantial under-mortality, after the Swedish peaks in 2020.

Scandinavia has certainly done well in that respect, with Sweden leading the way. But wait a minute: we actually mean the northern countries of Norway, Sweden and Finland. It may not be fair to those more northerly countries, often surrounded by sea, with different temperature and humidity levels, different building regulations (ventilation) etc. in terms of excess mortality, it is bluntly comparable to other parts of Western Europe.

In any case, moderate post-vaccination excess mortality in Sweden is cited as evidence that the vaccinations cannot be responsible for the residual European and American excess mortality. The underlying mechanism is not clear. This divergent Swedish pattern is nowhere explained. We just did badly in the world, compared to Sweden.

Sweden vs neighbouring countries

For those who do not have the topology clear: the neighboring countries are Norway and Finland. Below two graphs, the four waves clearly visible. The first two are from before vaccinations. Vaccinations started just after the second peak was reached.

In both graphs you can see the dramatic light blue Swedish pre-vax peaks, while those in the neighboring country are missing.

Let's zoom in on those two 'Swedish neighbours'. It seems damn mirror image of what we experienced in the Netherlands. What has been going on with those vaccines in those Northern regions? They have not worked against Covid at all, on the contrary!

Orange can be proud of superior vaccines!

Is there nothing positive to report? Yes, our vaccines were of a different category. They worked much better against Covid than the Swedish, just look: after the first booster you see the corona mortality disappear in our red line, unlike the Swedes, who keep going with their waves! Our vaccines just worked much, much better.

But as mentioned, we cannot simply compare the 'Miracle of Sweden' with the results of our polder country.

If we can conclude from the comparison between Sweden and the rest of Europe that the vaccinations have nothing to do with excess mortality, then this also proves that we in the Netherlands have received much better vaccines than the northern countries. Or maybe they have poorly cooled means of transport there ("It's always cold here anyway"), or maybe they are supplied from another factory or transhipment center? yes, you don't know. You don't know this about one country, you don't know this about another, and data is usually a mess, if not already messed with. You won't find out crucial things anyway.

But what is clear: if they had also received our quality vaccines in Northern Europe, their graphs would have looked very different!

If you don't want to assume that, you should also have your doubts about the Swedish graphs that prove that the vaccines have nothing to do with excess mortality. It is a single country that differs in several respects, not least from neighbouring countries.

What about Denmark?

Denmark is also often mentioned for exemplary mortality rates. In terms of location, it can be characterized as a 'European country' rather than as a counterpart of Sweden. The looser guidelines in Sweden resulted in more corona deaths, especially during the first wave and relatively less in the second. But then also more in the fourth...? Then they were just as vaccinated as Denmark, weren't they?

We still understand far too little to be able to use that country as a reference. In total excess mortality (at least according to the OWID standard) they do not differ so much from each other. This is due to the overtaking manoeuvre that Finland and Norway started in May 2021. Just in a straight line upwards, nothing wave movements, unhindered by low Omikron mortality in 2022.