CV and mad panic behaviour

[Mav]

I guess you could argue that the dearth of death from nuclear weapons might be due to them being available only in 1945, the fact that most countries don't have access to them, and the restraint by those that have have them. So, maybe it isn't fair to compare nuclear weapon deaths given that guns have been available for a millennium and the enthusiasm countries and individuals have demonstrated towards using them on each other.

But I guess that means we need to compare apples with apples when we cite statistics.

You compared deaths attributed to AZ over 6 months in Australia to deaths in NSW from Covid over a month (and most infections were more recent than that). There's little point looking at deaths outside that period in NSW (and Australia) given the elimination strategy had been successful for months before that. The vaccination program was all about preparing for what happens when the elimination strategy ends or fails. However bad the Covid crisis might be in NSW now, it's nothing compared to what would happen if Covid runs rampant throughout not only NSW but Australia (but the Australia-wide death toll of 915 might be a better indicator). That's when deaths would mount, but AZ might reduce that death toll. That means the comparison you make isn't a great metric.

Maybe the best metric might be the number of deaths attributable to AZ vs. lives saved by it. But even that would fail to account for serious long-Covid illness. 

I wonder how many lives epidemiologists would say were and will be saved by the AZ vaccine, especially if Covid ends up circulating freely?