Fact Check on Dr Leighton Watson’s Claim

Dear Editor

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/03/data-from-delta-and-omicron-outbreaks-show-1-in-15-unvaccinated-cases-were-hospitalised-significantly-more-than-vaccinated-cases.html

I read the article above with interest. The article quotes Dr Leighton Watson, a mathematician as stating, “But there are 27 times as many vaccinated people in New Zealand as unvaccinated.”

According to government data https://www.health.govt.nz/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data
4,021,400 people have been vaccinated with at least one dose.

According to ONS (https://www.stats.govt.nz/topics/population) the population of New Zealand is 5,127,200. So that means there are 1,105,800 unvaccinated people in New Zealand.

To check the claim, ’27 times as many vaccinated people in New Zealand as unvaccinated’, we multiply 1,105,800 by 27 and should get around 4 million. The actual answer is 29,856,600, which is substantially different from 4 million. The ratio appears closer to 4.6 suggesting a contrary conclusion to the main thrust of the article.

It would appear at first glance that the mathematician has made some fundamental arithmetical errors. I’d welcome your comment on this seemingly glaring error.

Kind regards,
Andy
Christchurch