Your reading of the author's intent is generous, but since neither of us can read minds, we'll just have to disagree about intent here. It's clear from the rest

Your reading of the author's intent is generous, but since neither of us can read minds, we'll just have to disagree about intent here. It's clear from the rest of the linked study, however, that Fauci and Walensky did not overstep---the disparity in severe disease between the vaccinated and unvaccinated was large (2 vs 106). Coupled with clinical knowledge about the link between severe disease and death (a very high correlation, people with mild covid were not simply dropping dead), and the lack of any link between the vaccine and death, they were on solid ground to say the vaccine protected against death. No one expected the vaccine to cure cancer or prevent suicide, they expected it to prevent death by Covid. And it has.