Image Credit: Pikist
September 28, 2021 - 8:00 PM
The current surge in the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in B.C. and beyond has been dubbed the “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
That’s because, in B.C., more than 80% of residents are fully vaccinated yet the vast majority of new cases – 70% of the new cases between Aug. 14 and Sept. 10 – are unvaccinated.
The data also shows 82% of people hospitalized during that month were not vaccinated.
Yet, the death rate between the two groups is about the same.
That is, while 82% of those hospitalized are unvaccinated, only 47% of deaths are among those who are unvaccinated.
And, while only 12% of those who are in hospital are fully vaccinated, a whopping 47% of deaths come from the fully vaccinated.
Just as it was earlier in the pandemic, the death toll is highest amongst the elderly, usually those living in long term care homes.
“Older people have less strong immune responses to most vaccines and, although these ones are really good, we do know that it may not be as high as others,” Dr. Bonnie Henry said during a news briefing today, Sept. 28. “We’ve also seen, in these congregate settings, even when we have most of the residents fully immunized, if the virus is introduced into those settings a significant number of people will have breakthrough infections and this, in an elderly population, can be lethal.”
As of Sept. 11, 62% of the nearly 2,000 COVID deaths in B.C. during the pandemic have been people over the age of 80, even though they make up only 5% of the population.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control website does not break down the numbers of deaths by age group and vaccination status. It just uses bar graphs.
That shows that about three times as many people over the age of 80 who died of COVID in the last month were vaccinated compared to those who were unvaccinated.
With the next week or two, residents of long term care homes will start receiving a third dose of COVID vaccine to help boost their immunity.
READ MORE: COVID-19 exposures in B.C. schools now being posted online: Dr. Bonnie Henry
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