The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has presented data showing that unvaccinated people are four and a half times more likely to get COVID-19 and are 11 times more likely to die than fully vaccinated people. .
On Friday, at a White House briefing on COVID-19, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the data shows that “vaccination works and will protect us from the serious complications of COVID-19.”
The studies included more than 600,000 cases of COVID-19, hospitalizations and deaths in 13 states and major cities from April to mid-July.
“Seeing the cases of the last two months in which the Delta variant was the predominant variant circulating in this country, those who were not vaccinated were four and a half times more likely to contract COVID-19, more than ten times more be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die from the disease, ”Walensky said.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with students during a visit to Brookland Middle School to promote coronavirus protection measures in Washington, DC [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]Although protection remained strong against Delta, the study also confirmed an increase in milder COVID-19 infections among fully vaccinated individuals, which the authors said reflected “the diminishing potential of the vaccine-induced population ”.
Two other U.S. studies also found that COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against hospitalization and death, even in the face of the highly transmissible variant of Delta, but vaccine protection appears to be declining among people. large, especially among people aged 75 and over.
U.S. hospitalization data for nine states during the period when the Delta variant was dominant also suggest that the Modern vaccine was more effective in preventing hospitalizations among individuals of all ages than the Pfizer or Johnson & Vaccines. Johnson.
In this study of more than 32,000 visits to urgent care centers, emergency rooms and hospitals, Moderna’s vaccine was 95% effective in preventing hospitalization compared to 80% for Pfizer and 60% for J&J.
Another study specifically examined the performance of mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, in patients from five Veterans Affairs medical centers, a racially diverse group made up largely of elderly male patients. advanced with higher rates of underlying disease.
Of the more than 1,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations in this study, the researchers found that the two vaccines combined were 86.8% effective against hospitalization, even against the Delta variant. But vaccine efficacy fell to 79.8% among veterans age 65 and older.
Amid the rapid expansion of the Delta variant, millions of Americans remain unvaccinated [Nam Y Huh/AP Photo]In the third study, which looked at medical appointments in nine states, the overall effectiveness of the vaccine remained high at 86 percent against hospitalization and 82 percent against visits to the emergency room or an urgent care center. However, the effectiveness of the hospitalization vaccine was “significantly lower” among adults aged 75 and over, and fell to 76%, the first time a drop was observed in this data set. .
The data comes a day after U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled a six-step plan to combat the pandemic, which includes measures such as forcing some employers to impose vaccination warrants or mandatory testing, making more available. over-the-counter coronavirus testing. and expanding the government’s free trial program.
“I don’t know of any scientist in this field who doesn’t think it makes considerable sense to do the six things I suggested,” Biden said Friday during a visit to a local school in Washington, DC.
“It simply came to our notice then. And I think the vast majority (look at the poll data), the vast majority of the American population knows we need to do these things. They are hard, but necessary. We will do them, ”he said.
According to CDC figures, some 177.4 million Americans, or 53.4 percent of the total U.S. population, have so far been completely vaccinated.
On average, more than 136,000 new cases are detected every day, according to the CDC, a sharp increase since the previous summer, when infections had dropped significantly across the country. More than 1,000 people die every day from the disease.