Unvaccinated 15 times more likely to die from COVID, NC reports, as ICU patients surge
Unvaccinated people are more than 15 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those who are vaccinated, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.
The report is an analysis from the four-week period ending Aug. 21 and accounts for age, as older people are more likely to die from the virus in general, but are also more likely to be vaccinated.
As of Friday, 912 adults with COVID-19 are being treated in intensive care units. It’s highest of the pandemic. The previous high was Thursday. Before then, the peak was in January.
ICU patients make up about a quarter of the 3,651 hospitalizations statewide. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has nearly tripled in August. Hospitalizations peaked at 3,990 in mid-January.
DHHS reported earlier this month that over 90% of people hospitalized are unvaccinated.
DHHS reported over 8,100 new cases Friday for the second day in a row. The last time that happened was also mid-January, when most COVID metrics peaked during the winter surge. New case rates have more than doubled in August and increased more than 20 times since the beginning of July.
During the week ending Aug. 21, according to the DHHS report, unvaccinated people were 4.4 times more likely to catch COVID-19. Among those age 12 to 17, unvaccinated people were 6.3 times more likely to catch the disease.
Among all tests reported Wednesday, the latest available data, 12.8% have returned positive. Among the last week of available data, an average of 12.6% of tests per day have returned positive.
Health officials have said that they want that rate at 5% or lower.
The rapid increase is due to the delta variant, a mutation of the coronavirus that’s more than three times as contagious as the original strand. Almost 94% of sequenced virus in North Carolina is delta, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deaths are increasing
DHHS reported 47 deaths due to COVID-19 Friday, but it didn’t specify the dates of those deaths. DHHS updates its totals for each date as information becomes available, so the 47 deaths could have happened days or weeks ago.
But deaths have increased amid the delta surge.
So far in August, 579 North Carolinians have died due to the virus. That’s up from the 205 people who died in July and the 154 in June.
In the four-week period from the DHHS report, the state found that 29 unvaccinated people younger than 65 had died. During that same time, just one vaccinated person younger than 65 had died.
Deaths during the delta surge are starting to trend younger than from earlier in the pandemic, The News & Observer previously reported.
The average age of hospitalization, DHHS reported earlier this month, is 44. In January the average age was 61.
The deadliest month of the pandemic in North Carolina, by far, was January when 3,016 died. The deadliest day of the pandemic was Jan. 4 when 128 died.
As of Friday, 14,319 North Carolinians have died due to COVID-19.
Vaccinations have increased amid delta surge
As of Friday, 49% of all North Carolinians and 57% of those eligible for the shot, ages 12 and up, are fully vaccinated.
Among those age 65 and up, 85% are fully vaccinated.
North Carolina lags behind the rest of the country.
According to the CDC, 52% of all Americans and 61% of those eligible are fully vaccinated. North Carolina is above the national rate, 81%, of those age 65 and up.
Vaccinations have increased in the state though.
In July, 396,363 doses of the vaccines were administered. After 27 days into August, 477,853 doses have been given, in increase of 20%.
Weekly doses administered have gone up six consecutive weeks. First doses though are starting to go down. The week ending Aug. 16 was the second straight week they declined.
All data reported by DHHS is preliminary and subject to change as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 1:41 PM.