International Desk:
Dhaka, Sept-11,
New U.S. studies
released Friday show the COVID-19 vaccines remain highly effective against
hospitalizations and death even as the extra-contagious delta variant swept the
country.
One study tracked over
600,000 COVID-19 cases in 13 states from April through mid-July. As delta
surged in early summer, those who were unvaccinated were 4.5 times more likely
than the fully vaccinated to get infected, over 10 times more likely to be
hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
“Vaccination works,”
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC’s director, told a White House briefing Friday. “The
bottom line is this: We have the scientific tools we need to turn the corner on
this pandemic.”
But as earlier data has
shown, protection against coronavirus infection is slipping some: It was 91% in
the spring but 78% in June and July, the study found.
So-called
“breakthrough” cases in the fully vaccinated accounted for 14% of
hospitalizations and 16% of deaths in June and July, about twice the percentage
as earlier in the year.
An increase in those
percentages isn’t surprising: No one ever said the vaccines were perfect and
health experts have warned that as more Americans get vaccinated, they
naturally will account for a greater fraction of the cases.
Walensky said Friday
that well over 90% of people in U.S. hospitals with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
CDC released two other
studies Friday that signaled hints of waning protection for older adults. One
examined COVID-19 hospitalizations in nine states over the summer and found
protection for those 75 and older was 76% compared to 89% for all other adults.
And in five Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, protection against COVID-19
hospitalizations was 95% among 18- to 64-year-olds compared to 80% among those
65 and older.
It isn’t clear if the
changes seen over time are because immunity is waning in people first
vaccinated many months ago, that the vaccine isn’t quite as strong against
delta -- or that much of the country abandoned masks and other precautions just
as delta started spreading.
But U.S. health
authorities will consider this latest real-world data as they decide if at
least some Americans need a booster, and how soon after their last dose. Next
week, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will publicly debate
Pfizer’s application to offer a third shot.
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