The majority of COVID-19 deaths are now happening in people who are vaccinated, according to a new analysis.
An analysis carried out by Cynthia Cox, vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, for The Washington Post’s Health 202, found that 58% of coronavirus fatalities in August occurred in instances where the person was vaccinated against COVID-19 or had received a booster. The percentage has more than doubled since September of last year, when the number was 23%. According to the Post, vaccinated people made up 42% of coronavirus deaths in January and February of 2022.
“We can no longer say this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Cox told the outlet.
Even though vaccinated people are still passing away from COVID-19, the Post pointed to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis that appeared to show that people should still get their scheduled booster doses of the vaccine. The analysis noted, “COVID-19 vaccines continued to reduce the risk of dying among all age groups, including older adults, with the most protection observed among people who have received [two or more] booster doses.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the president’s top medical advisor, recently gave his last COVID-19 briefing as he plans to retire next month. Republicans have voiced concerns over Fauci’s recommendations regarding pandemic policies and his potential connection to gain-of-function research in his career. They promised to investigate Fauci if they took control of Congress, which they did take control of the House in the midterm elections.
At the briefing, Fauci pressed the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations.
“My final message — may be the final message I give you from this podium — is that, please for your own safety, for that of your family, get your updated COVID-19 shot as soon as you’re eligible, to protect yourself, your family and your community,” Fauci said.
When questioned over the hardest times during the pandemic, Fauci discussed observing people “not getting vaccinated for reasons that have nothing to do with public health, but have to do because of divisiveness and ideological differences.”
“As a physician, it pains me because I don’t want to see anybody get infected, I don’t want to see anybody hospitalized, and I don’t want to see anybody die from COVID,” he said.
As of October 20, 80% of the U.S. population was vaccinated, while 68% were fully vaccinated, and 34% had gotten their boosters. Last year, the CDC also noted that sometimes booster shots are mischaracterized as an initial dose, which can throw off the numbers.
Still, many Americans do not wish to get vaccinated, despite the Biden administration’s pushes to do so, as well as their attempted COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
