Unvaccinated people are nearly 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with severe COVID infection when compared to those who are fully vaccinated, according to a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday.
The study, published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, was based on data from Los Angeles County between May 1 and July 25. Of the groups, about 25% were fully vaccinated, about 3% were partially vaccinated and about 71% were unvaccinated, the report shows.
Beyond hospitalization rates, the study also found that unvaccinated individuals were nearly five times more likely to be infected with COVID compared to people who received two doses of either Moderna's
"These infection and hospitalization rate data indicate that authorized vaccines were protective against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 during a period when transmission of the Delta variant was increasing," the federal public health agency wrote in the study.
The new study comes are public health officials as well as hospitals have been warning current spike in COVID hospitalizations is mostly coming from the unvaccinated U.S. population. As of Tuesday, more than 202 million Americans have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, and nearly 53% of the total U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to data compiled by the CDC.
The study was based on 43,127 infections in residents of Los Angeles County, California, with COVID hospitalization being defined as hospital admissions occurring within 14 days after confirmed infection, the CDC said. The study concluded that while hospitalization rates increased "exponentially" across the whole study population (whether fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated or unvaccinated), the highest rates were concentrated among unvaccinated individuals.
Still, the data shows that one-fourth of infections in the county were among the vaccinated, highlighting the waning immunity protection levels of COVID vaccines over time. However, the study demonstrates that while efficacy may decrease over time, vaccines help keep virtually all those fully vaccinated out of the hospital.
To compare, about 3% of vaccinated people in the study were hospitalized, with 0.5% needing intensive care and 0.2% requiring a ventilator. For the unvaccinated, nearly 8% were hospitalized, with 1.5% needing intensive care and 0.5% requiring a ventilator.
President Joe Biden on Monday said that "virtually all" COVID hospitalization and deaths now occurring across the country are among the unvaccinated, and urged those who still haven't to get their shots following the full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday.
"Let me be clear: There are cases where vaccinated people do get COVID, but they are far less common than unvaccinated people getting COVID-19. And most importantly, their conditions are far less severe," Biden said during a White House speech after the FDA's decision.
