The majority of COVID deaths currently come from vaccinated people
People who were vaccinated or boosted accounted for 58% of the coronavirus deaths in August. Being unvaccinated remains a significant risk factor for COVID-19 death. However, effectiveness declines over time, and a study emphasizes the requirement for routine booster shots.
Continued boosters are necessary to prevent disease and death since vaccinations lose their effectiveness against the virus over time and new strains develop that are better able to withstand them. Earlier this month, most new coronavirus infections in the United States were caused by the BA.5 omicron subvariant, which became dominant in July.
According to a CDC analysis, further booster injections offer protection against severe illness and death as immunity deteriorates. Unvaccinated people aged 6 months and older died at around six times the rate of those who had had their primary series of vaccinations in August. People over 5 were almost eight times more likely to die from a coronavirus infection than those who took a booster shot. The disparity is considerably more pronounced among people aged 50 and up.
The updated boosters became accessible to those 12 and older in September and to children as young as five last month, have been administered to almost 35 million individuals. That amounts to just over 10% of the US population. There are worries that the colder weather will increase COVID cases as people go indoors and respiratory infections spread. Before the holidays, the White House began a six-week campaign to improve booster uptake.