Covid hospitalizations are falling as older Americans get vaccinated, according to recent data. In a month’s time, hospital admissions decreased by 72 percent, Bloomberg reported. The sharpest decrease was recorded among Americans age 85 and up, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
It is a trend that began in January 2020. The latest data show that for every 100,000 residents 85 and older, hospitalizations were down to 23.4 percent the week of Feb. 7 to Feb. 13. That number was 120.3 percent per 100,000 residents a month prior.
For the overall population, hospitalizations during the same time period were 4.6 percent, down from 16.7 percent. Health officials said the vaccine may not be the only contributing factor to a drop in hospitalizations as every age group saw a decrease of 57 percent or more.
It is welcome news. However, many are still concerned about the impact of different variants of the virus that have been circulating in the U.S.
“We’re definitely on a downward slope, but I’m worried that the new variants will throw us a curveball in late February or March,” said Caitlin M. Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in a New York Times interview.
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As the U.S. passed the grim milestone of half a million deaths, officials noted an uptick in reported cases on Feb. 24.
Users on social media were divided on the whether the drop in hospitalizations was actually something to be happy about.
“This is the best news I have seen in weeks. In December, my housemate’s sister died… not from Covid, but because the hospital was so full of Covid patients that her stroke was not treated quickly enough. Hospital staff must finally feel like there is an end to their ordeal,” @hrafnkat tweeted.
“They’re still drowning, the waters just a little lower. Hardly a relief really,” added @jwpetterchak.
Another noted that decreased hospitalizations were likely due to the high mortality rate in the U.S. “Because so many older Americans have already died,” @SorryNancy tweeted.
