Virus breaks through: US sees rise in hospitalisations among vaccinated

The United States
is seeing a rise in vaccinated people being hospitalised with COVID-19,
according to Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Disease. With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise,
fully-vaccinated people are landing up in emergency rooms sparking fears that
the health infrastructure may once again be overstretched.

Also Read | Paxlovid vs molnupiravir: How do Pfizer and Merck’s COVID pills compare?

Anthony Fauci, who
has effectively spearheaded US’ fight against COVID-19, said in an interview, “What
we’re starting to see now is an uptick in hospitalisations among people who’ve
been vaccinated but not boosted.” He added that while this is a significant
number at the moment, it is by no means the majority.

Also Read | Pfizer to sell 10 million COVID pills to US for $5.3 million

Dr Rochelle Walensky,
director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said there
has been a decline in vaccine effectiveness among the elderly and the residents
of long-term care facilities, many of whom were the first to be eligible to
vaccines last winter.

Also Read | One in 10 children received first COVID shot in last two weeks: White House

During a COVID-19
briefing Wednesday, Walensky said that the risk of infection continues to
remain the highest among people who are unvaccinated. “We are seeing an
increase in emergency department visits among adults 65 and older, which are now
again higher than they are for younger age groups.”

Also Read | US to boost funding for vaccine production, increase global sharing

Both Fauci and
Walensky say that most hospitalisations and deaths due to COVID-19 in the US
are still among unvaccinated people. “Studies show that those who are
unvaccinated continue to be more likely to be infected, more likely to be in
the hospital and more likely to have severe complications from COVID-19,” Walensky
said.

Latest CDC data
show that unvaccinated people are at 11 times greater risk of dying from
COVID-19 than those vaccinated.

However, since the
number of breakthrough infections is on the rise, Anthony Fauci suggests that
the US should take a leaf out of Israel’s book and consider booster shots for
young Americans. A study published last month shows that Israeli researchers
found a 20-fold reduction in severe disease among people above 60 who received
booster shots.