Unvaccinated people died from COVID at a rate 3.5 times higher in June than those who got a booster, Wisconsin DHS said
The Department of Health Services recently released June data surrounding COVID-19 illness after vaccination, and the numbers show that those unvaccinated are more likely to be hospitalized and die from the virus.
In the month of June, people who were unvaccinated were hospitalized at a rate nearly five times more than people who have received two doses, and 2.5 times the rate of those who have completed their primary series and got a booster dose.
For people who completed their primary series, the rate of COVID hospitalizations per 100,000 people is 4.8, while for those who completed the primary series and a booster, the rate is 9.7. The rate for unvaccinated people is 23.9 per 100,000 people.
People who were unvaccinated were 6.4 times more likely to die than those who have two doses of vaccine, and 3.5 times more likely than those who had received their primary series and booster dose.
For people who completed their primary series, the rate of COVID deaths per 100,000 people is 0.5, while for those who completed the primary series and a booster, the rate is 0.9. The rate for unvaccinated people is 3.2 per 100,000 people.
In the days following publication of this article, many readers contacted the Journal Sentinel wondering why data shows a higher rate of death and hospitalization among people who received a booster versus those who just completed a primary series. Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer for DHS, addressed this issue in a May media briefing.
"These aren't the data that we look to when we try to answer the question, are vaccines and boosters recommended? Those are clinical trials and what we call vaccine efficacy studies. And those data have shown that when we randomize people to vaccine or placebo or booster or no booster, that the risk per person, in that kind of well-designed study, is lower," Westergaard said.
In a statement, DHS spokesperson Elizabeth Goodsitt added "several additional factors affect case rates by vaccination status, making the interpretation of recent trends difficult. These include higher prevalence of previous infection among unvaccinated and un-boosted groups, difficulty in accounting for time since vaccination and waning protection, possible differences in testing practices such as use and reporting of at-home tests, and possible differences in COVID-19 prevention behaviors by age and vaccination status."
"People at higher risk for getting sick with COVID-19 (like older people and people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised) make up a larger proportion of the population that chooses to stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccines. These higher-risk groups are more likely to have coexisting health conditions and be hospitalized and die due to COVID-19 infection. According to Wisconsin data, 68% of adults older than 65 have received a booster dose compared to only about 21% of those 12-24 years old.
Put simply, older people make up the majority of boosted residents, as well as the majority of COVID-19 deaths.
And Goodsitt reminded: "All vaccinated groups have a lower risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 compared with people who are unvaccinated. DHS continues to recommend everyone get a booster or additional dose as soon as they become eligible."
Since the state started reporting illness after vaccination data in February 2021, unvaccinated people continue to have higher rates of death and hospitalizations than those who are vaccinated.
Track COVID and the vaccine in Wisconsin: See the latest data on cases, deaths and administered doses
Latest COVID-19 numbers
New cases reported (Friday): 1,919
New deaths reported (Friday), confirmed: 2
New deaths reported (Friday), probable: 2
New deaths reported (this week), confirmed: 14
New deaths reported (this week), probable: 11
Number hospitalized: 462 (intensive care: 61); up 74 patients from a month ago
Seven-day average of daily cases: 1,689 (up 267 cases from one month ago)
Seven-day average of confirmed daily deaths: 2 (down 2 deaths from a month ago)
Seven-day average of new deaths reported within 30 days of death: 1 (down 2 deaths from a month ago)
Seven-day average positivity rate: 14.4% of all COVID-19 tests given
Total cases since the start of pandemic: 1,552,695
Total confirmed deaths: 13,195
Total probable deaths: 1,685
Latest vaccine numbers
Total doses administered: 9,603,924
Daily doses administered: 1,221
Seven-day average of daily doses: 1,244
Weekly doses administered: 5,895 (as of Friday)
Total booster doses administered: 2,075,357
Daily booster doses administered: 612
Seven-day average of daily booster doses: 586
Residents who have received one dose: 3,769,485 (64.6% of the population)
Residents who are fully vaccinated: 3,586,019 (61.5% of the population)
Residents who have received a booster dose: 2,046,267 (35.1% of the population)
Residents ages 5 to 11 with at least one dose: 139,802 (28.7% of age group)
Residents ages 12 to 17 with at least one dose: 276,756 (62.3% of age group)
Residents ages 18 to 24 with at least one dose: 332,454 (61.1% of age group)
Residents ages 25 to 34 with at least one dose: 480,417 (64.8% of age group)
Residents ages 35 to 44 with at least one dose: 502,609 (69.6% of age group)
Residents ages 45 to 54 with at least one dose: 502,797 (71.9% of age group)
Residents ages 55 to 64 with at least one dose: 641,910 (78.3% of age group)
Residents 65 and older with at least one dose: 892,535 (85.2% of age group)
Contact Drake Bentley at (414) 391-5647 or DBentley1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DrakeBentleyMJS.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Unvaccinated died of COVID at a rate 3.5 times more than those boosted
