February 6, 2022

900,000

How did we get here? The richest nation in the world, but not the most populated, has the highest number of deaths. Deaths from Omicron are still high even as cases drop. We have surpassed 900,000 deaths with still more to come over the next few weeks. Most of these deaths were avoidable: either with masking, vaccinations, or both.

Confusion reigns about the vaccines’ prevention abilities because of breakthrough infections. The Washington State Department of Health has published numbers showing that in the 65+ age group, the unvaccinated are 5 times more likely to get COVID-19 compared with fully vaccinated, 8 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 compared with fully vaccinated, and 9 times more likely to die of COVID-19 compared with fully vaccinated 65+ year-olds. These numbers show the vaccines’ effectiveness in reducing infections. They are even better at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. Boosters add more protection.

Other studies from the the CDC reinforce the power of the vaccines to prevent deaths and hospitalizations, especially when boosters are added. Hospitalizations are 23 times higher in the unvaccinated compared to the boosted. COVID infections are milder in the vaccinated. Data from the first week of December show that the unvaccinated were 97 (!) times more likely to die than those vaccinated and boosted. Even immunizations decreased the risk of death 14 times, but a booster shot boosted the protection much higher.

Boosters have a strong effect on improving immunity, but many who are vaccinated haven’t really felt the need to get their boosters yet. We can help encourage people to get boosted to get better protection, especially in older people. The elderly and immunocompromised are the most at risk. By masking and getting boosted, we can help protect them.

We all have experienced different behavior in different areas. In some places, people wear masks and get vaccinated at high rates. In others, mask wearing is avoided at the same time vaccination rates are low. Now the demographics of who is dying from COVID reflect that. We are hearing about more people who were opposed to vaccines dying from COVID, even if they were supposedly lower risk. So sad and so avoidable. The data shows vaccines work and masking still plays a role in preventing infections, with N95 and KN95 having the best protective effect. I believe in these masks, as evidenced by my multiple negative tests after my exposure last week. Whew.

I am pessimistic we can convince people to change their minds and their behavior. They believe in their sources and don’t trust ours, despite the numbers of deaths showing a different story. Sadly, many don’t want to recognize what is happening. That leaves us to protect each other by being boosted and wearing masks.

Wash your hands, cover your nose with an N95, KN95, or KF94 when at risk, and find that booster shot!

And finally, my caveat is that this is my experience and my opinions, which are subject to change as more information is available, and not related to the organization I work for. Thanks for reading.

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/covid-falling-in-49-of-50-states-as-deaths-near-900000/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/us/us-covid-deaths.html

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/02/why-are-so-many-americans-still-dying-of-covid.html

https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/data-tables/421-010-CasesInNotFullyVaccinated.pdf

https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/96680

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19vaccine/96968

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/01/world/covid-19-cases-vaccine/study-finds-that-vaccines-provide-robust-protection-against-omicron

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220201115144.htm

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/demographic-shift-white-californians-accounted-for-more-covid-deaths-in-2021/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/25/briefing/covid-behavior-vaccinated-unvaccinated.html

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/eye-popping-3

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7105e1.htm?s_cid=mm7105e1_w

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/pandemics-culture-war-rolls-on-ignoring-wa-state-troopers-death/

Benjy Renton @bhrenton

In the first week of December, individuals who were unvaccinated 97(!) times more likely to die compared to those who were vaccinated and boosted, according to data from 28 jurisdictions presented today by @CDCDirector. Getting boosted could save your life.

Eric Topol @EricTopol

How durable are 3rd/booster shot-induced neutralizing antibodies vs Omicron in elderly people? 81% of individuals, median age 82, maintained detectable activity at 4.5 months👍 2 shots: nearly absent medrxiv.org/content/10.110… by @kvanshylla and colleagues @UniCologne

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220201115144.htm covid less severe

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/n95-kn95-masks-provide-best-protection-against-covid-cdc-study-shows/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/04/covid-mask-effective-n95/