Utah epidemiologist Leisha Nolen spoke at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on February 18. Nolen said Friday that the next wave of increased COVID-19 cases has already begun in Utah. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
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SALT LAKE CITY – Nearly 39% of Utah residents who died from the omicron variant of COVID-19 were either fully vaccinated or fully vaccinated and boosted, according to Utah Department of Health statistics.
Utah epidemiologist Leisha Nolen said the omicron variant posed a higher risk of infection and hospitalization than other variants for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. But vaccination still reduces the risks.
“I think it’s still very important to note that the vaccine worked well,” Nolen said Friday.
She said that during the omicron period, people who were not vaccinated were 3.6 times more likely to die than those who were vaccinated and 15 times more likely to die than people who were not vaccinated. who have had a booster injection.
“It’s certainly not what we want, we want it to be 1000 times … we want the vaccine to be as strong as possible. And it’s not perfect, no doubt about it, but it’s still pretty good, and even during the omicron we saw (the vaccine) be quite protective here in Utah, “Nolen said.
These comments are in response to a report by the Washington Post on Tuesday, which said that statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 42% of people died from COVID-19 in January and February this year. have been vaccinated, compared with 23% of people who died during the peak of the delta variant.
“We need to understand that this is not just a pandemic of the unvaccinated. “It’s not just people who choose not to get their vaccines who die from the virus,” said Washington Post reporter Fenit Nirapil in an episode of Post Reports.
Utah Department of Health statistics show that as of December 21, 2021 – what is defined as the “omicron period” – the state has 516 deaths from people who have not been vaccinated, 211 deaths from people who have not were vaccinated but not fortified, and 117 of the people who were vaccinated and fortified. This means that a quarter of the people who died were vaccinated but not reinforced, and almost 14% of the people who died were reinforced and vaccinated.
The state currently reports that 62.1% of Utah residents have been fully vaccinated or vaccinated and reinforced, and 28.5% of Utah residents have been revaccinated. This shows that the vaccine helps prevent deaths, as the percentage of the population in these categories is higher than the percentage of deaths from COVID-19 in each of the same categories.
Nolen said they are still studying and trying to figure out how long the vaccine provides protection. She said they are currently recommending a second booster injection for people over 50 or immunocompromised. Nolen said the data showed that age was a clear factor in the number and severity of sudden infections.
“There are people who, even if they do the right thing, can get a bad infection,” Nolan said. “There are still some risks.”
She said there are many factors that can change whether a vaccine is effective, including how the virus mutates and how different it is from the vaccine. She said they were watching to try to figure out when another shot might be a good idea.
The next wave?
Nolen said Utah is beginning to see more COVID-19 infections after falling to very few infections in the past six weeks. The state is beginning to see more and more people going to the emergency department with COVID-19 and being admitted to hospital. Nolen said the cases in Utah were likely following a wave in some northeastern states that are currently reporting that hospitals are full. She said we were about four or five weeks behind them.
“We’ve been watching the rest of the country slowly hit by the wave, I think we’re getting that now. We’re just getting started,” Nolen said.
She said some factors that could cause the increase include that the omicron variant has changed some and it is a slightly different virus and there are more people in the community, leading to more exposure. Nolen said the risk is not super high, especially for people who have been vaccinated and boosted, and she wants people to spend time with friends and family. However, she said people should not take “unnecessary risks”, such as entering large crowds without protection, such as a mask.
She said there was “some partial protection” in this wave for people who had the omicron variant of the virus because their bodies had some knowledge of how to react, but that could change with future options. Nolen said people need to protect themselves despite previous infections and vaccinated status.
“We will have to accept that this virus will be with us for a while … We hope that vaccines will continue to have good protection, so that there may be more inconvenience and difficulty in our lives than a lifetime – a change of something “Nolen said.
She said this is likely to come in waves and people will have to make choices based on what is happening in the community. Healthcare professionals are prepared for the increase and are seeking to target tests to people with limited resources, as many people already have the opportunity to purchase COVID-19 tests.
“For the general population, we really want to encourage them to use resources that they can, across the community,” Nolen said.
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Emily Ashcraft joined KSL.com as a reporter in 2021. She covers courts and legal issues, as well as news on health, faith and religion.
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