Topline
Adults who received a shot of the updated Covid-19 bivalent booster were less than half as likely to need hospital treatment than unvaccinated adults, according to a new report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, although Americans’ vaccination rate for the most recent booster remains low.
The updated bivalent Covid-19 booster shot cut hospitalizations in half, according to CDC data.
Key Facts
Bivalent mRNA booster doses—which target the original coronavirus strain and some of its stronger omicron subvariants—were 56% more effective than no vaccination at preventing Covid, according to the CDC.
Americans who received the boosters were 50% less likely to contract the virus than Americans who received only the primary vaccine at least 11 months earlier, and 31% less likely than those who received the primary vaccination two to four months earlier, according to the report, conducted between September 13 and November 18 in partnership with the VISION Network.
Adults who received the booster dose were 57% less likely to be hospitalized than unvaccinated adults.
They were also 38% less likely than adults who received the primary vaccination five to seven months earlier and 45% less likely than those who were administered the primary vaccination more than 11 months earlier.
Americans’ vaccination rates have remained low, with only 14.1% of Americans five years and older—more than 44 million people—who are eligible for the booster having received one as of Wednesday, according to CDC data.
Chief Critic
Lawmakers, primarily on the right, have publically espoused booster campaigns and vaccination mandates, while several GOP state officials have signed bills banning them. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey released Friday found 35% of parents now believe vaccines for other viruses such as measles and mumps, which schools have required for decades should not be mandatory—up from 23% in a Pew Research Center poll in 2019.
Tangent
Along with Covid, cases of the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are reaching record numbers, putting the U.S. at risk of a so-called “tripledemic.” The CDC estimates that between October 1 and December 10, there were 15 million to 33 million cases of the flu and between 9,300 and 28,000 deaths, far more than last year. The triple threat of infectious viruses has also put a strain on hospitals, which in recent weeks have become overwhelmed with patients with all three viruses, starting with a spike in RSV cases among children in October.
Big Number
31,811. That’s how many Americans are currently hospitalized due to Covid-19, with more than 5,000 people admitted per day, on average, according to data from the CDC—although the number of Americans hospitalized is less than half of the roughly 70,000 hospitalized at this time last year. Cases have climbed in recent months, however, to more than 455,000 new cases in the U.S. this week—a three-month high. The vast majority of those cases are the result of the newer omicron subvariants.
Further Reading
Covid boosters cut hospitalization risk by at least 50%, CDC data show (Washington Post)
Covid Hospitalizations Climb Again As Another U.S. Wave Looms Large—These States Lead The Way (Forbes)
Covid Still Killed Over 9,000 Americans In November, As Attention To It (And Boosters) Declines (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/12/16/should-you-get-a-covid-booster-cdc-says-they-cut-risk-of-hospitalization-in-half/