Covid hospitalizations among US seniors are on the rise this holiday season – experts warn the elderly are still vulnerable to the virus.
Latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that hospital admissions for Americans over 70 have risen to 7.87 per 100,000 population – almost five times the average rate.
Experts point to the sluggish uptake of the bivalent boosters for Covid resurgence – with just a third of older adults having received the injection since it became available in late August.
The rise of Covid comes just as the nation is recovering from the outbreaks of influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) that struck in the autumn – but are now cratering.
The graph on the right shows Covid hospitalizations by age group. It shows that the over 70s (purple line) account for the bulk of attendance and are also the age group where it is increasing the fastest. Admissions remain low in other groups
Experts are warning that the recent spate of hospitalizations could mean this Covid wave could reach the heights of the 2021 summer delta variant surge.
During this wave, a peak of 8.84 hospitalizations per 100,000 people over 70 per day was reached.
dr Eric Topol, a Covid scientist at the Scripps Research Institute in California, called the rise in hospitalizations among the oldest Americans the “senior wave”.
“Right now we’ve built a wall of immunity against the Omicron family — between gunshots and past infections and combinations of those — that seems to be keeping younger folks in pretty good shape,” he told CNN.
“But the immune system of older people is not as strong.”
He warned that the “primary culprit” was the “woefully inadequate” uptake rates of the bivalent booster in the elderly.
“Everything points to a decreasing immunity,” he said. “If more seniors had their booster shots, the effect would be minimal.”
US Covid cases are on the rise again, data shows, but numbers are likely an underestimate because
Covid deaths have also risen slightly, with an average of 420 Americans now dying from the virus each day. This is well below the peaks of previous waves
Overall, Covid hospitalizations rose six percent nationwide from Dec. 16-23, the latest data available.
An average of 1.62 per 100,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with Covid each day in the US.
Older people have always had a significantly higher risk of Covid than their younger peers
But the age gap in hospitalizations with the virus is now wider than ever — even during the original pandemic wave, when the deadly virus swept through nursing homes across America.
Elderly people account for 13 per cent of Covid cases but half of hospital admissions and almost 75 per cent of deaths from the virus.
However, overall hospitalization rates are still quite low — well below the peaks of the Alpha wave (19.3 hospitalizations per 100,000 population) and the Omicron wave (21.3).
Covid cases in the US rose by seven percent in the week leading up to Christmas, official data shows, with about 70,000 infections recorded daily.
This is likely an underestimate given far fewer people are being tested for the virus.
Deaths from the virus also rose nine percent over the past week, to an average of about 420 Americans who die from the virus each day.
China’s Covid surge increases risk of new variant emerging
Covid cases in China surge after the country lifted its key Covid restrictions.
The exit wave is fueling fears among experts that another Covid variant could emerge.
dr Stuart Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University, warned: “China has a very large population and limited immunity.
“And that seems to be the environment where we might see an explosion of a new variant.”
He added: “When we have seen large waves of infection, new variants are often generated.”
Each new infection gives the virus an opportunity to mutate, and it’s spreading rapidly in the country of 1.4 billion people.
Overall reported vaccination rates are high in the country, but uptake of booster shots is much lower.
Many shots were given more than a year ago, which means immunity has gone down.
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Data showing deaths by age group is still preliminary, but shows deaths are mostly among those over 85.
The spike in cases and deaths comes as US officials struggle to persuade the population to get the bivalent vaccines.
Only 14.6 percent of Americans received the booster shot tailored for the Omicron variant.
Among those over 65, who are more at risk from the virus, only about a third of adults received the updated vaccinations.
“It’s very, very worrying,” said Dr. Preeti Malani, a University of Michigan Health doctor specializing in infectious diseases and geriatric medicine.
“There are a significant number of people who have received previous boosters who have not received these and I am concerned that there is confusion, there is misinformation.
“So to the seniors — and to everyone — I say, if you haven’t been boosted, get boosted.”
It comes as estimates show cases of flu and RSV are now on the way down after starting earlier this year.
In its weekly flu report today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 33,041 infections in the week ended December 17, down 26 percent from the week.
RSV cases also continued to fall, falling to 3,554 cases this week – a 76 per cent drop since the first week of December and a low since mid-September.
The report comes days after a CDC spokesman warned Americans that this year’s respiratory disease outbreak could continue well into winter.
While influenza and RSV are on the decline, Covid is starting to rise – along with the bacterial infection Strep A.