‘Most people in hospital in Wales with virus have had both jabs’

MOST people in hospital with Covid in Wales have had both doses of the a vaccine – but this does not mean that jabs are ineffective.

The data was requested from Public Health Wales by WalesOnline to help understand how the third wave of the pandemic is effecting Wales.

It needs to be stressed that the fact people with both jabs are in hospital doesn’t mean that the vaccines are not playing a vital role in keeping the virus under control.

As of July 27 there were 167 inpatients in Welsh hospitals with Covid. This is how they broke down:

Unvaccinated 28.1% (47); First jab only 7.2% (12); Both doses of vaccine 60.5% (101); Unknown 4.2% (7).

What does this mean regarding the vaccines controlling the pandemic?

There is no doubt that the vaccines have massively reduced the amount of of hospitalisations and deaths in Wales.

The infection rate is currently falling and is on about 144 and there are around one to three deaths a day (though sometimes more). When infection rates were at this level back in February the figure was nearer to 30.

So why have most people in hospital in Wales with Covid been double jabbed? Well a big part of it is because most people have been double jabbed.

Most people who die in car accidents are wearing a seat belt but that is because the vast majority of people in cars are wearing one. It doesn’t mean the seat belts don’t work. It’s just that they are not 100% effective at dealing with all crashes. Similarly, vaccines make you safer, not totally safe. This is a big part of why the Welsh Government want people to still exercise some caution.

It is also important to factor in that the people most likely to be hospitalised with Covid are older people.

These have an incredibly high vaccine up take percentage and therefore it is inevitable that, as Covid circulates, some would lend up in hospital.

Dr Giri Shankar, an incident director for Public Health Wales said: “Hospitalisation data needs to be interpreted very carefully and should be looked at with other information before any judgements are made. This data alone is not a suitable indicator of vaccine effectiveness.”