Virus hospitalizations decline among seniors

Plunge of 80% since the start of the year seen as dramatic evidence that the COVID-19 vaccination campaign is working.

COVID-19

WASHINGTON — hospitalizations among older Americans have plunged 80% since the start of the year, dramatic proof the vaccina- tion campaign is working. Now the trick is to get more of the nation’s younger peo- ple to roll up their sleeves.

The drop-off in severe cases among people 65 and older is so dramatic that the hospitalization rate among this highly vaccinated group is now down to around the level of the next-youngest category, Americans 50 to 64.

That slide is especially encouraging because senior citizens have accounted for about 8 out of 10 deaths from COVID-19 since the virus hit the United States.

Overall, COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have plummeted to about 700 per day on aver- age, compared with a peak of over 3,400 in mid-jan- uary. All told, the scourge has killed about 570,000 Americans.

“What you’re seeing there is exactly what we hoped and wanted to see: As really high rates of vaccinations happen, hospitalizations and death rates come down,” said Jodie Guest, a public health researcher at Emory University.

The trends mirror what is happening in other countries with high vaccination rates, such as Israel and Britain,

and stand in stark contrast to the worsening disaster in places like India and Brazil, which lag far behind in dispensing shots.

According to U.S. government statistics, hospitalizations are down 60% overall, but most dramatically

among senior citizens, who have been eligible for shots the longest and have enthusiastically received them.

Two-thirds of American senior citizens are fully vaccinated, versus just one-third of all U.S. adults. Over 80% of senior citizens have gotten at least one shot, compared with just over 50%

among all adults.

The hospitalization rate

among those 65 and over is about 14 people per 100,000

population, the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-

tion reported, citing a surveillance system that gath

ers data from over 250 hospitals in 14 states.

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP Baseball fans gather in the Bullpen Club at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 24 before a spring training exhibition baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays in Tampa, Fla. COVID-19 hospitalizations are plunging among older Americans.