Unvaccinated seniors drive Delta deaths

Islam News – The U.S. has a far higher share of older adults without full vaccine protection than many other wealthy countries, and it has made the Delta wave deadlier.

Younger, unvaccinated adults are making up an increasing share of new hospital visits, but a vast majority of people dying from Covid-19 are older and unvaccinated. In many counties, especially in the South and the Mountain West, seniors without full vaccination make up more than 10 percent of the total population.

By contrast, unvaccinated seniors in Britain are relatively rare.

Even London, which has higher rates of vaccine hesitancy among older adults than the rest of Britain, is far ahead of most of the U.S. in its vaccination rates.

That discrepancy may help explain why the Delta wave has led to a higher rate of deaths, public health experts say. Although cases surged in both countries, Britain had proportionally fewer hospitalizations and deaths.

Vaccine hesitancy is not unique to the U.S., but it is more widespread and forceful in the country than in Europe, and it breaks down more clearly along political lines. State and local governments have also been less willing than European leaders to use mandates to pressure residents to be vaccinated.

Signing up older Americans for vaccines is a struggle: Those who really wanted a vaccine have already gotten it. Many holdouts are resistant to immunization because of their politics and personal beliefs, or those of their friends and family.

“We have really tried to get them vaccinated,” said Molly Howell, the immunization director for the North Dakota Department of Health, where health officials have sent letters to every unvaccinated senior in the state. “There just seems to be a lack of trust in public health and government, and even a lack of trust of medical professionals.”

Source: The New York Times