By Akshay Syal -
NBC News
As COVID-19 cases increase in the country, health authorities warn that an increasing number of fully vaccinated people are being hospitalized or going to the emergency room.
Concern about decreased immunity against severe coronavirus infection comes as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to authorize the booster shot of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine for all adults older than 18 years.
"What we are beginning to see now is an increase in hospitalizations among people who have been vaccinated but have not received the booster dose," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Diseases, said in an interview Tuesday. Infectious
"It is a significant proportion, but not the majority, far from it
,
" he
said.
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Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported a
decline in the effectiveness of vaccines among older people
and nursing home residents, many of whom were the first to be vaccinated last winter.
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"Although
the highest risk is people who are not vaccinated,
we are seeing an increase in emergency room visits among adults 65 years and older, which are now again higher than those of the younger groups," said Walensky in a briefing on COVID-19 at the White House.
Walensky also referred to new nursing home data from the agency's National Health Security Network, which compares rates of COVID-19 between people vaccinated with two doses and those who have received an additional dose.
"The disease rate is notably lower for those who received their booster shots, which shows that these are working," Walensky said.
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Fauci and Walensky noted that
most hospitalizations and deaths continue to occur among unvaccinated people in the United States.
"Studies show that those who are not vaccinated are still more likely to be infected, more likely to be in the hospital and more likely to suffer serious complications," Walensky said at the briefing.
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The current seven-day hospital admission rate is about 5,300 a day, according to the CDC, and about
1,000 people die each day in the country from this disease.
However, the number of hospitalizations that occur is unclear.
Although the CDC has tracked the hospitalization rate among fully vaccinated people, its website only shows data as of Aug. 28.
According to the latest CDC data,
an unvaccinated person has an 11 times greater risk of dying from COVID-19
than a vaccinated person.
The agency did not respond to a request for information on the new figures.
At least 31 million people have received the extra dose of the vaccine from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson, according to the CDC.
Nurses Savanah Wagstaff and Aliza Burns treat an isolated patient with COVID-19 at a hospital in Rexburg, Idaho, on October 28, 2021.SHANNON STAPLETON / REUTERS
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Fauci referenced data from Israel showing a significant improvement in protection against serious illness and hospitalizations in those who have received boosters compared to those who have not.
In a study published last month, Israeli researchers found a
20-fold reduction in severe cases
among those over 60 who received the booster shot.
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Another study conducted last month by Israeli researchers and Harvard Medical School professors found that
booster doses were 92% effective
in preventing severe disease compared to the standard two-dose regimen at least five months earlier.
As vaccination rates in the country increase, more vaccinated people are expected to be hospitalized with COVID-19, simply because vaccines do not protect 100% against severe disease, Fauci warned.
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"That is where we return to the importance of getting vaccinated," he stressed.
"It will dramatically decrease the likelihood that if you are infected with an outbreak of the disease, you will end up in the hospital," he added.
The United States is only beginning to see "signs" of declining protection against severe disease, Fauci said, but Israel has been about six weeks ahead of disease development throughout the pandemic, one reason why which the federal health authorities have relied on your data.
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"If you strictly observe the data from Israel, it is very clear that the differences in the weakening of immunity are much deeper in older people, but they occur in all areas," said Fauci, noting that, in particular, the People over 40 who have received the booster showed a marked improvement in protection against severe disease.
Given the lack of national data on severe cases among younger adults, it is unclear how many of these have occurred and whether the boosters would provide a benefit.
"I would not be surprised if, sooner or later, the data indicates that it is also going to be very important that [younger] people, when they have booster vaccines available, get vaccinated," Fauci said.
Bob Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, would like to extend booster doses to all adults 18 years of age and older.
"It was reasonable to start reinforcing people who are most at risk of a hazard or exposure," Wachter said.
"However, we have already passed that stage, and there are enough vaccines out there," he said.
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One of the biggest questions surrounding booster doses was the
potential risk of heart muscle inflammation,
or myocarditis, which has been associated with mRNA vaccines, especially in young men.
Israeli health authorities report that no significant signs of myocarditis have yet appeared, according to Fauci.
Experts say that, along with the push for booster shots, it
is very important to give the first doses to the unvaccinated.
"It seems that two doses are not enough"
PAUL SAX PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE
Paul Sax, a professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said that the first doses and the booster doses can be given at the same time.
"They are separate processes and they don't seem to conflict with each other,"
Sax said, "we can definitely do both, because I think most vaccinated people would agree to a booster dose if it meant they were better protected."
Sax is also strongly in favor of expanding booster doses for all adults 18 years of age and older.
"It is inevitable and, in my opinion, the correct measure," he said,
"it seems that two doses are not enough
.
"
