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Vaccinated New Yorkers account for just 4% of COVID-19 infections so far this year, according to data provided by the New York State Department of Health. Unvaccinated people were 21 times more likely to be infected or hospitalized statewide. The trends offer another strong indication that vaccines have saved tens of thousands of people this year from serious illness.
Of the nearly 1.3 million COVID infections recorded in New York City between January 1 and September 5, only 58,030 involved breakthrough infections, where the virus thwarts a person’s immunity supported by the vaccine. The state health department recorded 4,585 hospitalizations among those fully vaccinated, while unvaccinated residents accounted for 97,244 emergency room visits.
This breakdown would mean, so far this year, that the injections have reduced the risk of infection or hospitalization by 95%, which is in line with the vaccine’s effectiveness measured in clinical trials.
The new data obtained by WNYC / Gothamist follows a study released last month by the New York Health Department and researchers at the University of Albany School of Public Health. He looked at COVID cases from May through July, with the delta variant growing from less than 2% of cases to over 80% in the New York City area. Immunization coverage increased from 40% to 65% during the same period.
This study measured the weekly impacts of inoculations, showing that as the delta variant became more prominent, the vaccine’s effectiveness against virus capture increased from 90% to 79%. But the protection against hospitalization has remained intact, ranging from 91% to 95% over these spring and summer months.
Prior to this study, New York state had previously reported no data on major infections, although about half the nation does, according to a July analysis from KFF. Dr Denis Nash, professor of epidemiology at the City University of New York, called the state’s August study “highly significant,” adding that his statistics reiterate that vaccines continue to be effective against worst results from the Delta variant.
“This is a solid analysis that really shows how powerful these vaccines are against hospitalization,” Nash said. The results also indicate that the booster shots may not be as necessary as previously thought.
“This seems to suggest that the efficacy of the vaccine is quite robust even far after the start of the vaccination campaign,” he said. Conversely, Nash said, the study points out that “if you are not vaccinated you are at a very high risk of being hospitalized with severe COVID.”
The figures recently released in New York correspond to a separate analysis, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and released on Friday. He found that among 600,000 cases of COVID-19 recorded in 13 US jurisdictions between April 4 and July 17, unvaccinated people were 5 times more likely to be infected, 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die than fully vaccinated. people.
“The result is this,” CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said at a press conference on Friday. “Vaccination works and will protect us from the serious complications of COVID-19. “
Under former Governor Andrew Cuomo, the New York State Department of Health had been quiet about releasing COVID-19 data, and the right government groups and other experts had long been calling for better access. When taking office last month, Governor Kathy Hochul pledged more transparency and immediately revised the state’s pandemic death toll to 12,000.
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