Nearly 9 Out of 10 Deaths Now in People 65 or Older – the Highest Rate Since the Pandemic

Posted in COVID-19, Senior Living

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP
Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare

This is the subtitle of a November 28, 2022 Washington Post article – a must read for all healthcare workers and frankly, all U.S. citizens.

“And while older Americans have consistently been the worst hit during the crisis, as evident in the scores of early nursing home deaths, that trend has become more pronounced. Today, nearly 9 in 10 covid deaths are in people 65 or older — the highest rate ever, according to a Washington Post analysis of CDC data.”

Think about that statement.

“Some epidemiologists and demographers predict the trend of older, sicker and poorer people dying at disproportionate rates will continue, raising hard questions about the trade-offs Americans are making in pursuit of normalcy — and at whose expense.”

“The vulnerability of older people to viruses is neither surprising, nor new. The more we age, the more we accumulate scars from previous illness and chronic conditions that putus at higher risk of severe illness.

When it comes to the coronavirus, though, deaths in Americans over 65 fell dramatically after the arrival of the original series of vaccines since seniors were the most likely to get them. But booster rates for older Americans are now lagging: According to the CDC, 98 percent of those ages 65 to 74 and 96 percent of people 75 and over completed an initial two-shot course. Those rates fall to 22 and 25 percent respectively for the new omicron-specific booster.”

I encourage you to review and discuss this Washington Post article with your colleagues.  We all need to take COVID-19 seriously as the pandemic is not over yet – people continue to get severely ill and require hospitalization.  People are still dying.  We can and must do better to protect our elderly citizens and healthcare workers.

For more information, please read (or review if you’ve already read) these blogs from yesterday:

Is your facility/community doing everything possible to protect each other – elders and staff members?