Hospitalizations increase among vaccinated

(CMR) An increase in  COVID-19 infection among the vaccinated, observed in the United States and other countries worldwide, is apparently now being seen in the Cayman Islands, with vaccinated persons accounting for a large number of those hospitalized.

The Cayman Islands Public Health Department has reported an increase in hospitalization of vaccinated persons during the week of 24-30 April or Epidemiological Week 17. Nine persons were hospitalized, 60 percent of whom were vaccinated.

This increase of the vaccinated being infected could be due to the Omicron variant, which is so infectious that it makes it hard for the elderly and immunocompromised to avoid it, Market Watch reported.

Market Watch said Omicron, and its growing number of subvariants, have proved to be far more infectious than earlier strains.

In the US, this has resulted in a rise in fatalities among the vaccinated, thought to be linked to vaccine protection waning over time, making it harder for those patients who are most at risk to avoid contracting the disease.

Immunocompromised people are encouraged to get the COVID-19 booster shot to increase their resistance to the virus.

According to Becker's Hospital Review, as the share of deaths among older Americans and those with immunocompromising conditions who have been vaccinated grows, unvaccinated people no longer account for the overwhelming majority of COVID-19 deaths in the USA.

A Washington Post analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 42% of COVID fatalities in January and February were of vaccinated people, compared with 23% of the dead in September when the delta variant was still dominant.

Despite an increase in the vaccinated getting the virus, the unvaccinated remain at an even higher risk and are far more likely to die if they become ill, and they are at more risk than people who have had their booster shot.

“It's still absolutely more dangerous to be unvaccinated than vaccinated,”  Andrew Noymer, Ph.D., a public health professor at the University of California Irvine who studies COVID-19 mortality, told the Washington Post.

Last week, the Cayman Islands recorded 604 new cases of COVID-19. This was 144 cases more than what was reported in the previous Epi. Week (17 – 23 April 2022).

Officials noted that 1,897 tests were conducted in Epi. Week 17, compared to 1,419 tests in Epi. Week 16, and to 1,427 tests in Epi. Week 15.

The test positivity rate was at 32 percent for Epi. Week 17. There have been 267 COVID-19 patients admitted from March 2020 to 30 April 2022.

There have been 27 deaths from COVID-19-related causes in the Cayman Islands since the beginning of the pandemic.