More vaxxed adults hospitalized with omicron

A higher proportion of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 during the period of omicron dominance were fully vaccinated compared to the period of delta dominance, according to a new analysis. Still those people were also less likely to be severely ill or die.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis of a single hospital in Los Angeles found there were more hospitalizations during omicron compared to delta, but that among omicron-period patients, vaccination — particularly vaccination plus a booster dose — was associated with lower likelihood of admission to an intensive care unit.

Among adults at least 65 years old hospitalized during omicron, vaccination was also associated with a lower likelihood of death while hospitalized.

“COVID-19 vaccination, particularly a booster dose, continues to be critical in mitigating the health care burden of the omicron variant,” the CDC concluded in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Omicron-period hospitalizations overall were associated with a lower likelihood of ICU admission, mechanical ventilation and death while hospitalized, compared with delta-period hospitalizations.

With COVID or because of it? According to the CDC, that distinction doesn’t really matter.  “Even patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 test results admitted for non-COVID-19 conditions require isolation rooms and use of personal protective equipment and might transmit infection to health care workers, exacerbating staff shortages.”