Almost all of the COVID-19 deaths being recorded in America are among people 65 years and older, and a majority did not receive the bivalent booster shot that became available last year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Wednesday that 90% of U.S. COVID-19 deaths from January to August 2023 were among the elderly.
Older people have always been among those that are most at risk from the virus, with the devastating number of nursing home deaths enduring as an early pandemic image. .
The CDC and other health officials have responded by targeting the age group in much of its response to the virus. When vaccines first rolled out in late 2021, Americans over 65 were first in line to get a shot, and vaccine and mask mandates at many nursing homes lasted longer than they did in other settings.
These efforts have largely brought down COVID death and hospitalization rates — yet older Americans are still suffering the worst from the virus.
For the latest numbers, CDC researchers gathered data from 98 counties in 13 states from the first eight months of 2023. They found that 87.9% of people who died of COVID-19 in a hospital over the time period were 65 and older. The same group also made up more than 60% of COVID-19-related hospitalizations and ICU visits.
More than 90% of over-65s that were hospitalized with COVID had at least two comorbidities.
Despite messaging and targeting related to COVID prevention measures from the CDC and other leaders, vaccine uptake among those 65-plus was low last year — and it could have cost lives. The CDC study reports that just 24% of older people who died from COVID-19 so far this year received last year’s bivalent booster.
The same struggles have continued this year, with a recent report finding that just 1% of Americans received the newly approved COVID boosters last month.
According to most recent data, 18,139 COVID hospitalizations were recorded during the final week of September — a 6% week-over-week drop as a late summer surge starts to recede. The virus also was responsible for 2.7% of deaths in the U.S. that week.
