COVID vaccines saved lives of 1,800 Ohio seniors in early 2021
Vaccinations against COVID-19 prevented the deaths of 1,800 Ohio seniors and stopped the disease from spreading to thousands more of the state's elderly residents, a new federal study found.
From January through May of this year, the study found that vaccinations may have prevented 12,000 cases and 5,300 hospitalizations among Ohio seniors.
Ohio has suffered more than 1.4 million COVID-19 infections, 74,283 hospitalizations and 22,490 deaths since the pandemic began in March 2020. More than 6.3 million Ohioans, or 54% of the state's population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
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'Vaccines save lives'
“This report further puts numbers to something I have long said – vaccines save lives,” Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said in a prepared statement. “...The remarkable COVID-19 vaccines can help prevent severe illness and death from COVID-19, and will prevent dangerous variants from taking hold.”
Older people have long been thought to be more vulnerable to COVID-19 and data from the first 18 months of the pandemic shows that to be true.
So far, 91% of deaths have occurred in Ohioans age 60 or older, according to the state. A total of 10,871, or 48% of deaths, occurred in Ohioans age 80 and over.
How mortality data helped elderly Ohioans get vaccinated
Mortality data alone may have led more elderly Ohioans to get vaccinated against the virus. More than 80% of Ohioans age 65 and older have received at least a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state.
To protect vulnerable seniors, the state largely closed long-term care facilities to outside visitors early on in the pandemic. When COVID-19 vaccines first became available in the U.S, residents and workers at long-term care facilities were some of the first approved for the shots.
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“Our vaccination goals have remained consistent: save lives and slow the spread by protecting Ohio’s most vulnerable individuals,” Ursel McElroy, director of the Ohio Department of Aging said in a prepared statement.
Nationally, the federal study found vaccinations were linked to a reduction of approximately 265,000 COVID-19 infections, 107,000 hospitalizations, and 39,000 deaths among Medicare beneficiaries between January and May.
As of Wednesday, more than 215 million Americans, or 65% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This report reaffirms what we hear routinely from states: COVID-19 vaccines save lives, prevent hospitalizations, and reduce infection,” Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release. “The Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized getting vaccines quickly to pharmacies, nursing homes, doctors’ offices and even provided increased reimbursement rates for at-home COVID-19 vaccinations, so that seniors and others can easily get vaccinated.”