The rapid deployment of Covid-19 vaccines in the U.S. is starting to work, according to an analysis by the Financial Times of official data showing that the number of deaths and hospital admissions is falling faster among older people than in the wider population.
The US oversaw one of the fastest vaccination programs in the world, which administered more doses than any other country and vaccinated a large portion of the population.
Elderly people and those in nursing homes were first in line for vaccinations, leading to a rapid decline in Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths among these groups over the past few weeks. The decline in these groups was faster than in the rest of the population, which has also had a broad decline since the winter peak.
Tom Frieden, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said: “Vaccinations have saved thousands of lives in the United States. Rapid decrease in the number of deaths and the number of deaths among nursing homes is the direct result of the rescue of vaccines. ”
The U.S. has suffered more from overall deaths than any other Covid-19 country, with more than 500,000 deaths. But it has also proved more successful with the vaccination of a large number of people, who have now administered almost 33 doses per 100 people.
The first groups to be vaccinated were health workers and those working in nursing homes, who began vaccinating in December, once the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration approved the first vaccine.
The U.S. has suffered more from overall deaths than any other Covid-19 country, with more than 500,000 deaths. But it has also been shown to be more successful with the vaccination of a large number of people, who have now administered almost 33 doses per 100 people © Octavio Jones / Getty Images
In the first month of implementation, an estimated 78 percent of nursing home residents were vaccinated, according to the CDC. Since then, the number, according to those working in the sector, has continued to rise, saying they think almost all residents in many homes have now received at least one shot.
Government data shows that cases and deaths among residents of nursing homes began to fall about a week after the commencement of entry into force, although both cases and deaths continue to climb across the country as a whole.
In the next two months to the end of February, cases among nursing home residents fell by 96 percent, while deaths fell by 87 percent.
During the same period, cases among people aged 18-54, the least likely group to be vaccinated, fell by 72 percent, while deaths fell by 80 percent.
Ruth Katz, senior vice president of policy at LeadingAge, which represents care centers across the country, said: ‘The safest place in the country to date to be Covid-19 is a nursing home. Many homes have the vaccinations among their residents in the 90 percent [per cent range]. ”
Older people in general have also experienced a stronger decline in Covid-19 cases and deaths, with most states offering the vaccine to all 65-year-olds earlier this year. The CDC changed its guidelines in mid-January to encourage states to offer the vaccine to all 65-year-olds and those with underlying conditions, although many states have already begun doing so.
A vaccination site in Inglewood, California as people with pre-existing health conditions gain access to a vaccination | © Mike Blake / Reuters
Government data show that hospitalizations have fallen by 90 percent among people aged 85 and older since the winter peak, significantly more than the drop of 72 percent among people aged 18-49. The gap began to open in the weeks after the vaccination began.
The recent decline in the Covid-19 rate among older Americans is not only faster than among younger people, it is also faster than seen in the wake of the country’s second wave in August, a sign of the impact of the vaccines.
Evidence of the US ‘vaccine effect’ follows similar data from European countries and Israel showing that coronavirus rates are falling faster among vaccinated groups than non-vaccinated ones.
In the UK, cases among those over 80 are down 95 per cent, while deaths in that age group have fallen by 93 per cent. Among people aged 18 to 69, cases decreased slightly less, by 91 percent, while deaths fell by 87 percent.
Israel has now administered more than 100 doses per 100 people and vaccinated the vast majority of its elderly population. Almost no Covid restrictions apply, and infections amount to 3 percent of those tested.
In the US, many states are now increasing their eligibility for vaccines, and as a result, cases, hospitalizations and deaths have begun to fall faster among younger people, narrowing the gap with older age groups.
Leana Wen, a professor of public health at George Washington University, said: “Many states are now opening cases because there were so many different categories of eligible people that it was slowing things down.”
But even if the rollout continues with an average of nearly 2.5 million doses a day, according to Bloomberg data, the political divide over mitigation efforts remains alive.
A server works at a bar in a restaurant in Pearland, Texas. Earlier this month, Texas and Mississippi put an end to all Covid-related restrictions, including mask mandates © Go Nakamura / Bloomberg
Earlier this month, Texas and Mississippi put an end to all Covid-related restrictions, including mask mandates, movements condemned by US President Joe Biden as examples of ‘Neanderthal thinking’.
While business in most places continues to decline, a recent rise in some states has raised concerns that more communicable and potentially deadly variants could be mailed. Rochelle Walensky, head of the CDC, said earlier this week that she expects the B.1.1.7 variant, which tore through the UK this winter, to become the dominant variant in the US by early April.
Despite this, doctors are cautiously optimistic that the continued acceleration of the vaccination program will continue to reduce the number of cases and deaths. Frieden, the former CDC director, said: “Targeted vaccination over the age of 65 is already reducing mortality rates, and I expect this decline to continue.”