More than three years since the first case was reported in the United States, American deaths are still being reported every week due to COVID-19. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the week ending last year on December 9, there were 1,614 reported deaths due to COVID-19. The report for the previous weeks of 2023 showed a figure of 1,488 weekly deaths. By comparison, there were only 163 weekly flu deaths in recent weeks, according to CDC data.
Experts reported that there are many reasons why people could continue to die from the virus, including lack of access to treatment or vaccines and age, which can be a significant challenge against the disease compared to younger patients. The middle-aged and older populations are much more likely to have symptoms, be hospitalized, and die. A CDC report estimated the odds of death at more than 13% in people over 80 years of age, compared to 0.15% in patients 30 years of age and almost 0% in patients under 20 years of age.
Additionally, if more people get sick, even if the number of reports is lower than in previous waves, it can lead to more people being hospitalized and, in turn, can cause death.
A report from the CDC claims, “We have perfect vaccines that [researchers] have been able to adjust as the variants have changed and excellent treatment options that have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death; however if it is not collected Sufficient medications and to be able to use them could not make a difference in that the disease may have fewer people deaths.”
Very few people get vaccinated.
Until January 10, a report was received that only 19.4% of adults over 18 years of age and 8% of children had received the updated COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC report. In addition, only 38% of adults aged 64 and older are at higher risk of becoming seriously ill.
The more time that has passed since your last vaccine or since your most recent infection, the more likely it is that a COVID breakthrough will occur, the more likely it will be severe enough for you to be hospitalized, and the more likely that you will die because it is so necessary the updated vaccine.
Experts reported that there may be vaccine fatigue and complacency with vaccines in the population, as people do not receive the updated vaccine because they do not feel they need it after receiving the original vaccine and subsequent boosters. However, this does not explain the decrease in immunity.
Americans do not have access to treatments.
COVID-19 treatments have evolved since the early days of the pandemic, with antiviral pills available, notably Pfizer’s Paxlovid.
Paxlovid consists of three pills administered twice a day for five days for those at high risk for severe illness. Data from initial clinical trials showed that Pfizer’s pill reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% for unvaccinated patients at risk of severe disease who started treatment within three days of symptoms. More recent studies involving omic strains of the virus and vaccinated patients have confirmed similar results, showing that treatment reduces the risk of hospitalization and death by half.
It has been a relatively underused treatment, and some reports suggest that in some other states, it is prescribed in less than 25% of cases and may be another reason why deaths have increased.
Doctors may also be hesitant to prescribe Paxlovid due to concerns about how the drug interacts with other prescribed medications or even cases of people experiencing a Paxlovid rebound, which is a recurrence of COVID symptoms.
These are some of the reasons why people continue to suffer and remain hospitalized to the point of dying from COVID-19; we must always take these reasons into account to avoid more deaths and take the necessary medications.
