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More than three years after the pandemic began, many Americans are still dying from COVID-19 every week.
For the week ending Dec. 9, the last week of complete data, there were 1,614 deaths from COVID, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The last four weeks of complete data show an average of 1,488 weekly deaths.
For comparison, there were 163 weekly flu deaths during the week ending Dec. 9, according to CDC data.
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While high, those COVID death numbers remain below the peak of 25,974 deaths recorded in the week ending Jan. 9, 2021, as well as weekly deaths seen in previous winters, according to CDC data.
“The current weekly COVID death rate is similar to what we got on a daily basis in the [worst] periods of the pandemic. So, proportionately, fortunately we’re in an absolutely different position than we were,” Dr. Cameron said. “But there’s still a lot of mortality; 1,500 patients dying every week is frankly unacceptable. “
Experts said there are several reasons why people might still be dying from the virus, including not enough people accessing treatments or getting vaccinated as well as waning immunity.
In addition, if more people are sick, even if it is in fewer numbers than in previous waves, this will naturally lead to more hospitalizations and therefore deaths.
“We do have very good vaccines that [researchers] have been able to adjust as the variants have changed and very good treatment options that have been shown to decrease the risk of hospitalization as well as deaths,” Dr. Shivanjali Shankaran, an associate professor of infectious diseases at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, told ABC News.
“However, if we don’t have those specific tools, having them doesn’t make any difference,” Shankaran added.
As of Jan. 5, just 19.4% of adults aged 18 and older and 8% of children have received the updated COVID vaccine, CDC data shows. Additionally, just 38% of adults aged 65 and older, who are at higher risk of severe illness, have been vaccinated.
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The updated vaccine targets variants related to XBB, an offshoot of the omicron variant.
Currently, JN. 1, a descendant of BA. 2. 86, which in turn is descended from XBB, accounts for about 61. 6% of COVID cases in the U. S. According to CDC data.
Although the CDC has suggested that JN. 1 might be more transmissible or better at evading the immune formula than other variants, there is no evidence that the available vaccines do not work.
“The longer a user has gone since their last vaccine, or their most recent infection, the greater the likelihood that their COVID breakthrough will occur and the greater the likelihood that it will be severe enough to end up in the hospital. ” and potentially die, Wolfe said.
Experts said there can be a point of vaccine fatigue and complacency in the population, where other people don’t get the updated vaccine because they don’t feel like they want it after getting the original vaccine and then the next boosters. not the reduction of immunity.
“[Vaccines] don’t retain your memory as effectively as we’d like, so if you were vaccinated less than 12 months ago, your chances of preserving a smart memory through this vaccine are probably pretty low right now,” Wolfe said.
For a person at high risk, this increases the risk of severe illness if infected. For people at low risk, this increases the threat of spreading the virus to groups at higher risk, he added.
Treatments for COVID-19 have evolved since the early days of the pandemic with the availability of Pfizer’s Paxlovid antiviral pills.
Paxlovid is three pills given twice daily for five days for those at high risk of severe illness. Initial clinical trial data showed Pfizer’s pill reduced the risk of hospitalization and death for unvaccinated patients at risk of severe illness who began treatment within three days of symptoms by nearly 90%. More recent studies including omicron strains of the virus and vaccinated patients have upheld similar results showing the treatment cut the risk of hospitalization and death in half.
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It’s an underutilized treatment, and some reports suggest that in some states it’s prescribed in less than 25% of cases, and that may be another explanation for why deaths have increased.
According to experts, several points may be at stake.
“It’s a mix of false impressions about who’s eligible for Paxlovid, a false impression about the effectiveness of Paxlovid, and difficulty getting prescriptions,” Dr. Anna told ABC News. Megan Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health. “Because we know for example, that the use of Paxlovid is much lower in rural areas, as well as among those with a lower level of education, so I suspect that for Paxlovid there is also this kind of element of access. “
Doctors may also be hesitant to prescribe Paxlovid due to considerations about how the drug interacts with other prescribed medications or even due to cases of other people experiencing Paxlovid rebound, which is a recurrence of COVID symptoms.
“The knowledge of rebound is still being studied, but what is clear is that if you rebound with Paxlovid, you are sure to decrease the risk of hospitalization and death,” Ranney said.
Another explanation for this accumulation is the fact that, according to experts, more people are in poor health, which naturally means more hospitalizations and more deaths.
“It’s nothing obviously like the omicron wave where we had just millions and millions of people getting sick, and because of that many more people going to the hospital and dying, but yeah, as the total number of people who are infected increases, then you are going to have a similar increase in the number of people who need hospitalization,” Shankaran said.
For the elderly or immunocompromised, even a mild case of COVID-19 can lead to severe illness or even death.
Experts said the message to the public is the same as in earlier stages of the pandemic and advise Americans to be diligent.
“The message is to be aware of your own risk factors, be aware of your own symptoms, recognize that vaccines provide protection, not only against getting sick but severity of sickness,” Wolfe said. “That’s the same message that we try and send for flu and RSV each year, it’s no different.”
Why are 1,500 Americans still dying from COVID every week?It originally gave the impression in abcnews. go. com