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data-testid="text-balancer">The Coronavirus</span><span
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<div class="css-gvri2r"><a class="css-12ibmu5"
href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/31/world/covid-19-mandates-vaccine-cases?action=click&pgtype=Article&module=&state=default®ion=header&context=breakout_link_back_to_briefing"
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<h1 class="css-1f2g8uf e1h9rw200"
data-testid="headline">During the Omicron Wave,
Death Rates Soared for Older People</h1>
<p class="css-by6x3t">Last year, people 65 and older
died from Covid at lower rates than in previous
waves. But with Omicron and waning immunity, death
rates rose again.</p>
<div class="css-1qv1km1">
<div class="css-1e2jphy epjyd6m1">
<div class="css-233int epjyd6m0">
<p class="css-4anu6l e1jsehar1"><span
class="byline-prefix">By </span><span
class="css-1baulvz" itemprop="name"><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/benjamin-mueller"
class="css-n8ff4n e1jsehar0"
moz-do-not-send="true">Benjamin Mueller</a></span>
and <span class="css-1baulvz last-byline"
itemprop="name"><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/eleanor-lutz"
class="css-n8ff4n e1jsehar0"
moz-do-not-send="true">Eleanor Lutz</a></span><time
class="css-1z1nqv e16638kd0"
datetime="2022-05-31T12:03:31-04:00"><br>
</time></p>
<p class="css-4anu6l e1jsehar1"><time
class="css-1z1nqv e16638kd0"
datetime="2022-05-31T12:03:31-04:00">May
31, 2022</time></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<section name="articleBody" class="meteredContent
css-1r7ky0e">
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Despite strong
levels of vaccination among older people,
Covid killed them at vastly higher rates
during this winter’s Omicron wave than it did
last year, preying on long delays since their
last shots and the variant’s ability to skirt
immune defenses.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">This winter’s
wave of deaths in older people belied the
Omicron variant’s relative mildness. Almost as
many Americans 65 and older died in four
months of the Omicron surge as did in six
months of the Delta wave, even though the
Delta variant, for any one person, tended to
cause more severe illness.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">While overall per
capita Covid death rates have fallen, older
people still account for an overwhelming share
of them.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“This is not
simply a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” said
Andrew Stokes, an assistant professor in
global health at Boston University who studies
age patterns of Covid deaths. “There’s still
exceptionally high risk among older adults,
even those with primary vaccine series.”</p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<section id="virus-deaths-omicron-wave"
data-id="100000008361627"
data-source-id="100000008361627"
class="interactive-content
interactive-size-scoop css-174j8de">
<header id="interactive-header"
class="css-cl76n0 interactive-header">
<h2 id="interactive-headline"
class="css-1su19vv interactive-headline">The
Omicron Wave Was Deadlier Than Delta for
Older People in the U.S.</h2>
</header>
<div class="css-17ih8de interactive-body"
data-sourceid="100000008361627">
<div class="g-story g-embed g-freebird"
data-preview-slug="2022-05-10-omicron-elderly">
<div role="figure" class="g-asset g-graphic
g-asset-margin" style="max-width: 600px">
<div class="g-key keytype-inline">
<div class="g-key-row">
<div class="g-key-row-item"> <span
class="g-key-rect"
style="background-color:#D9AF82;"></span>
<p class="g-caption">Ages 12-64</p>
</div>
<div class="g-key-row-item"> <span
class="g-key-rect"
style="background-color:#C94227;"></span>
<p class="g-caption">Age 65+</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div id="g-omicron-per-100k-box"
class="ai2html ai2html-responsive
ai2html-resizer">
<div
id="g-omicron-per-100k-Artboard_1"
class="g-artboard" style="min-width:
600px; display: block;"
data-aspect-ratio="1.5"
data-min-width="600"> <img
id="g-omicron-per-100k-Artboard_1-img"
class="g-omicron-per-100k-Artboard_1-img g-aiImg" alt=""
data-src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/2022/05/10/omicron-elderly/719365138e6965811e1f8a42217fc762f6fb68af/omicron-per-100k-Artboard_1.png"
src="cid:part7.79D3D42B.2C199445@ratafias.com">
<div id="g-ai0-1" class="g-Layer_5
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:3%;right:28.1613%;width:90px;">
<p class="g-pstyle0">Omicron</p>
<p class="g-pstyle1">163% of</p>
<p class="g-pstyle1">Delta peak</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-2" class="g-Layer_5
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:73.9678%;left:-0.0007%;width:96px;">
<p class="g-pstyle2">20 deaths</p>
<p class="g-pstyle2">per 100,000</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-3" class="g-Layer_5
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:65.0759%;left:37.8054%;margin-left:-28.5px;width:57px;">
<p class="g-pstyle3">Delta</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-4" class="g-Layer_5
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:42.0686%;left:0.0001%;width:38px;">
<p class="g-pstyle2">10</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-5" class="g-Layer_5
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:18.1873%;right:25.2865%;width:90px;">
<p class="g-pstyle4">Omicron</p>
<p class="g-pstyle5">69% of</p>
<p class="g-pstyle5">Delta peak</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-6" class="g-Layer_5
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:21.2534%;left:37.8053%;margin-left:-28.5px;width:57px;">
<p class="g-pstyle6">Delta</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-7" class="g-Layer_5
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:93%;left:0%;width:82px;">
<p class="g-pstyle2">April 2021</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-8" class="g-Layer_5
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:93%;left:33.3293%;margin-left:-41.5px;width:83px;">
<p class="g-pstyle7">Aug. 2021</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-9" class="g-Layer_5
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:93%;left:75.1507%;margin-left:-40.5px;width:81px;">
<p class="g-pstyle7">Jan. 2022</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<footer id="interactive-footer"
class="css-irejme interactive-footer">
<p data-testid="note" id="interactive-notes"
class="css-8h863p interactive-notes">Note:
Data is weekly and is as of April 2. Chart
includes both fully vaccinated and
unvaccinated people; those who only received
a part of their primary vaccination series
are excluded.</p>
<p data-testid="source"
id="interactive-source" class="css-8h863p
interactive-source">Source: <a
href="https://data.cdc.gov/Public-Health-Surveillance/Rates-of-COVID-19-Cases-or-Deaths-by-Age-Group-and/3rge-nu2a"
moz-do-not-send="true">Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention</a></p>
</footer>
</section>
</div>
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Covid deaths,
though always concentrated in older people,
have in 2022 skewed toward older people more
than they did at any point since vaccines
became widely available.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">That swing in the
pandemic has intensified pressure on the Biden
administration to protect older Americans,
with <a class="css-yywogo"
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/us/politics/cdc-second-booster.html"
title="" moz-do-not-send="true">health
officials</a> in recent weeks encouraging
everyone 50 and older to get a second booster
and <a class="css-yywogo"
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/us/politics/paxlovid-white-house-covid-deaths.html"
title="" moz-do-not-send="true">introducing
new models</a> of distributing antiviral
pills.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In much of the
country, though, the booster campaign remains
listless and disorganized, older people and
their doctors said. Patients, many of whom
struggle to drive or get online, have to
maneuver through an often labyrinthine health
care system to receive potentially lifesaving
antivirals.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Nationwide Covid
deaths in recent weeks have been near the
lowest levels of the pandemic, below an
average of 400 a day. But the mortality gap
between older and younger people has grown:
Middle-aged Americans, who suffered a large
share of pandemic deaths last summer and fall,
are now benefiting from new stores of immune
protection in the population as Covid deaths
once again cluster around older people.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">And the new wave
of Omicron subvariants may create additional
threats: While hospitalizations in younger age
groups have remained relatively low, admission
rates among people 70 and older in the
Northeast have climbed to one-third of the
winter Omicron wave’s towering peak.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“I think we are
going to see the death rates rising,” said Dr.
Sharon Inouye, a geriatrician and a professor
of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “It is
going to become more and more risky for older
adults as their immunity wanes.”</p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<section id="virus-deaths-vaccinations"
data-id="100000008361634"
data-source-id="100000008361634"
class="interactive-content
interactive-size-scoop css-174j8de">
<div class="css-17ih8de interactive-body"
data-sourceid="100000008361634">
<div class="g-story g-embed g-freebird"
data-preview-slug="2022-05-10-omicron-elderly">
<div role="figure" class="g-asset g-graphic
g-asset-margin" style="max-width: 600px">
<div>
<div id="g-omicron_deaths_per_100k-box"
class="ai2html ai2html-responsive
ai2html-resizer">
<div
id="g-omicron_deaths_per_100k-Artboard_1_copy"
class="g-artboard" style="min-width:
600px; display: block;"
data-aspect-ratio="0.882"
data-min-width="600"> <img
id="g-omicron_deaths_per_100k-Artboard_1_copy-img"
class="g-omicron_deaths_per_100k-Artboard_1_copy-img g-aiImg" alt=""
data-src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/2022/05/10/omicron-elderly/719365138e6965811e1f8a42217fc762f6fb68af/omicron_deaths_per_100k-Artboard_1_copy.png"
src="cid:part7.79D3D42B.2C199445@ratafias.com">
<div id="g-ai0-1" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:95.7264%;left:0%;width:308px;">
<p class="g-pstyle0">Covid-19
Death Rates for People Age 65+</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-2" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:5.2941%;left:68.5299%;width:116px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1">Unvaccinated</p>
<p class="g-pstyle2">156 deaths</p>
<p class="g-pstyle2">per 100,000</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-3" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:81.6554%;left:0%;width:96px;">
<p class="g-pstyle3">100 deaths</p>
<p class="g-pstyle3">per 100,000</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-4" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:69.6904%;left:0.0476%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle4">50</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-5" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:31.0294%;right:43.4681%;width:115px;">
<p class="g-pstyle5">Vaccinated</p>
<p class="g-pstyle6">24 per
100,000</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-6" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:31.0294%;left:63.9144%;width:113px;">
<p class="g-pstyle7">With Booster</p>
<p class="g-pstyle8">7 per 100,000</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-7" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:59.1393%;left:0.0476%;width:31px;">
<p class="g-pstyle4">0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-8" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:43.8235%;left:0%;width:88px;">
<p class="g-pstyle9">Oct. 2021</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-9" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:43.8235%;left:51.8262%;margin-left:-43.5px;width:87px;">
<p class="g-pstyle10">Jan. 2022</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-10" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:43.8235%;right:0.1139%;width:89px;">
<p class="g-pstyle11">April 2022</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-11" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:47.579%;left:-0.0113%;width:281px;">
<p class="g-pstyle0">Vaccination
Rates for People Age 65+</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-12" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:43.6776%;left:-0.0001%;width:115px;">
<p class="g-pstyle3">100% of
people</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-13" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:58.5706%;margin-top:-8.3px;right:0.8672%;width:116px;">
<p class="g-pstyle12">Unvaccinated</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-14" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:36.3245%;left:0.0475%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle4"><span
class="g-cstyle0">8</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-15" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:66.3647%;margin-top:-8.3px;right:0.8192%;width:99px;">
<p class="g-pstyle5">Vaccinated</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-16" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:28.9716%;left:0.0475%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle4"><span
class="g-cstyle0">6</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-17" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:21.6187%;left:0.0475%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle4"><span
class="g-cstyle0">4</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-18" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:82.6883%;margin-top:-8.3px;right:0.8727%;width:113px;">
<p class="g-pstyle13">With Booster</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-19" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:14.2657%;left:0.0475%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle4"><span
class="g-cstyle0">2</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-20" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:95.4412%;left:0%;width:88px;">
<p class="g-pstyle9">Oct. 2021</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-21" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:95.4412%;left:51.8261%;margin-left:-43.5px;width:87px;">
<p class="g-pstyle10">Jan. 2022</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-22" class="g-Layer_3
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:95.4412%;right:0.1139%;width:89px;">
<p class="g-pstyle11">April 2022</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<footer id="interactive-footer"
class="css-irejme interactive-footer">
<p data-testid="note" id="interactive-notes"
class="css-8h863p interactive-notes">Note:
People who did not complete their primary
vaccination series are excluded. Booster
doses include additional doses given to
immunocompromised people, a group for which
vaccines can be less effective. Data is
weekly.</p>
<p data-testid="source"
id="interactive-source" class="css-8h863p
interactive-source">Source: <a
href="https://data.cdc.gov/Public-Health-Surveillance/Rates-of-COVID-19-Cases-or-Deaths-by-Age-Group-and/d6p8-wqjm"
moz-do-not-send="true">C.D.C.</a></p>
</footer>
</section>
</div>
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Harold Thomas
Jr., 70, of Knoxville, Tenn., is one of many
older Americans whose immunity may be waning
because he has not received a booster shot.
The Covid States Project, an academic group, <a
class="css-yywogo"
href="https://www.covidstates.org/reports/unvaccinated-older-americans"
title="" rel="noopener noreferrer"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">recently
estimated</a> that among people 65 and
older, 13 percent are unvaccinated, 3 percent
have a single Moderna or Pfizer shot and
another 14 percent are vaccinated but not
boosted.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">When vaccines
first arrived, Mr. Thomas said, the state
health department made getting them
“convenient” by administering shots at his
apartment community for older people. But he
did not know of any such effort for booster
doses. On the contrary, he remembered a state
official publicly casting doubt on boosters as
they became available.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The government
wasn’t sure about the booster shot,” he said.
“If they weren’t sure about it, and they’re
the ones who put it out, why would I take it?”
Mr. Thomas said Covid recently killed a former
boss of his and hospitalized an older family
friend.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Deaths have
fallen from the heights of the winter wave in
part because of growing levels of immunity
from past infections, experts said. For older
people, there is also a grimmer reason: So
many of the most fragile Americans were killed
by Covid over the winter that the virus now
has fewer targets in that age group.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But scientists
warned that many older Americans remained
susceptible. To protect them, geriatricians
called on nursing homes to organize in-home
vaccinations or mandate additional shots.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the longer
term, scientists said that policymakers needed
to address the economic and medical ills that
have affected especially nonwhite older
Americans, lest Covid continue cutting so many
of their lives short.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“I don’t think we
should treat the premature death of older
adults as a means of ending the pandemic,” Dr.
Stokes said. “There are still plenty of
susceptible older adults — living with
comorbid conditions or living in
multigenerational households — who are highly
vulnerable.”</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The pattern of
Covid deaths this year has recreated the
dynamics from 2020 — before vaccines were
introduced, when the virus killed older
Americans at markedly higher rates. Early in
the pandemic, mortality rates steadily climbed
with each extra year of age, Dr. Stokes and
his collaborators found in a <a
class="css-yywogo"
href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2792375?resultClick=3"
title="" rel="noopener noreferrer"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">recent
study</a>.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">That changed last
summer and fall, during the Delta surge. Older
people were getting vaccinated more quickly
than other groups: By <a class="css-yywogo"
href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/11/11/stunning-vaccine-stat-985-of-us-seniors-have-had-shot/?sh=25f582615777"
title="" rel="noopener noreferrer"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">November</a>,
the vaccination rate in Americans 65 and older
was roughly 20 percentage points higher than
that of those in their 40s. And critically,
those older Americans had received vaccines
relatively recently, leaving them with strong
levels of residual protection.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As a result,
older people suffered from Covid at lower
rates than they had been before vaccines
became available. Among people 85 and older,
the death rate last fall was roughly 75
percent lower than it had been in the winter
of 2020, Dr. Stokes’s recent study found.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">At the same time,
the virus walloped younger and less vaccinated
Americans, many of whom were also returning to
in-person work. Death rates for white people
in their late 30s more than tripled last fall
compared to the previous winter. Death rates
for Black people in the same age group more
than doubled.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The rebalancing
of Covid deaths was so pronounced that, among
Americans 80 and older, overall deaths
returned to prepandemic levels in 2021,
according to a <a class="css-yywogo"
href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.23.22271380v1.full.pdf"
title="" rel="noopener noreferrer"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">study
posted online</a> in February. The opposite
was true for middle-aged Americans: Life
expectancy in that group, which had already
dropped more than it had among the same age
range in Europe, fell even further in 2021.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“In 2021, you see
the mortality impact of the pandemic shift
younger,” said Ridhi Kashyap, a lead author of
that study and a demographer at the University
of Oxford.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">By the time the
highly contagious Omicron variant took over,
researchers said, more older Americans had
gone a long time since their last Covid
vaccination, weakening their immune defenses.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As of mid-May,
more than one-quarter of Americans 65 and
older had not had their most recent vaccine
dose within a year. And more than half of
people in that age group had not been given a
shot in the last six months.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The Omicron
variant was better than previous versions of
the virus at evading those already weakening
immune defenses, reducing the effectiveness of
vaccines against infection and more serious
illness. That was especially true for older
people, whose immune systems respond less
aggressively to vaccines in the first place.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<section id="virus-deaths-vaccine-protectiveness"
data-id="100000008361633"
data-source-id="100000008361633"
class="interactive-content
interactive-size-scoop css-174j8de">
<header id="interactive-header"
class="css-cl76n0 interactive-header">
<h2 id="interactive-headline"
class="css-1su19vv interactive-headline">Vaccine
Effectiveness Against Hospitalization</h2>
</header>
<div class="css-17ih8de interactive-body"
data-sourceid="100000008361633">
<div class="g-story g-embed g-freebird"
data-preview-slug="2022-05-10-omicron-elderly">
<div role="figure" class="g-asset g-graphic
g-asset-margin" style="max-width: 600px">
<div class="g-key keytype-inline">
<div class="g-key-row">
<div class="g-key-row-item"> <span
class="g-key-rect"
style="background-color:#CCDBA3;"></span>
<p class="g-caption">Two doses</p>
</div>
<div class="g-key-row-item"> <span
class="g-key-rect"
style="background-color:#739F5C;"></span>
<p class="g-caption">Three doses</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div id="g-vaccine-effectiveness-box"
class="ai2html ai2html-responsive
ai2html-resizer">
<div
id="g-vaccine-effectiveness-Artboard_1"
class="g-artboard" style="min-width:
600px; display: block;"
data-aspect-ratio="1.2"
data-min-width="600"> <img
id="g-vaccine-effectiveness-Artboard_1-img"
class="g-vaccine-effectiveness-Artboard_1-img g-aiImg" alt=""
data-src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/2022/05/10/omicron-elderly/719365138e6965811e1f8a42217fc762f6fb68af/vaccine-effectiveness-Artboard_1.png"
src="cid:part7.79D3D42B.2C199445@ratafias.com">
<div id="g-ai0-1" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:94.4837%;left:0.0113%;width:166px;">
<p class="g-pstyle0">During Delta
Wave</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-2" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:94.4837%;left:51.6095%;width:189px;">
<p class="g-pstyle0">During
Omicron Wave</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-3" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:84.9639%;left:-0.0001%;width:199px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle0">1</span><span
class="g-cstyle1">0</span>0%
vaccine effectiveness</p>
<p class="g-pstyle1">against
hospitalization</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-4" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:84.9639%;left:51.5981%;width:199px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle0">1</span><span
class="g-cstyle1">0</span>0%
vaccine effectiveness</p>
<p class="g-pstyle1">against
hospitalization</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-5" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:70.3179%;left:0.0476%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle2">8</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-6" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:70.3179%;left:51.6458%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle2">8</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-7" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:56.7434%;left:0.0476%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle2">6</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-8" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:56.7434%;left:51.6458%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle2">6</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-9" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:43.1504%;left:0.0476%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle3">4</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-10" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:43.1504%;left:51.6458%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle3">4</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-11" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:29.576%;left:0%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle4">2</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-12" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:29.576%;left:51.5981%;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle4">2</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-13" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:16.0291%;left:0%;width:31px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1">0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-14" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:16.0291%;left:51.5981%;width:31px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1">0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-15" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:87%;left:7.9648%;margin-left:-54.5px;width:109px;">
<p class="g-pstyle2">Less than 2</p>
<p class="g-pstyle2">months since</p>
<p class="g-pstyle2">last dose</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-16" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:87%;left:19.6428%;margin-left:-24px;width:48px;">
<p class="g-pstyle3">2–3</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-17" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:87%;left:31.4341%;margin-left:-15.5px;width:31px;">
<p class="g-pstyle4">4</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-18" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:87%;left:43.1894%;margin-left:-20px;width:40px;">
<p class="g-pstyle3">5+</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-19" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:87%;left:59.5632%;margin-left:-54.5px;width:109px;">
<p class="g-pstyle2">Less than 2</p>
<p class="g-pstyle2">months since</p>
<p class="g-pstyle2">last dose</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-20" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:87%;left:71.241%;margin-left:-24px;width:48px;">
<p class="g-pstyle3">2–3</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-21" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:87%;left:83.0322%;margin-left:-15.5px;width:31px;">
<p class="g-pstyle4">4</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-22" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:87%;left:94.7876%;margin-left:-20px;width:40px;">
<p class="g-pstyle3">5+</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<footer id="interactive-footer"
class="css-irejme interactive-footer">
<p data-testid="note" id="interactive-notes"
class="css-8h863p interactive-notes">Notes:
Data for people with a third dose is not
available for all time periods. People who
received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine or
received more than three doses are excluded.
Hospitalizations include people with a
confirmed Covid-19 diagnosis who had
Covid-related symptoms such as respiratory
illness, fever or vomiting. Third doses
include third primary doses given to
immunocompromised people, a group for which
vaccines can be less effective.</p>
<p data-testid="source"
id="interactive-source" class="css-8h863p
interactive-source">Source: <a
href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7107e2.htm"
moz-do-not-send="true">C.D.C.</a></p>
</footer>
</section>
</div>
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">For some people,
even three vaccine doses appear to become less
protective over time against Omicron-related
hospital admissions. A study <a
class="css-yywogo"
href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(22)00170-9/fulltext"
title="" rel="noopener noreferrer"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">published
recently in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine</a>
found that trend held for people with weakened
immune systems, a category that older
Americans were likelier to fall into. Sara
Tartof, the study’s lead author and an
epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente in
Southern California, said that roughly 9
percent of people 65 and older in the study
were immunocompromised, compared with 2.5
percent of adults under 50.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">During the
Omicron wave, Covid death rates were once
again dramatically higher for older Americans
than younger ones, Dr. Stokes said. Older
people also made up an overwhelming share of
the excess deaths — the difference between the
number of people who actually died and the
number who would have been expected to die if
the pandemic had never happened.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr. Jeremy Faust,
an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s
Hospital in Boston, found in a <a
class="css-yywogo"
href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2792738?guestAccessKey=06de6afa-b2b3-4b35-bf84-1481a93d38d4"
title="" rel="noopener noreferrer"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">recent
study</a> that excess deaths were more
heavily concentrated in people 65 and older
during the Omicron wave than the Delta surge.
Overall, the study found, there were more
excess deaths in Massachusetts during the
first eight weeks of Omicron than during the
23-week period when Delta dominated.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As older people
began dying at higher rates, Covid deaths also
came to include higher proportions of
vaccinated people. In March, about 40 percent
of the people who died from Covid were
vaccinated, according to an analysis of
figures from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Fewer older
Americans have also been infected during the
pandemic than younger people, leading to lower
levels of natural immunity. As of February,
roughly one-third of people 65 and older
showed evidence of prior infections, compared
with about two-thirds of adults under 50.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<section id="virus-deaths-antibodies"
data-id="100000008361629"
data-source-id="100000008361629"
class="interactive-content
interactive-size-scoop css-174j8de">
<header id="interactive-header"
class="css-cl76n0 interactive-header">
<h2 id="interactive-headline"
class="css-1su19vv interactive-headline">Estimated
Share of People in the U.S. With Antibodies
From Covid-19 Infection</h2>
</header>
<div class="css-17ih8de interactive-body"
data-sourceid="100000008361629">
<div class="g-story g-embed g-freebird"
data-preview-slug="2022-05-10-omicron-elderly">
<div role="figure" class="g-asset g-graphic
g-asset-margin" style="max-width: 600px">
<div>
<div id="g-seroprevalence-box"
class="ai2html ai2html-responsive
ai2html-resizer">
<div id="g-seroprevalence-Artboard_1"
class="g-artboard" style="min-width:
600px; display: block;"
data-aspect-ratio="3.333"
data-min-width="600"> <img
id="g-seroprevalence-Artboard_1-img"
class="g-seroprevalence-Artboard_1-img g-aiImg" alt=""
data-src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/2022/05/10/omicron-elderly/719365138e6965811e1f8a42217fc762f6fb68af/seroprevalence-Artboard_1.png"
src="cid:part7.79D3D42B.2C199445@ratafias.com">
<div id="g-ai0-1" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:84.4054%;left:0%;width:43px;">
<p class="g-pstyle0">0%</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-2" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:84.4054%;left:40.0048%;margin-left:-19.5px;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle0">4</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-3" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:84.4054%;left:60.0264%;margin-left:-19.5px;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle1">6</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-4" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:84.4054%;left:80.0133%;margin-left:-19.5px;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle1">8</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-5" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:84.4054%;right:0.0783%;width:47px;">
<p class="g-pstyle2"><span
class="g-cstyle2">1</span>0<span
class="g-cstyle3">0</span></p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-6" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="bottom:84.4054%;left:20.0466%;margin-left:-19.5px;width:39px;">
<p class="g-pstyle1"><span
class="g-cstyle4">2</span>0</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-7" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:29.0264%;margin-top:-8.2px;left:76.9487%;width:118px;">
<p class="g-pstyle3"><span
class="g-cstyle5">0</span><span
class="g-cstyle6">–</span><span
class="g-cstyle7">1</span>1
years old</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-8" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:41.2486%;margin-top:-8.2px;left:75.9403%;width:62px;">
<p class="g-pstyle4"><span
class="g-cstyle8">1</span>2<span
class="g-cstyle6">–</span><span
class="g-cstyle9">1</span><span
class="g-cstyle3">7</span></p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-9" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:54.582%;margin-top:-8.2px;left:65.3877%;width:65px;">
<p class="g-pstyle5"><span
class="g-cstyle10">1</span>8<span
class="g-cstyle11">–</span><span
class="g-cstyle12">4</span><span
class="g-cstyle3">9</span></p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-10" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:67.3598%;margin-top:-8.2px;left:51.6667%;width:66px;">
<p class="g-pstyle6">5<span
class="g-cstyle5">0</span><span
class="g-cstyle13">–</span><span
class="g-cstyle14">6</span>4</p>
</div>
<div id="g-ai0-11" class="g-Layer_1
g-aiAbs g-aiPointText"
style="top:79.0264%;margin-top:-8.2px;left:34.9575%;width:48px;">
<p class="g-pstyle7">65+</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<footer id="interactive-footer"
class="css-irejme interactive-footer">
<p data-testid="note" id="interactive-notes"
class="css-8h863p interactive-notes">Note:
Data is as of February 2022.</p>
<p data-testid="source"
id="interactive-source" class="css-8h863p
interactive-source">Source: <a
href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm?s%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94cid=mm7117e3%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%94w"
moz-do-not-send="true">C.D.C.</a></p>
</footer>
</section>
</div>
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Long-ago Covid
cases do not prevent future infections, but
reinfected people are less likely to become
seriously ill.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">A drop-off in
Covid precautions this winter, combined with
the high transmissibility of Omicron, left
older people more exposed, scientists said. It
is unclear how their own behavior may have
changed. An <a class="css-yywogo"
href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.18.22269479v1.full.pdf"
title="" rel="noopener noreferrer"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">earlier
study</a>, from scientists at Marquette
University, suggested that while older people
in Wisconsin had once been wearing masks at
rates higher than those of younger people,
that gap had effectively disappeared by
mid-2021.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Antiviral pills
are now being <a class="css-yywogo"
href="https://endpts.com/us-sees-spike-in-paxlovid-usage-as-mercks-molnupiravir-and-astrazenecas-evusheld-are-slower-off-the-shelf/"
title="" rel="noopener noreferrer"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">administered
in greater numbers</a>, but it is difficult
to know who is benefiting from them.
Scientists said that the wintertime spike in
Covid death rates among older Americans
demanded a more urgent policy response.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr. Inouye, of
Harvard Medical School, said she had waited
for a notice from her mother’s assisted living
facility about the rollout of second booster
shots even as reports started arriving of
staff members becoming infected. But still,
the facility’s director said that a second
booster shot drive was impossible without
state guidance.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Eventually, her
family had to arrange a trip to a pharmacy on
their own for a second booster.</p>
<p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“It just seems
that now the onus is put completely on the
individual,” she said. “It’s not like it’s
made easy for you.”</p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
</article>
</div>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it
in a way that will lead others to join you."
― Ruth Bader Ginsburg </pre>
</div>
</body>
</html>