Public Health England (PHE) publishes a weekly report called the “Vaccine Surveillance Report”, which is here for the latest week 36.
As Professor Christina Pagel reported in Friday’s Independent Sage presentation, two graphs by age can be produced.
The first graph, at 3min55, shows for the number of hospitalisations:
- Overall, children and adults under 60 are now more likely to need at least one night in hospital than those over 60, as shown in each 10-year age group
- This is fundamentally due to the high proportion of unvaccinated younger people being admitted, reflecting lower vaccine take-up rates in those groups
- Indeed the number of unvaccinated people in each 10-year age range under 40 exceeds the total number for those in each such age range over 60
- It is therefore mainly unvaccinated younger people who are now putting strain on emergency departments
The second graph, at 4min55m, shows
- In every age group, vaccination dramatically reduces the chance of a positive case needing at least one night in hospital
- But vaccination isn’t perfect. There is still a risk of serious illness in every age group
Furthermore:
- The Kings College ZOE study has also found that vaccination also reduces the risk of Long Covid by over a half. The chances of symptoms lasting more than 4 weeks reduces from an average of 11% of people testing positive to 5%. But that is still 1 in 20, so well worth avoiding COVID-19
- As vaccination has also been shown to reduce the chance of symptoms, this reduces chances of hospitalisation and Long Covid further
- Vaccination is also reported as reducing transmission to others, especially the more vulnerable
IN CONCLUSION
It is therefore very important for younger people to be vaccinated:
- For their own short-term and longer-term health
- To avoid transmission to others, especially the more vulnerable
- To reduce strain on the NHS hospitals and Long Covid services, including GPs
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