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In dramatic reversal, few nursing home residents ending up hospitalized for COVID-19, UPMC doctor says

Patriot-News - 12/21/2021

Nursing home residents comprise only about 1% of COVID-19 patients at UPMC hospitals in central Pennsylvania, an infectious disease specialist said. That’s a stark change from the first half of the pandemic and before COVID-19 vaccine.

“In 2020, almost all of our patients were coming from nursing homes,” Dr. John Goldman said.

Goldman sees it as another powerful argument in favor of COVID-19 vaccine, which he says continues to protect all but the very oldest and most vulnerable from severe illness and death.

As of Friday, UPMC’s seven hospitals in central Pennsylvania were caring for 248 COVID-19 patients, virtually the same as during last winter’s peak, Goldman said.

Goldman said only 22 of the patients, or 9%, were fully vaccinated. He further said unvaccinated people are accounting for about 90% of intensive care cases and 95% of deaths.

Moreover, he said the typical person presently hospitalized for COVID-19 within UPMC is between the ages of 40 and 64.

“What we’re seeing is a change in the epidemiology from older, medically-ill nursing home patients to relatively young people who consider themselves to be healthy,” he said.

Goldman said an unvaccinated 50-64-year-old has a higher risk of death than a vaccinated 80-year-old.

Meanwhile, unvaccinated people continue to account for the vast majority of COVID-19 patients at central Pennsylvania hospitals.

At Penn State Health, 75% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are less than fully vaccinated, according to numbers updated this week. That’s down slightly from a week earlier, when unvaccinated patients accounted for 79% of the patients.

As of Monday, 168 adults and three children were hospitalized with COVID-19 within Penn State Health’s four hospitals. That’s up from 161 adults and three children a week earlier.

Of the 151 whose vaccination status is known, 114 weren’t fully vaccinated. Beyond that, 82% of the 33 patients receiving intensive care weren’t fully vaccinated, along with 75% of the 20 patients on breathing ventilators.

None of the hospitalized children were in intensive care or on ventilators.

The data comes from a Penn State Health public dashboard which is updated three times per week, but includes no information about ages of patients.

At York-based WellSpan Health, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations fell to 430 as of Monday after reaching 476 on Friday. Still, the number hospitalized on Monday matched the high of last year’s peak, which came exactly one year ago Monday.

As of Tuesday, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital was caring for 114 COVID-19 patients, down from 119 a week earlier. Seventy-nine percent are unvaccinated, as are 84% of those in intensive care.

As of early Tuesday, Pennsylvania hospitals were caring for 4,527 COVID-19 patients, down from 4,610 on Friday.

©2021 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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