Unvaccinated elderly who die at highest risk of needing ICU care and die of Covid-19, Health News & Top Stories

Singapore-Unvaccinated seniors need intensive care unit (ICU) treatment and are at greatest risk of dying from Covid-19 infection, renewed by mulch on Saturday (October 2) Said Health Minister Onyekun. A ministry task force working on a coronavirus pandemic.

On, along with health services director Kenneth Mack, urged unvaccinated people, especially the elderly, to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

Of all Covid-19 cases that occurred in Singapore, 0.2% of patients needed ICU care and 0.1% were infected with the virus, said On, co-chair of the Task Force.

But digging deeper into these numbers, On pointed out that unvaccinated individuals are disproportionate to ICU care and mortality numbers.

Specifically, unvaccinated people are 14 times more likely to require ICU care or die than vaccinated people.

Within this group, unvaccinated elderly people are at greatest risk of needing or dying from the ICU.

“Therefore, it is very important for unvaccinated elderly people to get your vaccine,” he said. “And this is also why we are doing our best through our mobile and home vaccination teams to immunize as many older people as possible.”

He said the number of unvaccinated older people is now less than 80,000, down from 200,000 a few months ago.

He said the home vaccination team vaccinated more than 8,000 elderly people who were immobile and at home. They will give these older people a second dose this month, followed by booster shots.

“In the last two weeks, the proportion of all unvaccinated older people has decreased somewhat,” said On, adding that the proportion is currently in the range of 0.7% to 1.2%.

“It is very important that the unvaccinated elderly continue to reduce your social activity and your movements, and that the family takes care of them so that you do not inadvertently bring the virus to them.” He said.

Meanwhile, vaccinated older people have a much lower risk of serious illness if they have a breakthrough Covid-19 infection, he added.

Associate Professor Mack states that the majority of 98% of patients currently diagnosed with Covid-19 are asymptomatic or very mild.

Due to the high vaccination rate of the population, he said, these patients can safely self-isolate and recover at home. About 56% of all patients are recovering at home.

“We believe we are likely to be able to offer a home recovery program to more patients in the coming weeks,” he added. However, another 6% of patients cannot self-isolate in their place of residence and need to recover at a community care facility.

An additional 13% of cases consist of people in other environments, such as migrant workers, who can be safely isolated in private facilities such as dormitories.

“This means that about 75 percent of all Covid-19 patients have already recovered from their illness without having to be hospitalized for treatment,” said Professor Mak.

However, about 2% generally require hospital care, including 1.5% of cases that require oxygenation and isolation wards. He added that this usually recovers well and takes 2-5 days before oxygen support is no longer needed.

However, about 0.2% of cases are severe and require ICU care. They may be placed on a ventilator or receive other treatments for organ failure or sepsis, he said. About 0.1% of people infected with Covid-19 have died.

However, Professor Mak also states that older patients are more likely to go to the ICU and die.

From May 1st to last Friday (October 1st), there were no patients under the age of 20 or dead in the ICU. The majority of Covid-19 patients in the ICU were over 60 years of age, but between the ages of 20 and 60, most were completely unvaccinated and some had other medical conditions.

“The group at greatest risk of needing ICU care was the unvaccinated older people over the age of 60,” said Professor Mak. “This represents 14.2 percent of unvaccinated older people over 80 years old, 7.6 percent of older people aged 70-80, and 5.6 percent of older people aged 60-69.”

However, for fully vaccinated people, this figure was only 1.9% for those over 80, 0.7% for 70-80, and 0.1% for 60-69.

“The significant protective effect of vaccination is clear. No one under the age of 50 who was fully vaccinated required admission to the ICU,” he said.

Overall, 1.67% of unvaccinated people needed or died of ICU care, compared to 0.12% of fully vaccinated people.

“So be aware that those who have not yet been vaccinated are at risk of themselves. If they fall into these high-risk groups, they are at risk of dying if they are infected with Covid-19. Yes, get vaccinated. Please go to the center and get vaccinated, “said Professor Mack.

He also added that vaccinated people should not be complacent and should assume that their protection is permanent.

“Get delayed if you are eligible for booster vaccination or if you are in a subgroup of patients who are known to not have a sufficient immune response to the usual double dose regimen. Please do not. I will give you a third vaccination as soon as possible. “