Vast majority of people hospitalized with COVID-19 had not been vaccinated

People hospitalized with COVID-19 now have one overwhelming thing in common. They're not vaccinated. Falling rates of COVID-19 across the U.S. mask the harsh reality that the overwhelming majority of those sick and hospitalized today are unvaccinated. Elizabeth Weise and Aleszu Bajak, USA TODAY YahooNews

In Minnesota, the HealthPartners system has seen a “precipitous decline” in COVID-19 hospitalizations, says Dr. Mark Sannes, an infectious disease physician and senior medical director for the system, which operates nine hospitals and more than 55 clinics. But now, nearly every admitted patient he does see is unvaccinated.

“Less than 1% of our hospitalized COVID patients are vaccinated," he said.

In Ohio, at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, only 2% of the COVID-19 patients admitted in the last month were vaccinated, said Dr. Robert Salata, the hospital's physician-in-chief.

And at Sanford Health, which runs 44 medical centers and more than 200 clinics across the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa, less than 5% of the 1,456 patients admitted with COVID-19 so far this year were fully vaccinated, said spokesperson Angela Dejene.

Falling rates of COVID-19 across the United States mask a harsh reality – the overwhelming majority of those getting sick and being hospitalized today are unvaccinated, while vaccinated patients are becoming rare.

Hospitals in states with the lowest vaccination rates tend to have more COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, according to hospital data collected in the past week by the Department of Health and Human Services and vaccination rates published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wyoming, Missouri, Arkansas and Idaho currently have the highest percentage of COVID-19 patients on average in their ICUs; those states all have vaccinated less than 40% of their population.

Medical centers say there's also an obvious change in the age of their sickest patients, as older people are much more likely to be vaccinated than younger.

"We're all seeing the same thing – when someone does get sick and comes to the hospital, they're much more likely to be young and unvaccinated," said Dr. Robert Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Cathy Bennett, president and CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association, said the picture is the same in her state.

"As COVID vaccinations rolled out across New Jersey, there’s been a major shift in the ages of patients admitted to the hospital," said Bennett. "Unlike last spring, when those 65 and older accounted for the majority of hospitalizations, we’re now seeing more young people hospitalized with COVID."

In Ohio, Salata said the shift should be reassuring, showing the vaccines work.

"It sends a very strong message to the hesitancy people out there because the data speaks for itself," he said.