Australia'n report finds unvaccinated 16 times more likely to die from COVID-19

Australia's NSW says unvaccinated 16 times more likely to die from COVID-19 Unvaccinated people are 16 times more likely to end up in intensive care units or die from COVID-19, Australia's New South Wales state said in a report, with officials urging people to get inoculated as Australia begins to live with the coronavirus. Reuters Reuters

SYDNEY, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Unvaccinated people are 16 times more likely to end up in intensive care units or die from COVID-19, Australia's New South Wales state said in a report, with officials urging people to get inoculated as Australia begins to live with the coronavirus.

The data from New South Wales (NSW) health department out late on Monday showed only 11% of people out of 412 who died from the Delta outbreak over four months through early October were fully vaccinated. The average age of those deaths was 82. ...

The report's findings were in line with data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said in September that unvaccinated individuals were 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those who were fully vaccinated.

Australia had stayed largely virus-free this year until an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant that started in June led to months-long lockdown in Sydney, Melbourne, its largest cities, and the national capital of Canberra. ...