Amazing figures show that Covid-infected people without a vaccine are as likely as anyone to get in intensive care.
And the difference that vaccination makes to the chance of needing intensive care is starkest among older people – who are more likely to suffer serious Covid illness in the first place.
The Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, which includes units across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, has shown that admissions for Covid-sufferers with double-jabbeds in their 60s between May and November was only 0.6 per 100,000.
But among people of the same age who remained unvaccinated, the rate was 37.3 per 100,000 per week – equating to a relative risk about 60 times higher.
Startling statistics reveal that Covid-infected people without a vaccine are 60 percent more likely to be admitted to intensive care than their jabbed counterparts.
There was almost a 30 fold difference between weekly admissions rates for those aged 50-70 in the average of the unvaccinated and those who were vaccinated.
In younger age groups the difference was lower but still marked – unvaccinated people in their 30s and 40s were between ten and 15 times more likely to end up in intensive care with Covid than those who had received their jabs.
Last night an intensive care consultant in London said the unvaccinated were putting ‘extra pressure’ on intensive care units (ICUs), which also care for people with a wide range of problems from accidents to medical emergencies.
The doctor, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘Their presence puts extra pressure on our service. These people would have been enjoying Christmas if they had not been jabbed.
‘The worry is more unvaccinated with Omicron coming through our doors.’
Even though people who have forsaken the jab make up only seven per cent of the country’s adult population, they are now responsible for the lion’s share of Covid admissions to ICUs.
A separate survey conducted by the Intensive Care Society revealed that approximately two-thirds (or more) of Covid patients had not been vaccinated in at least 12 out of the 16 ICUs it surveyed.
At present, between 25 and 30 per cent of some 800 intensive care beds in London’s hospitals are filled by Covid patients, which is thought to be slightly higher than the national average.
Last week Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged unvaccinated people to ‘think about the damage that they are doing to society’.
Last week Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged unvaccinated people to ‘think about the damage that they are doing to society’
He told Sky News: ‘They take up hospital beds that could have been used for someone with maybe a heart problem, or maybe someone who’s waiting for surgery. But instead of protecting themselves and protecting the community, they choose not to get vaccinated.’
The consultant said despite Omicron being less likely on average to cause serious illness than Delta, there was nothing ‘mild’ about it for those who did need hospital treatment.
‘Those who end up in hospital after catching the variant are ‘quite unwell and many need oxygen continuously through a mask’, he said.
‘People should know that having to be admitted to hospital with Omicron means they are seriously ill,’ he added ‘These people are quite sick and some of them have reached intensive care.
‘But even being on a general ward with this mutation requires a lot of treatment to get people better again. They are likely to stay in hospital for at least a few weeks.
‘So my message to anyone who thinks it’s not worth getting vaccinated or is not fully protected, is to get jabbed because you could be one of those who ends up spending weeks in hospital.’