Here's How Many PA COVID Hospitalizations Are Unvaccinated

PENNSYLVANIA — The vast majority of hospitalizations in Pennsylvania due to COVID-19 are among unvaccinated people, authorities said, as the latest statistics on the spread of the virus were made available from the state Department of Health.

Over the past month, 74 percent of the statewide 4,989 hospitalizations due to the virus were among persons who had not received the shot.

“That means that fully vaccinated people have a greater than three times better chance of staying out of the hospital due to COVID-19,” Acting Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson said in a statement. “Another way to look at it, if you are playing the lottery and there is something you could do to triple your odds of hitting the jackpot, would you do it?”

Some number of breakthrough cases — cases among vaccinated individuals — are inevitable, officials say. No vaccine is 100 percent effective in preventing the virus, but the COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be significantly more effective than the average seasonal flu vaccine, which typically stops about 40 percent of cases.

“From a clinical perspective, we expect to see the number of breakthrough cases go up as more people get vaccinated," Johnson said.

Seeing a comparative rise in vaccinated people getting the virus should not dissuade anyone from receiving their immunization, officials said. Johnson compared it to seatbelt use: As more people began to wear them, the number of people involved in accidents wearing seatbelts inevitably increased — but also, fewer people died in accidents.

"Your chances of dying in a car accident drop dramatically if you wear a seatbelt," she added. "So, too, your chances of dying from COVID-19 drop substantially if you are fully vaccinated."

And it's not just hospitalizations which the vaccine prevents; it's been even more effective at preventing transmission in the general population. Since Jan. 1, 91 percent of all COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania are among unvaccinated or partly vaccinated persons. Just 69,822 vaccinated individuals, out of 771,734 total cases, caught the virus.

Similarly, 93 percent of hospitalizations, as well as 93 percent of deaths, due to COVID-19 in that same time period were unvaccinated or partly vaccinated individuals.

Pennsylvania officials say this data is consistent with that's being seen on the national level. Health experts reiterated their call for eligible people to receive their booster shot of the vaccine. A total of 69.4 percent of all adult Pennsylvanians are vaccinated.

The state remains at a relatively high transmission rate, with a positivity rate of 9.6 percent over the most recently tracked seven-day period ending Oct. 7.