FILE – Dr. Manjul Shukla transfers Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe: Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, at a mobile vaccination clinic in Worcester, Mass. Pfizer said Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may protect against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File) AP State data reveals COVID-19 death rates highest in Ohio’s less vaccinated counties. (DO YOUR OWN RESEACH OF THIS STATEMENT.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Coronavirus data compiled by the Ohio Department of Health shows a clear connection between the lack of vaccinations and higher death rates. In counties across Ohio where the vaccination rate was below the state’s rate, the chances of death from COVID-19 were significantly higher – nearly double in some instances. Rates for hospitalization among the unvaccinated were also higher. Health experts say the data reinforces the need for people to get vaccinated against COVID. State health officials crunched their data several ways, looking at numbers for population groups of 18 and older, 30 and older and 40 and older. In each case, hospitalization rates were 35% to 40% higher in counties with vaccination rates below the state’s, which was 58.38%, as of Tuesday. The gap for deaths was even greater. The chances of a coronavirus death in counties below the statewide vaccination rate ranged from 74% to 94% higher.
Among people aged 40 and older, counties with higher vaccination rates averaged 447 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, while those below the state rate saw 624 hospitalizations per 100,000. Between April 1 and Nov. 28 – a period when vaccines were widely available — 88 per 100,000 residents died of COVID in counties with higher vaccination rates among people aged 40 or older. Death rates in counties below the state vaccination rate were nearly double — 166 deaths per 100,000.
In cases where vaccination status was clearly known, the deaths of 12,372 unvaccinated Ohioans were attributed to COVID-19 between Jan. 1 to Dec. 1. There were just 524 COVID deaths involving fully vaccinated individuals, according to the state. As of Tuesday, COVID-19 is blamed for the deaths of 27,011 Ohioans since January 2020. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer found a stark difference in vaccination rates from rural to urban areas when it analyzed county-by-county rates.
A handful of larger, urban and suburban counties are pushing up Ohio’s overall vaccination rate. But, in rural Ohio, less than half the residents have started getting vaccinated. Fourteen counties top the state’s vaccination rate. Among them are Ohio’s four largest counties and nine of the top 16. Ten of the 14 have populations topping 130,000. Delaware County is highest at more than 74%. It also has the lowest death rate for coronavirus in the state.
Among counties in Greater Cleveland — Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit – all but Portage have vaccination rates topping 60%. More than 56% of Portage County residents are vaccinated. Those seven counties each were among the lowest for deaths per 100,000 residents. Cuyahoga had the fifth-lowest rate. Geauga County had the third lowest. In contrast, in 53 mostly rural counties, less than half the residents have started the vaccination process. In 11 counties, less than 40% have received their first shot.
Those counties each have fewer than 60,000 residents. One has fewer than 15,000. Holmes County’s vaccination rate is lowest at just over 18%. The lower rates could be attributed to many reasons, ranging from access issues to a feeling that the virus presents less danger because residents live in sparsely populated areas, Gatlin said. “And then there are those who aren’t going to get it because somebody told them to,” Gatlin said. But with the emergence of new variants, that may change, Armitage said. “There does seem to be a little bit of a push (for getting vaccinated) with the Delta variant and with Omicron,” he said. Getting vaccinated does not guarantee a person will not contract COVID-19, but it decreases the chances that they will be hospitalized or die. “They may still get it, but most of them are not hospitalized,” said Beth Gatlin of the Center for Health Affairs, a leading advocate for Northeast Ohio hospitals.
“Ninety percent of the patients, adults or children, who are hospitalized for COVID are not vaccinated.” The vaccinations could remain important, too, as new variants of the coronavirus emerge.Full vaccination with the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines produces enough antibodies to neutralize the Delta variant, researchers said in a new study But the Delta variant put up a stronger fight against antibody protection than earlier variants of COVID-19.
Pfizer said Wednesday that two doses of its vaccine may not provide sufficient protection against the Omicron coronavirus variant, but that three doses are able to neutralize it. “We don’t know what the next variant will be,” said Dr. Keith Armitage, an infectious disease specialist and director of the Roe Green Center for Travel Medicine and Global Health at University Hospital. “The pandemic is so hard to predict,” Armitage said. “People who have spent their careers working … infectious diseases don’t know what to expect.” In a statement Wednesday, the Ohio Department of Health again urged residents to learn about the vaccines and get their shots. “The best thing that any Ohioan who hasn’t yet chosen to be vaccinated can do is to talk to their doctor. Take time to sit down, ask your questions, and get the facts about COVID-19 vaccines,” the statement said. “Especially as we continue to face incredibly high cases and hospitalizations, particularly in northern Ohio, now is the time to be vaccinated.”