Covid Morbidity Mortality Data NSW

Review of Covid Morbidity and Mortality December 2022 NSW, Australia

Almost a year ago, COVID data from the UK Surveillance Report was reviewed: UK COVID Data Reviewed by RMC.

This blog post is a summary of trends found in COVID Morbidity and Mortality Data for the final 2 weeks of December 2022 recently published by the New South Wales government, Australia. This document can be viewed here.

Covid Morbidity and Mortality Data

Hospital Admissions, but not to the ICU, by vaccination status:

• 1779 total admissions. % of admissions by doses of vaccine:
  • 0 doses: 0% (0)
  • 1 dose:  6% (10)
  • 2 doses: 12% (218)
  • 3 doses: 21% (377)
  • 4 or more doses: 46% (810)
  • Unknown: 20% (364)

ICU Admissions by vaccination status:

• 140 total admissions. % of admissions by doses of vaccine:
  • 0 doses: 0% (0)
  • 1 dose:   7% (1)
  • 2 doses: 12% (17)
  • 3 doses: 21% (29)
  • 4 or more doses: 41% (58)
  • Unknown: 25% (35)

Deaths by vaccination status:

• 95 total deaths. % of deaths by doses of vaccine:
  • 0 doses: 6% (6)
  • 1 dose: 1% (1)
  • 2 doses: 9% (9)
  • 3 doses: 20% (19)
  • 4 or more doses 56% (53)
  • Unknown: 7% (7)

Vaccine boosters are being promoted despite low severity and mortality of new variants, and the known fact the vaccines do not prevent infection nor decrease transmission.

Trends from Australia’s New South Wales Surveillance Report are in agreement with the UK trends from data presented in the April 2022 blog, demonstrating an increase in hospital admissions, ICU admissions, and deaths with increasing numbers of vaccination doses.

Shortly after the publication of the UK data showing significant and concerning trends with increasing vaccinations, the UK stopped publishing COVID surveillance data by vaccination status in April of 2022. Similarly, with the new Australian NSW data presented here, the Australian government will no longer report  vaccination status of admissions to the hospital, ICU admissions or deaths.

“Vaccination status of cases admitted to hospital, admitted to ICU and those who die will no longer be reported. These data were included from 2021 when vaccines were first rolled out to monitor trends in the relationship between vaccination and outcomes. With most of the population having received at least two doses of vaccine and there being differences in timings of booster dosing across different age groups, the trends between vaccines and outcomes cannot be interpreted using these data.”

Questions

After viewing this data, it does lead to questions as to why those vaccinated comprise the majority of hospitalizations and deaths.

The argument is that as the great majority of the population (>95%) has been vaccinated, this makes sense. The NSW government states, “With such high vaccination coverage in the community, a high proportion of people admitted to hospital or intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID-19 are now vaccinated with two or three doses.”

This leaves approximately 5% of the population unvaccinated  If this is the only explanation, there should still be hospitalizations for those not vaccinated, though less. However, the data shows zero hospitalizations and zero ICU admissions for those unvaccinated. Why?

If more vaccine doses are to be more protective, the data can be analyzed further by vaccine dose.

NSW comprises 31.8% of Australia’s population with 6.65 million aged 15 and over. From Australia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Program page, breakdown for those over 16 years of age by dose for NSW are as follows:

• 1 dose: 95% (6.3 million people)
• 2 doses: 95% (6.3 million people)
• 3 doses: 65% (4.3 million people)
• 4 doses: 26% (1.7 million people)

The majority have received 1 or 2 doses. Only 26% have received a fourth dose. By the same token that the percentage of hospitalizations and deaths should be lower among the unvaccinated due to the majority of the population being vaccinated, the same should remain true for those with 1 and 2 doses as they make up 95% of the population. However, the opposite trend is seen.

Only 26% have received a fourth dose, yet those with four or more doses make up the majority of all hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths. Why? If boosters are offering more protection, why are hospitalizations and deaths increasing with each additional booster despite a lower percentage of people having received them?

Conclusion:

This data shows those vaccinated, especially with increasing doses, make up the great majority of hospitalizations and deaths today. The question remains: Why?

Have an awesome day.   Dr D