The Covid-19 Vaccine Effort Is Protecting Older People, Growing Evidence Suggests
Source: Wall Street Journal
A growing number of signals show vaccinations are starting to reshape the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S.
Hospitalizations and deaths among the elderly are falling, marking hopeful signs that an inoculation push aimed first at older Americans is bearing fruit. Deaths tied to nursing homes have plummeted. Seven-day averages for newly reported deaths have fallen below 1,000 again for the first time in more than four months.
Public-health researchers caution the pandemic is far from over, especially as newly reported U.S. cases plateau after a steep decline and more infectious coronavirus variants spread. But as this happens, the Americans who have long faced the highest mortality risk are increasingly protected.
“The people who die tend to be older,” said Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health. “And we’ve vaccinated a lot of people over 55 now.”
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-covid-19-vaccine-effort-is-protecting-older-people-growing-evidence-suggests-11616682522
While some Republicans, particularly in California, have attacked tiers that given more vulnerable populations priority, it turns out that doing so does actually prevent the people who are most likely to die from dying.