INDIANA — Reid Health Hospital says their sickest patients are younger (between the ages of 35 and 65), are at least overweight and are often morbidly obese, are diabetic, and are unvaccinated.
That's according to a recent press release published on their website, adding that the current Delta-variant surge in COVID-19 cases looks different than earlier waves of the pandemic. Previously, patients tended to be older people with underlying health conditions.
But today, Thomas Huth, M.D., Vice President of Medical Affairs for Reid Health, said about 95% of the recent patients suffering from severe COVID-19 have been overweight, while more than 85% of them were unvaccinated.
Those who are younger and healthier might not be as high risk as others for severe COVID-19, but they transmit the virus to those who are. Getting vaccinated reduces the likelihood of passing along COVID-19, protecting not only themselves but others as well.
Reid Health reports that less than one percent of those who are vaccinated in Indiana have had a breakthrough case of COVID-19, while only 0.02% of vaccinated Hoosiers have required hospitalization and just 0.006% of vaccinated Hoosiers have died. The average age of a breakthrough death is 80.
Anyone who is moderate to severely immunocompromised, such as those who are fighting cancer or are recent organ transplant recipients, is also at high risk for severe COVID-19. Those who fall in that category are eligible to receive a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
