US statistics

[TotorosCatBus]

Just under 50% vaccinated
99.5% deaths unvaccinated people
97% hospitalizations unvaccinated people
Delta is the dominant strain but not as high as in UK

In England
60% of hospitalizations aren't double jabbed (so 40% have had one or two jabs)

Is this difference because many over 40s in England were vaccinated with AZ rather than mRNA vaccines?

In the US it’s been much more of a free for all and they haven’t prioritised getting to as many of the over seventies as humanly possible.

This is a little misleading. Covid vaccines have been offered to all adults since May 1st. If someone in their 70s or 80s hasn't had it at this point, it isn't due to being unable to access the vaccine. There comes a point where you've done all that is humanly possible to get vaccines to people, but they're just not taking them.

At this point people are going door to door offering vaccines, they're available on a walk-in basis at multiple locations. They're being offered them at work, at their houses, at their libraries, breweries, grocery stores...

There are free Uber rides, people are being offered days off work, cash bonuses from employers and/or health insurance companies, prizes, freebies.

Astrazeneca takes longer to build up full protection doesn't it? Perhaps some people are dropping their guard too soon?

Or maybe it's a mix of vaccines re the fully jabbed in hospital. Perhaps protection wearing off for those who had theirs in December/January?

Hopefully boosters will help, once we can start doing this in the autumn. Mitigation measures like masks in the meanwhile would also have helped.

Yes I guess the UK’s coverage in the over seventies may well be more to do with our population’s low levels of vaccine scepticism rather than the US not trying hard enough. But either way, they’ve got far more unvaccinated vulnerable people than we have.

Yep, and thanks to Delta a lot of anti vaxxers are going to get the chance to put their money where their mouth is.

@Porcupineintherough

Yep, and thanks to Delta a lot of anti vaxxers are going to get the chance to put their money where their mouth is.

Yes... Did you see the Alabama Republican governor has now said “It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”

Great… turning people against each other - ‘us’ vs ‘them’. What could possibly go wrong?

At this point the worst that could happen is that Alabama Republicans could continue choosing not to do what the Alabama Republican governor they elected is imploring them to do, because they're Fox-loving Trump-supporting Tucker Carlson-believing libertarians, resulting in yet more sickness and death.

This was in the FT and helps explain why i shouldn't be alarmed that 40% of hospitalizations are double jabbed and it's never doing to be the 99% statistic

@mumwon Thats just not true about the US and vaccines. You don't need to have insurance - they are free. You don't even need ID. You can choose which vaccine you prefer. DH was just had a Pfizer booster here and he's an uninsured Brit on holiday!

The US aren’t doing an eight week gap like we are so they are protected quicker than we are, they are also using the J&J vaccine which is one dose only.
The UK is including one dose and fully vaccinated in the same criteria whereas the US doesn’t.
We are using AstraZeneca but the US isn’t however they are both very effective.

Who pays for the vaccination in the US? Do people have to pay for themselves or is it paid for by the government? If individuals pay: how much?

• in the event of side effects who covers the cost of medical treatment?

Many people are un- or under-insured, but I don't know whether medical insurance will cover damages for an "emergency approval" vaccine. Does anyone know something more about this?

The federal government is providing the vaccine free of charge to all people living in the United States, regardless of their immigration or health insurance status.

www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/How-Do-I-Get-a-COVID-19-Vaccine.html

I live in Connecticut. We have 63 percent of 12+ fully vaccinated and 76 percent 18+ fully vaccinated. Delta is absolutely here, there’s been an uptick in cases, but we are still classed as “low risk” in my county due to the solid vaccination rate. It’s a very different story elsewhere in the country.

The vast majority of people have had Pfizer or Moderna, and a much smaller percentage have had J&J.

@Taciturn

Who pays for the vaccination in the US? Do people have to pay for themselves or is it paid for by the government? If individuals pay: how much?

• in the event of side effects who covers the cost of medical treatment?

Many people are un- or under-insured, but I don't know whether medical insurance will cover damages for an "emergency approval" vaccine. Does anyone know something more about this?

The vaccine is free, you don't need any ID, they will bring it to you and they will bring interpreters.

Just saw this on a local FB group.

@mumwon

Sadly I have wondered what happens to poor people in the USA who have no medical coverage or are frightened as they are considered illegal We also have an aging population & a single health system which make sit easier to do more accurate stats At the beginning it was unwisely (criminally?) decided to send old people back to nursing homes & the number of people who died there was appalling USA is an enormous country where the poor disappear & are uncounted & there may also be a pressure not to count the casualties of covid amongst certain other communities (religious groups etc & I am talking about some of the Christian fundamentalists)

COVID treatment, tests and vaccines are covered here by the federal government for the uninsured. No one has to pay anything for a test, vaccine or hospital stay for COVID. Either insurance pays or the government does, depending on your circumstances.

And what about the costs of any adverse reactions, given US medical costs are notoriously high?

I think it’s still quite a messy data set to make comparisons by country at the moment due to various stages of vaccination, differences in dosing schedule etc. Alongside the various other environmental and cultural factors that make a difference to spread. It’ll come, but I wonder if we’re jumping the gun a bit expecting clear statistics that give definitive answers just yet.

To offer another perspective on vaccine efficacy, I’ve been keeping an eye on Indonesia who have had a concurrent wave to the UK and tracked a similar climb in infections. If you concentrate solely on the impact of vaccinations it’s pretty clear that the one they’ve predominantly used (Sinovac I believe) isn’t as effective as the others. To pick a random date; 06/07 Indonesia reported 31189 cases and 728 deaths and the UK reported 28246 cases and 37 deaths. Remembering that deaths lag behind infections we’ve followed a comparable rise in this wave so even accounting for other factors shows a clear impact of the vaccinations we have used.

@Taciturn

And what about the costs of any adverse reactions, given US medical costs are notoriously high?

As FakingMemories already outlined, Covid related costs are either covered by insurance or by the government.

If you're genuinely interested in how Covid-related costs are coded during the billing process there are lots of web resources out there.
www.acponline.org/practice-resources/covid-19-practice-management-resources/covid-19-coding-billing is somewhere you could start.

Interesting to see that the US Justice Department has now said that there is no federal law preventing employers from requiring vaccination against Covid. I know a lot of employers have been waiting for this before they consider mandating vaccines for their employees.

I'm sure we will see an increasing number of employers now requiring vaccination, particularly among healthcare workers. We'll also see an increasing number of employers requiring that unvaccinated employees are required to do weekly testing, wear masks, etc.

Hundreds of San Francisco bars are now requiring either a vaccination or a recent Covid test to be allowed to sit indoors.

I think the US is hitting a tipping point where a lot of states lose patience with those who are choosing to remain unvaccinated.

Meanwhile the southern states are finding themselves in the position of not wanting Covid cases to rise, but having politicised themselves into a position where there's nothing they can do to stop Covid cases from rising.

I’ve seen rumblings of American health insurers making covid vaccination a clause for treatment. Given how many things are linked to a covid infection I can see a lot of unvaccinated people having issues accessing insurance for anything that could remotely be connected to a covid infection.

I hadn't heard about that Cornettoninja, and I think it would be difficult for them to do under the Affordable Care Act. But watching with interest...

@ZZTopGuitarSolo it’s literally rumblings/discussion I’ve come across. But then I’m detecting more and more frustration politically with the hesitant and refusers.

It’s the USA so never say never when it comes to health insurance and covid has the capability to cause some costly ongoing health issues. Off the top of my head it seems it can induce type 2 diabetes in people.

I can see a lot of unvaccinated people having issues accessing insurance for anything that could remotely be connected to a covid infection

Well thats ridiculous given that vaccines arent that great at preventing infection and its still possible to have severe symptoms, even if vaccinated. It would set a dangerous precedent if this were allowed. But then so do vaccine mandates and passports but no one seems to give a shit

The vast majority of Covid hospital costs at this point are being generated by the unvaccinated. A tiny proportion of those in hospital in the US with Covid are vaccinated.