Whatcom COVID data shows vaccinated residents much less likely to be hospitalized
In April and May, unvaccinated Whatcom County residents were much more likely to be hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19 illnesses than those who were vaccinated, according to data released Friday, June 11, by the Whatcom County Health Department and PeaceHealth.
According to the data in the release, between April 3 and May 29, Whatcom County saw 103 hospitalizations of unvaccinated people, while only one fully vaccinated person was hospitalized with COVID illnesses.
The news comes as the county continues to battle a recent surge in hospitalizations despite a recent decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases.
As of data released Thursday, June 10, on the Washington State Department of Health COVID dashboard, the county has seen 464 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic, and more than a quarter of them (125) have occurred since April 3. Since April 1, data analysis by The Bellingham Herald showed the county has averaged 1.88 hospitalizations per day — more than double its pandemic average before that date (0.86).
“There are a variety of factors that might be contributing to our high overall hospitalization rates, but what we do know is that the vaccines are very effective in protecting people from getting seriously ill from COVID,” Erika Lautenbach, director of the Whatcom County Health Department. “The best way to keep people from being hospitalized with COVID is to get the vaccine.”
The state reported Wednesday, June 9, that Whatcom County providers have administered 209,762 vaccine doses and that nearly two-thirds of Whatcom residents 16 and older (66.55%) have initiated vaccination and 58.56% have completed it.
Those numbers have impacted Whatcom’s number of new cases, according to the release, but hospitalization rates remain high, prompting the health department and PeaceHealth to make another push to convince residents to start and complete vaccination.
In an effort to hammer that point home, the health department broke down COVID case and hospitalization rates.
For those who have been fully vaccinated, the 14-day case rate as of May 29 was 14 per 100,000 residents, while the 14-day hospitalization rate was zero per 100,000 residents, according to the release.
By comparison, the 14-day case rate for unvaccinated residents over the same period was 323 per 100,000 residents — more than 23 times higher than the fully vaccinated case rate — and the hospitalization rate was 21 per 100,000.
Many of those who have been hospitalized have been younger residents in their 20s and 30s who don’t have another other medical problem, registered nurse Kelly Matheny said in the release.
“As medical providers, it has been difficult to see hospitalized COVID patient numbers ranging between 20 and 31 this past week. We want to see this number go down to zero,” PeaceHealth Chief Medical Officer and Patient Safety Officer Dr. Sudhakar Karlapudi said in the release. “This is a preventable disease. The vaccine is free and can prevent others from becoming so ill.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2021 at 3:11 PM.
