COVID-19 Death Rates Soared for Over-65s in 2022

Omicron’s Toll

COVID-19 Death Rates Soared for Over-65s in 2022 While Omicron typically causes milder symptoms, it’s better at getting past immune defenses — and it took advantage of waning immunity from vaccines to kill older Americans at a faster rate than even the Delta variant. “This is not simply a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” said Boston University’s Andrew Stokes, who studies age patterns of COVID deaths. “There’s still exceptionally high risk among older adults, even those with primary vaccine series.” Among Americans aged 65 and older, Omicron peaked at 156 deaths per 100,000 for the unvaccinated, and 24 and 7 deaths per 100,000 for vaccinated and boosted individuals respectively. (Source: NYT)