Chance of dying from omicron ‘very close to zero’ for the boostedMichael Read, Simon Evans, Tess Bennett and Finbar O'MallonJan 21, 2022 – 4.41pmAustralians who have not come forward for their booster are dying at far higher rates than those who have received a third dose, as health authorities warn that unvaccinated people are clogging up intensive care units.NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant revealed on Friday that only two of the 28 people under 65 who have died since January 15 had received boosters, while close to half of intensive care patients in the state were unvaccinated.Since the start of the year, 736 Australians have died from COVID-19. Justin McManus“So my key message is this data and all available scientific evidence that I have seen ... confirms the critical importance of a booster dose and getting that booster quickly and promptly to afford the maximum protection against omicron,” Dr Chant said.Nationally, just under three in 10 adults have received their third dose, while almost 50 per cent of the adult population is now eligible for a booster.Since the start of the year, 736 Australians have died from COVID-19. Almost half of those deaths have been in NSW, where 359 people have succumbed to the virus, while one-third were in Victoria, where 241 people have died.AdvertisementDr Chant said almost half the under-65s who died from COVID-19 in NSW over the past week were unvaccinated. Twelve were fully vaccinated and one had only received one dose.University of South Australia epidemiologist Adrian Esterman told AFR Weekend that the “worst-case scenario” was to catch the virus as an unvaccinated person. He said protection against severe disease increased to about 80 per cent with two doses and to almost 100 per cent with a booster shot.“So if you’ve had your booster dose, the chances of you dying from omicron is very close to zero,” Professor Esterman said.The experience in NSW has been repeated in other states.Virus ‘finding older people’In South Australia, 60 people have died from COVID-19 since December 13. The state’s health department told AFR Weekend that 20 per cent of deaths were among people who were either unvaccinated or had only one dose, while the vaccination status of a further 17 per cent of people was unknown.The ACT has recorded seven deaths in the same period, including two people who were fully vaccinated, one partially vaccinated and three unvaccinated. Another person’s vaccination status was unknown.Genome sequencing is not available on the recent deaths and territory officials do not provide data on individual cases.In Queensland, 23 per cent of people who died from the virus between January 13 and January 21 were unvaccinated, according to an analysis by AFR Weekend.Unvaccinated people make up just 8 per cent of Queensland’s adult population, suggesting they are overrepresented in the state’s death toll.Of the 78 Queenslanders who have died since the start of the year, only five had received boosters.Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said this week that “the virus does seem to be finding older people who have not had that third dose”.Dr Gerrard said there would be “thousands of people” in hospital if there had not been wide-scale vaccination.Professor Esterman said people with pre-existing conditions affecting their immune systems, such as obesity and diabetes, were more likely to die from COVID-19.
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