BY ERIN PETENKO, VTDIGGER
MONTPELIER — The Vermont Department of Health reported 25 Covid-19 patients hospitalized in intensive care units on Monday, Dec. 6, a record number — and just one day after the state again set a record for new infections.
The 641 Covid-19 cases reported in Vermont on Sunday inched out the previous record of 635 cases set on Dec. 1.
The state also reported 561 cases on Saturday and 246 cases on Monday. Vermont tends to report lower numbers early in the week because fewer tests are conducted over the weekend.
The seven-day case average now sits at 475 cases per day. The average has more than doubled since Halloween, the holiday that appeared to mark a turning point in the latest surge.
It’s also more than double the case average at the highest point of the pandemic’s previous surge in spring 2021.
One more person died due to COVID in Vermont during the weekend, the health department reported, for a total of 417 deaths over the course of the pandemic.
Including the 25 patients in ICUs, the state is reporting 78 patients hospitalized for Covid-19, down from a recent record of 84.
The state does not disclose the demographics of hospital or ICU patients on a daily basis. The latest data from Nov. 30 shows that 71% of hospital patients and 81% of critical care patients were unvaccinated.
At the same time, the hospitalization rate was highest among Vermonters 70 and older, with an average of 5 new hospitalizations per 100,000 people in the past week, even though older Vermonters have the highest vaccination rate of any age group.
Data from the Department of Financial Regulation, which compiles the state’s statistics, shows that the median age of hospitalized patients who were fully vaccinated was 70, compared to only 56 for not fully vaccinated patients. That aligns with other data that shows unvaccinated people are more at risk of hospitalization at younger ages.
Getting a booster shot also appears to decrease a person’s chances of severe illness. In November, the hospitalization rate of someone who got their first course of vaccines, but not the booster, was 18 per 100,000 people, compared to only 6 for those who received the booster. The rate was 81 per 100,000 unvaccinated people.
