Federal report shows COVID vaccines prevented thousands of cases, deaths in Florida seniors

The COVID-19 vaccine saves lives, according to health experts, and a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services backs up that claim. At least among Florida's elderly population. 

During the first five months of 2021, COVID-19 vaccinations may have prevented around 17,000 cases and 2,400 deaths among Florida's seniors, according to researchers with HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. 

“This report reaffirms what we hear routinely from states: COVID-19 vaccines save lives, prevent hospitalizations and reduce infection,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a press release. “The Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized getting vaccines quickly to pharmacies, nursing homes, doctors’ offices and even provided increased reimbursement rates for at-home COVID-19 vaccinations, so that seniors and others can easily get vaccinated.” 

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Seniors were disproportionately affected at the start of the pandemic, making up the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths, according to Dr. Joe Smith, chief medical officer of AdventHealth Daytona Beach. As a result, seniors were among the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida, which is why Smith said seniors were the most protected during this summer's delta variant surge.

"The vaccination has been the most effective tool we have had to prevent contracting this virus, preventing serious course of illness with this virus and preventing death from this virus, no question," Smith said. "We see evidence every day in our hospitals that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at reducing the risk of becoming infected and spreading that infection to others."

During the delta surge — which kicked into high gear in Florida at the end of July — the average age of people hospitalized with COVID-19 were in their 50s, according to AdventHealth officials. 

"What we saw was a pandemic of the unvaccinated," Smith said. "So in the population that was immunocompromised, those over age 65, the response to that [vaccination] was much stronger than in the younger population, and it was the younger population that we saw hit hardest by the delta variant."

John Guthrie, spokesman for Halifax Health, agreed with Smith. 

"I do believe hospitalizations and deaths in this past surge were greatly mitigated due to high vaccination rates among the elderly and the most vulnerable," Guthrie said. 

The HHS study also found that nationwide vaccinations were tied to a reduction of roughly 265,000 COVID-19 infections, 107,000 hospitalizations, and 39,000 deaths among Medicare beneficiaries between January and May 2021.

Nationwide, 352,000 people suffered COVID-related deaths during the first nine months of the pandemic, according to the study. Before vaccines were available, nearly 80% of deaths were among people 65 and older who were also Medicare eligible.

For every 10% increase in county vaccination rates, the study found a 11% to 12% decrease in weekly COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations. 

But there's still more that can be done.

"I hope that if you are in the group that made the decision not to get the vaccine earlier, for whatever reason, I would urge you to take a look at the data that we now have to show that this vaccine is safe," Smith said. "If you look at the more recent data and you look at the trends that we've seen over the last two years, you will come to the same conclusion I did and that is that vaccination is the absolute safest thing you could do right now for you and for your loved ones to prevent the spread of COVID."

In a study posted on Oct. 8 in The Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal, more than 22,000 lives could have been spared in Texas and Florida if three-quarters of their adult populations were vaccinated. In both states, the governors have spoken out against mask and vaccine mandates.

If 74% of Texans and Floridians had been vaccinated by the end of August, 95,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths collectively could have been prevented, according to the study. If that rate of vaccinations had been reached at the end of July, the two states could have prevented 650,000 hospitalizations each. 

The two states had vaccinated less than 60% of their adult population by the time the study was conducted, according to a press release. As of Oct. 7, 72% of Florida's eligible population had been vaccinated. 

The study also found that if vaccination rates accelerate daily by 50%, more than 26,000 cases and 1,200 deaths can be prevented in both states by Oct. 31.