Higher vaccination rates lead to more hospitalizations among the vaccinated, experts say

Fully vaccinated people account for the majority of daily new hospitalizations in most provinces, but experts say the risk of hospitalization is actually higher among those who are unvaccinated. CTVNews.ca spoke with experts from across the country to understand why.

In Quebec, for example, health officials reported 160 new COVID-19-related hospitalizations on Feb. 5 among those aged five and older. This figure includes patients in hospital wards and intensive care units (ICUs). Of these hospitalizations, 118 were among those who were vaccinated with either two or three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Five hospitalizations involved partially vaccinated residents and 32 hospitalized patients were either unvaccinated or received their first dose within less than 14 days. No vaccine status was specified for four additional COVID-19-related hospitalizations.

Dr. Christopher Labos is a cardiologist and epidemiologist based in Montreal. When looking at the raw data, the explanation behind why more fully vaccinated people were admitted to hospital as opposed to unvaccinated people is simple, he said.

“There are more vaccinated people out there,” he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Wednesday. “When the vaccinated make up 80 to 90 per cent of the population, they will make up more of the hospitalizations.”

When looking at the numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated people among COVID-19-related hospitalizations, it’s important to put these figures into context, Labos said. Approximately 7.39 million Quebec residents aged five and older have their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 6.93 million residents have their first two doses. Although 118 of the COVID-19 patients newly admitted to hospital were fully vaccinated, when divided by the total number of fully vaccinated people in Quebec, this represents a rate of about 17 hospitalizations per one million people.