Unvaccinated people 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19, CDC study shows
CBSN
Unvaccinated people were 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to those who were fully vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in a new study Friday, providing more evidence of the vaccines' effectiveness at preventing severe disease, even as protection from mild breakthrough cases appears to be waning in the face of the Delta variant.
"Looking at cases over the past two months when the Delta variant was the predominant variant circulating in this country, those who were unvaccinated were about four and a half times more likely to get COVID-19, over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times more likely to die from the disease," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a briefing Friday. The CDC's latest data, published as three studies Friday in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, are also the latest sign that booster shots could become necessary in the coming months for many.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.