President Joe Biden’s recent COVID-19 infection underscores the risk of the virus in seniors. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, four times as many people between the ages of 75 and 84 were dying from the virus during the first week of June than people who were 20 year younger. That was an even larger gap than last winter when twice as many people in that older age group were dying from COVID-19 compared to people in the 55 to 65 age group.
The news comes as the highly contagious BA.5 variant spreads across the United States, accounting for most recent infections. A recent study found first and second boosters provided patients with substantial protection against emergency department visits and hospitalizations.
The number of COVID-19 cases has been on the rise in recent weeks. According to the CDC’s COID-19 tracker, the seven-day moving average of cases was approximately 111,000 at the end of June. The seven-day moving average increased to roughly 126,000 last week.
The BA.5 variant represented 65% of new cases in early July and is considered to be four times more resistant to the COVID-19 vaccines than previous variants.
