Getting vaccinated can significantly reduce your chances of dying from Covid-19. Like, really significantly.
Throughout the month of August, unvaccinated adults were 11 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than fully vaccinated adults, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC also found that unvaccinated adults faced a six times as likely to contract the virus than fully vaccinated adults. The data marks the first time the CDC has released information about how Covid-19 risks can differ depending on vaccination status.
Currently, according to the CDC, nearly 77 percent of people in the U.S. age 12 or older have received at least one shot of the vaccine, while 66.5 percent are fully vaccinated. The CDC recommended that Pfizer recipients over the age of 65 or those in high-risk categories receive an additional booster shot, and an FDA panel on Thursday endorsed boosters for high-risk groups with the Moderna vaccine. Since April of this year, fully vaccinated adults have died from Covid-19 at a minimal rate: 1.2 deaths per 100,000 people.
Despite the scientific evidence showing vaccines are safe and effective, many Republican politicians have declared war on vaccination mandates. President Joe Biden last month announced a rule that will mandate vaccines for employees of businesses with more than 100 workers. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has already threatened to sue the president over the mandate.
“Let’s not have Biden come in and effectively take away — threaten to take away — the jobs of people who have been working hard throughout this entire pandemic. I am offended that a police officer could potentially lose their job,” the Republican governor said Thursday.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has also bucked Biden’s upcoming mandate with an executive order that bans any entity in the state, including private businesses, from mandating a Covid-19 vaccine for employees or customers.
But vaccines work, and they save lives. As Indiana University researchers recently found, vaccines may have saved as many as 140,000 lives by May 9th, 2021. The estimation is based on data from when vaccination rates were still quite low in many areas of the country. There’s no telling how many lives the vaccine has saved as millions more have gotten inoculated.
Source: RollingStone
