Unvaccinated U.S. seniors dying from COVID-19 at incredibly high rates: The Atlantic

Special: Battle Against Novel Coronavirus

The vaccination rates of American adults aged 65 and older are still low, and the unvaccinated elderly have been dying from COVID-19 at incredibly high rates, The Atlantic magazine has reported.

So far this year, three-quarters of COVID-19 deaths in the United States have been in people aged 65 and older, 93 percent in people aged 50 and older, the magazine said Tuesday, citing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data in early December.

The United States has not only a lower overall vaccination rate but lower coverage in the elderly. Britain, for example, has achieved 96 percent full-vaccination coverage in people over 65, but in the United States, the figure stands at 88.5 percent.

"Our vaccination rates, as well as booster use, in people aged 60- or 65-plus are woefully low and expose a tremendous amount of vulnerability to severe disease, hospitalizations, and deaths," Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told reporters.

"This has been one of the most serious disappointments in our performance," he said.