COVID-19 infection and hospitalization rates have been significantly higher among unvaccinated people during the recent omicron wave compared to rates among those who are fully vaccinated or boosted, a Feb. 1 CDC report found.
Researchers from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health analyzed infection and hospitalization rates based on vaccination status and variant predominance between Nov. 7, 2021, and Jan. 8.
In the week ending Jan. 8, unvaccinated people were 3.6 times more likely to contract COVID-19 and 23 times more likely to be hospitalized than people who received a booster. Unvaccinated individuals were also twice as likely to get COVID-19 and 5.3 times more likely to be hospitalized than people who were fully vaccinated but not boosted.
Overall, these rate ratios were lower than when delta was the nation's dominant variant, researchers found. In the 14-day period ending Dec. 11, before omicron took over as the dominant strain, COVID-19 case rates were 12.3 times higher among unvaccinated individuals than among those who received boosters. Hospitalization rates among unvaccinated were 83 times higher.
"Efforts to promote COVID-19 vaccination and boosters are critical to preventing COVID-19–associated hospitalizations and severe outcomes," the CDC said.
View the full report here.