The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published information on its COVID Data Tracker about rates of cases and deaths among fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people.  

In August, according to the data, unvaccinated people had a 6.1 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19, and an 11.3 times greater risk of dying from the disease.  

"All COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States are effective at preventing COVID-19 as seen in clinical trial settings," said a CDC spokesperson in response to requests for comment.  

WHY IT MATTERS  

The rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths by vaccination status were gathered from health departments that regularly link their case surveillance to immunization information system data:  

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Nebraska
• New Mexico
• New York City 
• Seattle/King County
• Utah
• Wisconsin  

The health departments represent 30% of the total U.S. population. Fifteen also report deaths.  

Interestingly, the agency also breaks out case and death rates by vaccine product. In mid-August, at the peak of the latest wave, unvaccinated people made up the greatest percentage of COVID-19 cases, at an incident rate of 736.72 cases per 100,000 people.  

Johnson & Johnson had the second-highest incidence rate, at 171.92 cases per 100,000.  

Pfizer had the third-highest, at 135.64.  

And Moderna had the lowest rate, at 86.28 cases per 100,000 people.  

The death rate mirrored the breakdown in terms of vaccine product and frequency, although the numbers were far lower across the board.  

Again, at the peak in mid-August, the death rate among unvaccinated people was 13.23 in 100,000 people.   

Rates for vaccinated people were dramatically reduced, at 3.14, 1.43 and 0.73 for Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna, respectively.  

When it came to age groups, peak case rates were highest among unvaccinated 12-17 year olds, followed by unvaccinated 30- to 49-year-olds. And 30- to 49-year-olds also had the highest case incidence among vaccinated people when broken down by age group, followed by fully vaccinated 18- to 29-year-olds.   

Those older than 80 had the highest death rates among both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals.  

The COVID Data Tracker site also includes integrated county views, forecasting and hospitalizations by vaccination status.  

THE LARGER TREND   

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of a strong public health data infrastructure – and exposed the gaps in existing reporting patterns.  

During the Trump administration, for instance, some hospitals expressed frustration at being asked to report multiple data points to different public health agencies.  

With that in mind, federal agency representatives have voiced their intention to turn lessons learned from the pandemic into action.  

"During COVID conditions, healthcare providers had to report to multiple government agencies," said Dr. Daniel Jernigan, acting deputy director for public health science and surveillance at CDC, at a HIMSS21 panel this summer. "There needs to be a healthcare system in place that can then send that information on to multiple different state health departments."

ON THE RECORD  

"Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 reduces the risk of getting COVID-19 and helps protect you from severe illness even if you do get COVID-19. CDC continues to monitor how well the vaccines are working," said the CDC on its Data Tracker.

"So far, studies show that COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk of COVID-19, especially severe illness, among people who are fully vaccinated."

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Email: kjercich@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.