Virtually all hospitalized Covid patients have not been vaccinated

Virtually all hospitalized Covid patients have one thing in common: They're unvaccinated "I haven't had anyone that's been fully vaccinated become critically ill," one doctor said. NBC News

There are only three Covid-19 patients at Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital at North Shore University Hospital, on Long Island, New York — a far cry from when the hospital, which is part of Northwell Health, had as many as 600 patients during the peak of the pandemic.

All three patients, who are in the intensive care unit, have one thing in common, said Dr. Hugh Cassiere, director of the hospital's critical care services: They're unvaccinated.

The trend appears to be occurring at hospitals nationwide.

"I haven't had anyone that's been fully vaccinated become critically ill," said Dr. Josh Denson, a pulmonary medicine and critical care physician at Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans.

It's been the same for Dr. Ken Lyn-Kew, a pulmonologist in the critical care department at Denver's National Jewish Health: "None of our ICU patients has been vaccinated."

Unvaccinated children, too, seem to be at increased risk for severe illness.

"In our local hospitals, the kids that are getting sick are the ones that are not vaccinated," said Dr. Natasha Burgert, a pediatrician in Overland Park, Kansas, and a national spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Thanks to the Covid-19 vaccines, the number of patients hospitalized has plummeted, from more than 125,000 on average in early January to just over 15,000 on average this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The vaccines are working really well," Denson said. "It's just ridiculous not to get it." ...