随着秋天的临近，人们开始重新推动美国人接种新冠肺炎疫苗，特别是老年人和弱势群体，他们继续承受着美国新冠肺炎危机的冲击。
根据疾病控制和预防中心的数据，尽管超过6100万50岁以上的人有资格接受第二次新冠肺炎加强注射，但只有三分之一的人实际上这样做了。
同样，不到一半的5岁以上有资格接受第一次加强免疫的美国人接受了补充注射。
“这一时刻传递出的关键信息之一是:如果你已经50岁或以上，今年还没有注射疫苗...白宫新冠肺炎协调员Ashish Jha博士上个月告诉美国广播公司“本周”节目的联合主持人Martha Raddatz说:“现在出去买一个是绝对重要的。
2022年8月5日，64岁的詹格勒·米姆斯(左)在丹佛的克莱顿早期学习中心接受了新冠肺炎加强注射。
hyoung Chang/丹佛邮报
尽管疫苗提供的免疫力随着时间的推移不断减弱，但CDC的数据显示，新冠肺炎加强剂量有助于显著增加对严重形式的新冠肺炎病和死亡的保护，特别是在美国老年人中。
在50岁及以上的人群中，未接种疫苗的人死于新冠肺炎病毒的风险比完全接种疫苗和双倍加强的同龄人高29倍。
4月，未接种疫苗者的死亡风险是未接种者的42倍。尽管疫苗效力已经下降，但数据显示，疫苗注射仍然在很大程度上有助于预防严重疾病。
在50岁及以上的人群中，接种一次加强剂量疫苗的人死于新冠肺炎病毒的风险比完全接种和两次加强的人高4倍。
美国老年人——尤其是70岁以上的老年人——住院率明显高于所有其他年龄组。相比之下，在美国，70岁及以上的人进医院的次数是18至29岁的人的10.5倍。
平均而言，现在每天约有6100名病毒阳性的美国人进入医院。目前全国约有43，000名病毒阳性患者住院治疗。
住院病人总数也已经稳定了几个星期。然而，这一数字仍明显低于美国高峰期的水平，当时有超过16万名患者因感染该病毒而住院。
此外，尽管死亡总数也远低于疫情其他地区，但每天仍有数百名美国人死于新冠肺炎。
根据疾病预防控制中心的数据，平均每天有近400名美国人死于新冠肺炎病毒，而在过去的七天里，美国已有超过2700人死亡。
Only half of eligible Americans have gotten their first COVID booster
As we approach the fall, there is a renewed push to get Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, particularly the elderly and the vulnerable, who continue to bear the brunt of the nation's COVID-19 crisis.
Although over 61 million people, over the age of 50, are eligible to receive their second COVID-19 booster shot, just a third have actually done so, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Similarly, less than half of Americans, over the age of 5, who are eligible to receive their first booster have received their supplemental shot.
"One of the key messages coming out of this moment is: If you are 50 or over and you have not gotten a shot this year ... it is absolutely critical that you go out and get one now," White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz, last month.
Although the immunity provided by vaccines continues to wane with time, CDC data shows that COVID-19 booster doses are helping to significantly increase protection against severe forms of COVID-19 disease and death, particularly among older Americans.
Among people ages 50 years and older, the unvaccinated had a risk of dying from COVID-19 that was 29 times higher than their fully vaccinated and double-boosted peers.
In April, risk of death was 42 times higher among the unvaccinated. Despite the fact that there has been a decline in vaccine efficacy, data shows that the shots are still largely helping protect against severe disease.
Among people ages 50 years and older, vaccinated people with one booster dose had a risk of dying from COVID-19 that was 4 times higher than those fully vaccinated and double boosted.
Older Americans — particularly those over 70 — are being hospitalized at a significantly higher rate than all other age groups. Comparatively, people 70 and over, in the U.S., are entering the hospital 10.5 times more often than people ages 18 to 29.
On average, about 6,100 virus-positive Americans are now entering the hospital each day. There are currently about 43,000 virus-positive patients hospitalized across the country.
The overall number of patients hospitalized has also been at a plateau for several weeks. However, numbers remain significantly lower than at the nation's peak, when there were more than 160,000 patients hospitalized with the virus.
In addition, although death totals also remain much lower than during other parts of the pandemic, hundreds of Americans are still dying from COVID-19 every day.
On average, nearly 400 American deaths to COVID-19 are reported each day, and over the last seven days, the U.S. has reported more than 2,700 deaths, according to the CDC.
