The majority of elderly people who died of Covid-19 in the United States did not live in nursing homes, but at home.
- The mortality rate for elderly people living in nursing homes was lower than for those living at home.
- The third dose of vaccine against Covid-19 will be available at the start of the school year in France for the oldest and/or frail people.
Since the start of the epidemic, more than 480,000 people aged 65 and over have died of Covid-19 in the United States – or 79% of the 606,000 total recorded deaths – according to the latest data available. Most of the victims of the coronavirus were therefore elderly. According to a study published last June in the journal Health Affairsthose living at home, whether it was a house or an apartment, were more likely to die from the virus than residents of retirement homes.
More deaths linked to Covid-19 among residents at home
To reach this conclusion, researchers analyzed the medical information of more than 28 million people with US health coverage. Medicare. It is a system ofhealth insurance managed by the United States federal government for people over 65 or younger, depending on certain economic and social criteria. Data collected by scientists ranged from February 2020 (the approximate start of the pandemic) to September 2020. They then compared them to those of previous years, going back to 2015. Result: there were 110,990 more deaths from Covid-19. 19 older people compared to the average for other years. Scientists note that they are certainly underestimated because some may not have been counted due to lack of tests. Among these deaths, 40% concerned residents of retirement homes and 60% were elderly people living in their homes.
“Efforts must be made to support retirement homes”
Another one studypublished in May in the journal BMJ estimates the excess deaths of 2020 – compared to other years – at 458,000 in the United States. Of this total, about 72% were people aged 65 and over. According to the authors, about two-thirds were attributable to Covid-19. Others could be due to delayed medical care due to the pandemic, poor management of chronic illnesses or even the effects of isolation. And, according to another study published in the journal JAMA Network Openthe mortality rate for elderly people in nursing homes in 2020 was 17% higher compared to the year 2019.”Efforts must be made to support nursing homes as they strive to prevent and control infections to keep their residents safe“said Kali Thomas, one of the study’s authors.
A third dose of vaccine for the elderly
Finally, one last study published in the journal MedRxiv proves that last year in the United States, 20.3% of residents with the virus would have died anyway due to underlying medical conditions. But, due to the coronavirus, this percentage has increased to 24.6%. In France, to protect the elderly, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, announced on Thursday August 5, in a video posted on social mediathat the third dose of vaccine against Covid-19 will be available and necessary at the start of the school year for the oldest and/or frail people.
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