The BA.5 omicron subvariant is four times more resistant to COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new study. But vaccines still provide much better protection than going without the safeguards:
It is contributing to increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and admissions to intensive care units across the country.Unvaccinated people have about a five times higher chance of contracting the virus than those who are vaccinated and boosted, while chances of hospitalization are 7.5 times higher, and chances of death are 14 to 15 times higher, said Dr. Gregory Poland, head of the Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group.
"Let me make a clear, clear point here that's a little tough to hear: Whether you've been vaccinated, whether you've been previously infected, whether you've been previously infected and vaccinated, you have very little protection against BA.5 in terms of getting infected or having mild to moderate infection," he said."You have good protection against dying, being hospitalized or ending up on a ventilator."depending on the number of cases where you live.
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