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Unvaccinated filling up vast majority of Michigan ICUs as state hits new high in hospitalizations

By Jack Nissen
Updated  December 2, 2021 11:21pm EST
Coronavirus Vaccine
FOX 2 Detroit

Unvaccinated patients are filling up state's hospitals in battle against Covid

It is a sign of how much of a threat the pandemic still poses to those that haven't gotten the shot.

LANSING, Mich. - Newly released data from the Michigan hospital association reveals the vast majority of patients in the state's ICUs are unvaccinated. 

Some 87% of COVID-19 patients in internal care units have not been inoculated against the virus. With Michigan in the middle of one of its worst surges of the pandemic and with its highest hospitalization rate yet, the disparity of those in the hospital is a sign of the importance of vaccines.

It's also a sign of how much of a threat the pandemic still poses to those that haven't gotten the shot.

"The data is clear: if you are unvaccinated, you are risking hospitalization or death," said Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director. 

Graphic courtesy of Michigan health department via MHA

According to numbers from the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, 76% of patients admitted are unvaccinated. Eighty-Eight percent of COVID-19 patients on ventilators are also unvaccinated.

"We have a safe and effective vaccine that is quite literally saving lives. Michigan residents absolutely need to get vaccinated to keep their loved ones safe this holiday," said Hertel.

While Michigan has surpassed the 70% mark of residents ages 16 and older receiving their first vaccine, more than 4,290 patients occupy hospitals in the state - the highest reported since the pandemic began.

Michigan's fourth surge of COVID-19 cases has tracked along with a familiar pattern of increasing infections, more hospitalizations, and a straining of resources from Michigan's health care infrastructure.

Occupancy rates in many of the hospitals are near capacity, the state website shows. That includes most of Beaumont, McLaren and Henry Ford Health System's locations in Southeast Michigan.

Even as cases have climbed, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hasn't implemented new safety mandates. She has approved an advisory for everyone to wear a mask regardless of vaccination.

The governor's rules track along a similar direction the White House has taken in recent weeks, which is the promotion of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine boosters as the country's solution to navigating out of the pandemic.

President Joe Biden is expected to unveil the country's winter plans for combating the virus and the new Omicron variant on Thursday.