Older adults make up two-thirds of COVID hospitalizations this year: CDC

Older adults have made up the majority of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths this year and few received an updated booster, new federal data shows.

Adults aged 65 and older made up 62.9% of all COVID-19-associated hospitalizations between January and August 2023, a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. By comparison, adults in this group made up 45.9% of hospitalizations between March 2020 and December 2022, according to the report.

Researchers, in the report, looked at data from the agency's COVID-19–Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) among people who received a positive PCR or rapid at-home test results within the 14 days before being hospitalized.

During the week ending Aug. 26, the hospitalization rates for those 65 and older was 16.4 per 100,000, which is nine times higher than the rate for adults aged 18 to 64 and 16 times higher than the rate for those under age 18.

Hospitalization rates were highest among adults aged 85 and older at 42.2 per 100,000 and lowest among those aged 65 to 74 at 8.6 per 100,000.

Senior citizens also accounted for 61.3% of admissions to the intensive care unit and 87.9% of in-hospital COVID deaths in the first half of 2023, the report said. There were no statistically significant differences when it came to subgroups of patients in this age bracket.

However, fewer than a quarter -- 23.6% -- had received the updated bivalent booster, which was rolled out at the beginning of September 2022 and protected against the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which at the time were the most prevalent variants in the U.S.

Additionally, only 58.6% has received the original vaccines rolled out at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021.

The authors said the report showed that senior citizens remain at an elevated risk for severe COVID infection and the importance of getting vaccinated.

To identify demographics and other characteristics of hospitalized patients in this age group, the authors focused on data from January to June 2023 and looked at surveillance data across 13 states.

Older residents hospitalized this year were more likely to be white and not be residents of long-term care facilities.

Data showed nearly all adults aged 65 and older -- 98.5% -- had at least one underlying condition, and 90.3% had two or more conditions, including diabetes, kidney disorders, coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure and obesity.

After adjusting for factors including age, sex, and race or ethnicity, senior citizens with two or more underlying conditions were at four times greater risk of hospitalization.

The authors said understanding who remains at increased risk can help public health officials make recommendations, including about treatments and vaccines.

"COVID-19–associated hospitalizations continue to predominantly affect adults aged ≥65 years and represent a continued public health threat," the authors wrote. "All adults, especially those aged ≥65 years and others at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19 illness, should reduce their risk…by receiving recommended COVID-19 vaccines, adopting measures to reduce risk for contracting [COVID], and seeking early outpatient antiviral treatment after receipt of a positive [COVID] test result."