People who doubt the effectiveness of vaccines in the fight against covid-19 should look at this data: if the percentage of hospitalizations for active cases before vaccinations were widely available were extrapolated back to yesterday, there would be insufficient ICU beds for patients in need of the highest level of care.
Doctor Javier Arranz, the infectious diseases committee’s spokesman, said on Monday that at this time, there would be 936 people hospitalized with covid-19, 749 of them on the floor and 187 in ICU beds, based on current figures of contagions and the benefits of vaccines. Only if they had such room.
Vaccination numbers: before and after
According to a spokesman for the regional infectious diseases committee, only 1.5% of patients with active infection were admitted to the hospital ward a year after vaccination began in nursing homes on December 27 last year, with 82% of the population being vaccinated. For patients admitted to intensive care units before and after vaccination, the percentage dropped from 1.1% one year ago to 0.4% today. Vaccines are making a difference.
Health authorities would have to prioritize some patients over others when admitting them to an intensive care unit to make good on Dr. Arranz’s criticisms of young people who go out partying without respecting safety precautions and endanger the most vulnerable members of society.
Because of the combined public and private health care resources on these islands, there are 168 ICU beds. Ibiza has 17, while Menorca has only 10, of the 141 critical care beds available on Mallorca’s main island.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.