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COVID-19 Insight Bulletins: ICU and Hospital Admissions Series 1

More than half (54%) of those admitted to ICUs between July and November 2021 reported they were not vaccinated

CSO statistical publication, 14 December 2021, 11am

Key Findings

Just under 60% of the 0-24 age group who contracted COVID-19 between July and November and were admitted to hospital were not vaccinated, while the equivalent figure for the 25-44 age category stood at almost 50%
The median age of those who contracted COVID-19 and were admitted to hospital between July and November that reported being un-vaccinated was 38 years, compared with a median age of 66 years for those who said they were vaccinated
More than half (54%) of those admitted to ICUs between July and November reported they were unvaccinated and of those who said they were vaccinated, more than nine in 10 (92%) had an underlying health condition
Of those admitted to ICU who contracted COVID-19 between July and November and were not born in Ireland, 84% reported being unvaccinated
Since July hospitalisations amongst those who reported as vaccinated have been rising at a higher rate than those who reported as un-vaccinated
The average hospitalisation rate has been less than 30 people per 1,000 confirmed cases since April and this decrease is seen in all age groups while the average ICU admission rate has been less than five people per 1,000 confirmed cases since April
In 90% of Local Electoral Areas vaccination uptake rate among the over 12s is greater than 83.7% of the population
Among employees the largest increase in vaccine uptake rate since 09 September (3%) is in employees of the EU 15-27 grouping

Statistician's Comment

Commenting on the Bulletin, Steven Conroy, Statistician, said: “This COVID-19 Insight Bulletin tracks the trends behind the daily ICU, hospitalisation and vaccination figures. One of the trends the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has identified in this bulletin is that just under 60% of the 0-24 age group who contracted COVID-19 between July and November and were admitted to hospital were not vaccinated with the equivalent figure for the 25-44 age category standing at almost 50%.

The CSO also found that more than half (54%) of those admitted to ICUs from July to November said they were not vaccinated and of those that said they were vaccinated, almost all (92%) had an underlying health condition. Further analysis on ICU admissions shows that 84% of those who contracted COVID-19 between July and November who were not born in Ireland and were admitted to an ICU reported to health officials as being unvaccinated.

Hospitalisation and ICU admission rates per confirmed case have been falling since April and this can be seen in all age groups.

In an update to previous analysis of vaccination uptake rate, more than 90% of Local Electoral Areas had a vaccination uptake rate among over 12s greater than 83.7% of the population by 11 November.”

Vaccination status of case is self-reported and based on information provided to the public health team in patient interview. It has not been confirmed in all cases that patients who report as having had the vaccine have completed a full COVID-19 vaccine schedule, so these cannot be assumed to be breakthrough cases.

Figure 1 presents the number of people who contracted COVID-19 between July and November and were admitted to hospital by vaccination status and age group. Over 60% of those admitted to hospital who self-reported as vaccinated are over 65 whilst among those who self-reported as unvaccinated over 60% are under 44.

	0-24 years	25-44 years	45-64 years	65-79 years	80 years and over
Self-reported vaccination = Yes	4	12	24	35	25
Self-reported vaccination = No	27	35	24	11	3

Table A provides a profile of all contracted COVID-19 between July and November 2021 and were subsequently admitted to hospital or ICU by percentage breakdown.

Table A: Profile of New COVID-19 Hospital Admissions by self-reported vaccination status from July-November 2021

Table A: Profile of New COVID-19 Hospital Admissions by self-reported vaccination status July-November 2021^1,2,3
	July - November 2021
Self Reported Vaccine Status	%'s by patient characteristics			%'s by self-reported vaccination status
Hospitalised	Yes	No	Unknown	Yes	No	Unknown	Total
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%

Total	100	100	100	55	29	16	100

Gender
Female	48	52	47	54	31	15	100
Male	52	48	53	56	27	17	100
Not Specified	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Age Group
0-24	4	27	19	18	59	23	100
25-44	12	35	27	32	48	20	100
45-64	24	24	21	56	30	14	100
65-79	35	11	21	74	13	13	100
80+	25	3	12	83	5	12	100
Not Specified	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Country of Birth			0
Ireland	70	60	12	67	30	3	100
Not Ireland	5	27	3	24	71	5	100
Unspecified	25	13	85	44	12	44	100

Underlying Condition
Underlying medical condition other than COVID-19	40	32	7	68	29	3	100
No underlying medical condition other than COVID-19	45	67	10	54	43	3	100
Unknown	15	1	83	37	1	62	100

Median Age	69	38	44	69	38	44	46

of which Admitted to ICU
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%

Total	100	100	100	41	54	5	100

Gender
Female	39	47	30	38	59	3	100
Male	61	53	70	44	50	6	100
Not Specified	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Age Group
0-24	..	6	13	4	81	15	100
25-44	8	32	13	16	81	3	100
45-64	37	38	37	41	54	5	100
65-79	48	22	37	60	35	5	100
80+	6	2	0	74	26	0	100
Not Specified	..	0	0	0	0	0	0

Country of Birth
Ireland	76	45	57	54	41	5	100
Not Ireland	9	45	13	14	84	2	100
Unspecified	15	10	30	46	43	11	100

Underlying Condition
Underlying medical condition other than COVID-19	92	70	73	48	47	5	100
No underlying medical condition other than COVID-19	8	30	20	15	80	5	100
Unknown	0	0	7	0	33	67	100

Median Age	66	48	47	66	48	47	49
¹Table includes data as of 07 December 2021 for events created on CIDR (Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting)
² '..' indicates that a cell number < 5 can be indirectly identified
³ Data is defined by epidemiological date which is the earliest of onset date, date of diagnosis, laboratory specimen collection date, laboratory received date, laboratory reported date and event creation/notification date

Open in Excel: COVID-19 Hospital and ICU admissions Series 1 Table A (XLS 13KB)

Map 1 presents the vaccine uptake rates on 17 November 2021 by LEA. This is an update to previous analysis in COVID-19 Deaths and Cases, Series 32. The LEA’s are grouped in deciles ranked from lowest to highest decile according to vaccine uptake rate. LEA’s with the lighter colours correspond with deciles with the lower uptake rates while the darker areas correspond with deciles LEAs with higher uptake rates. Users can hover their mouse over the map to see the name of the LEA and the associated decile. Users can also zoom in on the map to see some of the LEAs that are smaller in geographical area.