Trapp
Data from both Bryan and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department show that about 20% of recent COVID deaths are among vaccinated patients.
As of Thursday, Lancaster County had reported 30 deaths since Aug. 1, six of whom were vaccinated. Bryan had 40 deaths in August, eight of whom were vaccinated, Trapp said.
However, he said there is a definite trend with deaths among the vaccinated. They are older, and they often have serious underlying health conditions.
For example, Trapp said, the average overall age of Bryan’s 40 August COVID deaths was 64, but the average age of the eight vaccinated people who died was 77.
Bryan Health nurses frustrated, exhausted over latest COVID-19 surge
At the same time, he said the number of young unvaccinated patients that Bryan is seeing is concerning, with people in their 40s, 30s and even 20s being hospitalized.
“It’s really critical, critical illness,” Trapp said. “That’s making it hard on the nurses, that they’re so young, and it’s making it hard on the critical care team.”
It’s also making it hard on the hospital, because younger patients tend to want more aggressive treatment when it’s needed, such as ventilators, in the hopes of getting better, he said.
The good news, Trapp said, is that Bryan has seen very few pediatric patients, and none have been ill enough to need intensive care or to be transferred to Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha.