{"id":23444,"date":"2021-10-10T13:31:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-10T17:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=23444"},"modified":"2021-10-11T10:34:44","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T14:34:44","slug":"unvaccinated-driving-rise-in-numbers-admitted-to-icus-says-reid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=23444","title":{"rendered":"Unvaccinated Driving Rise In Numbers Admitted To ICUs Says Reid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Paul Reid, chief executive of the HSE (PA Archive\/PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A recent rise in the number of admissions to intensive care units due to Covid-19 has been driven by unvaccinated patients, HSE boss Paul Reid has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were 74 patients with coronavirus in ICUs, a 20 per cent increase on the same time last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Reid said that of that figure, 67 per cent were unvaccinated, while another 3 per cent had had one jab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cRight now, today, we\u2019re at 382 people with Covid positive in hospital and 74 in ICU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s up about 20 per cent on this day last week. Interestingly, in ICU at the moment with those 74 people, 67 per cent of those patients in ICU have not been vaccinated at all, and about 3 per cent have been partially vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a really very strong call for myself again today to urge people who haven\u2019t been vaccinated, if you\u2019re not vaccinated, you\u2019re at higher risk of hospitalisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re not vaccinated, you have a higher potential to transmit further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVery positively, I was in a vaccination center on Friday, and (there are) a significant number of people from all ages still coming through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case numbers also saw a marked increase, rising above 2,000 cases for the first time since August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Mr Reid said the figures were not as concerning thanks to the impact of vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe certainly are in a much stronger position now in terms of the uptake of the population of vaccination\u201d he told RT\u00c9\u2019s This Week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo when we are saying case numbers of 1,500, 2,000 it is a different position than it might have been earlier this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A booster jab program was under way for the most vulnerable people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are working from the HSE perspective on the recommendations that come from the National Immunization Advisory Committee (Niac),\u201d Mr Reid said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlready we have started with those recommendations across a few groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirstly, those people who are immunocompromised and need a third vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd secondly, those people over 65 who are in long-term care facilities, and residents in long-term care facilities and thankfully about a third of those now have been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNursing homes have been completed over the past couple of weeks and also those people who are over 80, living in the community, getting the vaccination through GPs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday saw a further 1,384 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, the Department of Health said.<\/p>\n

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