Reported COVID-19 deaths in New South Wales rose by 50 per cent last week compared to the previous week, new data shows.
As the third wave of the Omicron subvariant shot across the state, 142 people were reported to have died of COVID-19 in the week ending July 16, compared with 94 the week before.
There have been more than 3200 deaths from COVID-19 in New South Wales this year.
Cases have risen to more than 12,000 a day this week, more than double the number reported in mid-June.
About one in 10 (13%) of the deaths occurred in unvaccinated people, which are about 200,000 in New South Wales.
About 20% of the deaths occurred in people who had received four doses of the vaccine.
Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, said the high number of deaths in those with three or four doses of vaccine reflected different age-specific vaccination rates.
People with more vaccine doses were older and therefore in much higher risk groups for death from COVID, he said.
“This can mask the benefits of the vaccine by making death rates appear higher in people who are more vaccinated, particularly when comparing three to four doses,” Professor Bennett said.
Nationally, fourth dose rates are higher in the over 70s compared to younger Australians.
The fourth dose was approved in May for those over 65 and earlier this month for those 30 and older.
A third of the people who died (46) were eligible for a third dose.
“Within age groups, the death rate will still be 10 times lower for vaccinated people in that group,” Professor Bennett said.
The data showed that most of the deaths occurred in the over 70s.
A conference of experts on COVID in Sydney on Thursday heard that vaccination induced a much more robust immune response than being infected with the virus.
Laboratory head Amy Chung of Melbourne’s Doherty Institute told the second Australasian COVID-19 conference that protection from vaccination was longer-lasting than infection.
“We now know that people can have COVID for a long time, about 20% have long-lasting effects, while vaccination does not induce any of these side effects,” he said.
“Vaccination is the way to go, regardless of age: seniors, children. Vaccination is very important.”
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