If You Treat a Lot of Seniors, You May Question Whether the Pandemic Is Really ‘Over’

By most accounts—and lots of data—infection rates, hospitalizations, and deaths related to SARS-CoV-2 have declined sufficiently to consider the pandemic over. Zoom in on that big picture, however, and you may find that the older segment of the U.S. population is still struggling with the virus on a grand scale. According to an article published by The New York Times, approximately 90% of January 2023 COVID-related deaths in the United States occurred among patients between the ages of 65 and up, with mortality increasing along with age. And patients in their 70s are five times more likely than patients in their 50s to require hospitalization for COVID. With only 40.8% of seniors having gotten a bivalent booster, the message for the urgent care provider is to maintain efforts to educate patients (of all ages) and recommend keeping current on vaccinations, especially among older patients.