Why are Poles still dying from COVID-19? The expert lists two reasons

Although the fifth wave of coronavirus infections is slowly passing and the number of infections is lower than a few weeks ago, the number of deaths from COVID-19 remains at a similar level. About 200 people infected with the coronavirus die daily. Why are covid deaths still so bad? We asked an expert about it, prof. dr. hab. med. Krzysztof J. Filipiak, cardiologist, internist and clinical pharmacologist, co-author of the first Polish textbook on COVID-19.

1. On March 10, the Ministry of Health reported 184 deaths due to COVID-19
2. Most of them are unvaccinated. For example: on March 4, of the 206 reported deaths, 125 were in patients who had not taken the COVID-19 vaccine.
3. According to the Ministry’s data, more than 2 have died since the beginning of this year due to SARS-CoV-15 infection. people. Their average age is 77 years
4. Prof. Filipiak: «The omicron wave subsides, which can be seen in the decreasing number of hospitalized patients and those under ventilators, but people with complications will continue to die. (…) this number of deaths can be expected for a few more weeks »
5. According to the expert, one of the reasons is the still low vaccination rate of Poles and the fact that the vaccination program has recently been properly implemented.
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The pandemic is not over yet

Our Country’s invasion of Ukraine has made the topic of the COVID-19 pandemic obviously and naturally relegated to the background. However, this does not mean that the coronavirus is gone. On the contrary – SARS-CoV-2 is a huge medical and social problem all the time, all over the world.

Asia is well aware of this, with recent outbreaks of infection and some regions with record numbers of cases. For example, in Hong Kong there were as many as 55 of them at the beginning of March, the largest number since the beginning of the pandemic.

A clear jump is also visible in the number of deaths – almost 200 each day. From the perspective of Europe, it may not be very impressive, but considering the fact that in February several covid patients were dying daily there, the numbers may be worrying.

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There are many deaths and this will not change in the near future

Similar numbers and similar anxiety also appear with us, although the context is completely different. In the special administrative region of China, such a number of deaths is a phenomenon in the light of Hong Kong’s experience to date. It’s actually everyday life in Poland.

The situation is not as bad as, for example, at the end of December, when the health ministry informed about hundreds of victims of the fourth wave of SARS-CoV-2 virus infections (the most – 794 – reported on December 29), but it is still not optimistic. Our statistics contradict the trend seen in other countries, where the number of COVID-19 deaths is rising just after the wave of infection spikes, but then declines sharply. This phenomenon is well reflected in the chart below.

You can clearly see that since the second half of January, the number of covid deaths has remained at a similar level, not exceeding 400 a day, but also very rarely falling below 200 (single drops are the result of post-weekend delays in reporting deaths). This state of affairs continued throughout the duration of the fifth wave of infections and continues, although its peak is long overdue (the highest number of cases was over a month ago).

– The omicron wave subsides, which can be seen in the decreasing number of hospitalized and those under ventilators, but people with complications will still die two to three weeks after the wave has passed – predicts prof. dr hab. med. Krzysztof J. Filipiak. – The characteristics of this wave also turned out to be different than forecasted. Its peak was not high, but it will last longer and this number of deaths can be expected for several more weeks – he adds.

Further part below the video.

Excess mortality among Poles is terrifying

The COVID-19 death rate has long worried experts. The end of the year was very loud because of the statistics of hyper-mortality among Poles. We closed 2021 with a terrifying result of over 200. excess deaths.

1. Read also: Excess deaths. Poland at the top of the infamous ranking

This is largely the result of coronavirus infections, which end in death more often than in most countries of the world. According to the data presented on the Worldometers.info website, Poland (out of 113 COVID-19 victims) is in 15th place. in the list of countries with the highest number of covid deaths.

Interestingly, most of the countries occupying previous positions have reported a total of several to several dozen million infections since the beginning of the pandemic (Germany from the 14th position over 16 million, the USA from the 1st position – 81 million). In Poland, there were 2020 million cases from March 5,7. This is the same as in Indonesia (5,8 million cases, 151 thousand deaths) and Mexico (5,5 million infections, 320 thousand victims), i.e. countries where incomparably more people live than in Poland (275 million and 128 million, respectively). million inhabitants).

But it’s not just the COVID-19 infection itself that is causing the hyper-mortality. It is also a consequence of the burden on the health care systemwhich was almost completely blocked in many areas. It is about suspended or postponed and long-planned treatments, postponed visits to specialists, delayed diagnostics and other aspects that affect the general health of Poles. Many of them did not have a chance to diagnose or treat the already diagnosed disease, and they simply did not live to improve their quality of life.

1. See also: Doctor on deaths in Poland: it hasn’t happened since 1945.

The vaccination program has stopped

Another issue is that Omikron has proved to be a variant that generally causes a milder course of COVID-19. This means that those infected with it less often require hospitalization, which also translates into death statistics. This was well illustrated by the charts in the countries that had record-breaking cases, counted in the hundreds of thousands, during the peak of the last wave. Despite so many infections, there weren’t that many deaths. For example in Great Britain at the beginning of January, with over 200 infections per day, deaths were slightly over 300. Recall: in Poland, the number of victims is 13-15 thousand. infections.

Such results (as in the British Isles) would not be possible without one thing that is still lame in our country: vaccination against COVID-19. In countries where Omikron, despite reaching the majority of citizens, has not had such a large death toll, the vaccination rate exceeds 70%, in some places it is even higher, over 80 percent Poland has not been able to exceed 60 percent for months.

The current situation is not conducive to changes in this matter. – Since the announcement of the “end of the pandemic”, the attack on Ukraine and the domination of the PUTIN-22 plague over the COVID-19 epidemic, the COVID-19 vaccination program in Poland has practically stopped – notes prof. Filipiak. – Only 59 percent are fully vaccinated. Poles, and only 30 percent. received a booster dose. These percentages, including population figures, will change even more in a moment, the expert points out, referring to the low vaccination coverage of Ukrainians, many of whom will stay in Poland for longer.

Poles are dying from COVID-19 because the coronavirus is still between us and still finds people who are susceptible to infection and its severe course. It remains to be hoped that Poles will still go to the vaccination points, and the Ministry of Health will provide adequate access to them and education on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines to Ukrainian refugees. This will translate not only into increasing our protection against COVID-19, but also significantly reduce the number of deaths from the coronavirus.

We encourage you to read:

1. NOPs after mRNA vaccines for COVID-19. Huge US study and a clear conclusion
2. How to strengthen immunity and avoid COVID-19? Simple ways
3. There is a new drug for COVID-19. But these are not the only new discoveries of scientists
4. Two years of the epidemic in Poland from the editor-in-chief of MedTvoiLokony