The unvaccinated dominating Capital Region COVID hospital beds

ALBANY — As the Capital Region hunkers down for another pandemic winter, unvaccinated patients are the ones occupying the majority of COVID-19 hospital rooms and intensive care unit beds, according to a Times Union survey of area hospitals.

Around 80 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at Glens Falls Hospital, which sounded an alarm recently over mounting caseloads, are unvaccinated, said F. Raymond Agnew, vice president of hospital and community engagement. All 11 ICU patients have not received the shot.

The trends are similar across the Capital Region. Two-thirds of COVID-related hospitalizations at St. Peter’s Hospital are unvaccinated patients, the “vast majority” of whom have co-morbidities like obesity and diabetes, said Dr. Steven Hanks, chief clinical officer and chief operating officer.

He reiterated vaccines are safe and effective.

“What we’re not seeing is healthy people being admitted to the hospital with delta COVID,” Hanks said, referring to the current dominant coronavirus variant.

Seventy-one percent of Saratoga Hospital’s 42 hospitalized COVID patients as of Monday were not vaccinated, officials said, nine of whom are in the ICU — including three patients who are on ventilators. 

Similarly, 71 percent of Ellis Medicine’s COVID admissions in November were unvaccinated, said Philip Schwartz, a spokesman, who called the surge of hospitalizations comparable to the first wave of the pandemic in April 2020. 

“It underscores the importance of the vaccine in reducing harmful symptoms,” Schwartz said.

Seventy-three percent of Albany Medical Center's 542 adult COVID admissions since June have been unvaccinated.

At the Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home in Gloversville, just one of the eight hospitalized COVID patients has been vaccinated. And of the 19 patients hospitalized across Cobleskill Regional Hospital’s Bassett Healthcare Network, 11 have not gotten the vaccine.

Columbia Memorial Hospital did not respond to several requests for comment.

Vaccines have been available to all adult New Yorkers since last spring, with the CDC giving full approval for a low-dose shot to children between ages 5 and 11 in November.

Sixty-eight percent of all New Yorkers have completed their vaccine series, according to state data, with the Capital Region clocking in slightly lower at 62.4 percent.

Vaccination rates vary across the eight-county Capital Region, from Greene County (56.1 percent) to Schenectady County leading the pack with 72 percent of residents receiving the full vaccine series.

Officials acknowledge the vaccine is not a panacea, and those with pre-existing health conditions may still require hospitalization for COVID-19 regardless of their inoculation status.

“It’s important to note that the majority of the vaccinated individuals who have been admitted with COVID are older or have underlying health conditions,” said Sue Ford Rajchel, director of communications at Albany Med. 

Unvaccinated patients are also more likely to land in intensive care units or require being placed on a ventilator. 

Of the 168 patients requiring ICU-level care at Albany Med, 73 percent were unvaccinated — a number rising to 78 percent for those requiring mechanical ventilation.

Cases are expected to spike this winter as people remain vaccine hesitant and the onset of cold temperatures will cram people into cramped settings. Hospitals are also closely watching the emergence of the omicron variant overseas last weekend.

Capital Region hospitals say they have the capacity to withstand an influx, and there are 37 hospitals in New York that are at 10 percent capacity or less as of last Friday, according to the state Department of Health.

Ellis Medicine’s 42 current hospitalizations, however, are far from their peak of just over 100 last January.

St. Peter’s is presently not staring down a capacity emergency either, Hanks said.

“We’ve been able to load balance in the region, including sending people out for ICU beds,” Hanks said. “We’re not terribly nervous for the next week or so.”