The Washington Post has data for the increase in percent of covid deaths by decade among those 65 years and over. This is for the month of October for the current viral mix. We divide this by the population in each of the same age segments, to show that the Fatality Rate is increasing a factor of about 3.3 for each decadal increase in age among seniors.
Unfortunately, the data does not include whether those succumbing were fully vaccinated and boosted, although the overall rate of vaccination among seniors is high, as shown in the previous blog article.
As the CDC is reminding people, we now have the bivalent Covid vaccine, high quality masks, crowd avoidance, increased ventilation if indoors, and rapid home tests as protective measures at our disposal at low or no costs. There are also antiviral medicines to take after infection.
The following table has the three senior age groups, the size of the population in them for the US in millions, and the Percent of the US Population that they are. That is followed by the Percent of Deaths in that age group in October, 2022. Finally is the Ratio of Percents representing the Covid Mortality as currently occurring by senior age groups.
| Age Group | Population | Percent Pop. | Percent of Deaths | Ratio of Percents |
| 85+ | 6.6 m | 2.0% | 41.4% | 20.7 |
| 75 to 84 | 16 m | 4.8% | 30% | 6.3 |
| 65 to 74 | 31.5 m | 9.5% | 17.5% | 1.84 |
| 1 to 64 | 278 m | 83.7% | 11.1% | 0.13 |
The ratio between the Ratio of Percents for 85+ to (75 to 84) is 3.33.
The ratio between the Ratio of Percents for (75 to 84) to (65 to 74) is 3.42.
So over 65, each decade of increased age, and of course with them more health complications, increases the mortality from Covid by a factor of about 3.3 or 3.4.
The importance of this message if for seniors to get the latest booster and obey all of the precautions that you can, as well as choosing to isolate and FaceTime or Zoom, or only mix with those willing to take the avoidance precautions that your age and susceptibility deserves.
