Age Groups and Vaccination Rates in Wisconsin

Friday, December 17th, 2021 -- 11:00 AM

(WMTV) Whether or not someone is vaccinated appears to make the biggest difference for the state’s youngest and oldest residents.

New data from the Dept. of Health Services breaks down the difference in COVID-19 infection rates by age groups for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals and find the biggest gaps among those under 18 and over 55 years old.

Parsing the numbers even further, those who are unvaccinated and in the 12-15 age group or the over 65 age groups are more than six times more likely to contract the virus. The next largest gaps are among the 16 and 17-year-old group and those who are between 55-64 years old.

For both groups, the ratio between unvaccinated and vaccinated is 4:1. Across all age groups, unvaccinated Wisconsinites are 2.7 times more likely to catch COVID-19 compared to those who completed their series and waited the subsequent two weeks to be considered vaccinated.

That gap explodes, however, when comparing the more severe outcomes of contracting the virus, DHS data show. Unvaccinated people are more than 12 times more likely to die because of the virus than vaccinated individuals, while the chances the former group end up the hospital is 10 times higher.

DHS noted these comparisons, except for the ones based on individual age groups, are age-adjusted which the agency explains “allow(s) populations to be compared directly when the age distribution of who most commonly gets the disease, or seriously sick from the disease.”

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