Unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to land in the hospital with COVID-19 than those who got the shot, a new CDC study reveals

• The unvaccinated are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than vaccinated people.
• That's from a CDC study analyzing more than 43,000 confirmed cases in Los Angeles from May to July.
• Researchers said the conclusions underscore the importance of getting inoculated against the virus.

Unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than those who were inoculated against the coronavirus, a new study revealed Tuesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study Tuesday analyzing the more than 43,000 COVID-19 cases among those ages 16 and up in Los Angeles from early May to the end of July.

The confirmed infections came from a total of more than 9.6 million Los Angeles county residents who were tested for COVID-19, according to data collected by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

The study found that, of the 43,127 infections confirmed in the city, about 25% were fully vaccinated individuals, a little more than 3% were partially inoculated, and 71.4% of infections were in unvaccinated people.

Among those fully vaccinated with COVID-19, researchers found that "much lower percentages" were hospitalized (about 3%) and even fewer were admitted to an intensive care unit (0.5%) and had to be put on a ventilator (0.2%). About 6% of partially vaccinated individuals were hospitalized; about 1% were admitted to the ICU and 0.3% required mechanical ventilation.

However, among unvaccinated people, the hospitalization rate was 29.2 times the rates among fully vaccinated individuals, according to the CDC study. The infection rate of unvaccinated individuals was also 4.9 times more than vaccinated people.

Researchers wrote that the study underscored the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19, especially amid the increasing transmission of the Delta variant of the coronavirus across the US.

"These infection and hospitalization rate data indicate that authorized vaccines were protective against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 during a period when transmission of the Delta variant was increasing," the researchers said, citing the study.

"Efforts to increase COVID-19 vaccination, in coordination with other prevention strategies, are critical to preventing COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths."