Raging through a Population
The chief clinical officer with the HSE says more than half of those in ICU are unvaccinated against COVID-19.
Dr Colm Henry was speaking as there were 941 patients with COVID in hospital on Thursday – with 90 in intensive care.
He told Newstalk Breakfast: “I know people will say it’s unfair to focus [on these numbers] but these are facts, these aren’t opinions.
“These are facts that 5% of the eligible population are unvaccinated, and yet over 50% of those in ICU are unvaccinated”.
And he says the current wave of Omicron is a having a huge impact on hospital staffing levels.
“We’re seeing this huge surge in cases right across Europe, right across the world – record numbers being beaten each day.
“And we’re seeing this play through not in so much severe way through the hospitals, but… one of the big disruptive effects of this is the amount of staff being identified because of the power of this particular variant to breakthrough.
“That means we’re seeing more staff get infected, not nearly as many people get seriously ill, but more staff get infected or be designated as close contacts.
“And that in itself is having a highly disruptive effect on healthcare delivery”.
Credit to : Newstalk