DHHS: Unvaccinated people 15 times more likely to die from COVID-19

During the most recent four-week period, 187 unvaccinated individuals younger than 65 died from COVID-19, compared with eight deaths among vaccinated people, officials said. Among those older than 65, unvaccinated people accounted for 215 deaths, compared with 67 among vaccinated individuals.

"The vast majority of people dying with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. If you are not vaccinated, please don’t wait until it is too late," DHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement. "The authorized and approved vaccines have been through rigorous clinical trials and met scientific standards. Millions of North Carolinians have been safely vaccinated."

Since the beginning of the year, 7,259 people have died across the state from COVID-19; only 150 of them were vaccinated, officials said.

The Delta variant has led to a rapid increase in virus-related deaths in North Carolina in recent weeks. Forty-seven were reported Friday, and the state has been averaging 37 a day for the last week – more than triple the rate of just two weeks ago.

Triangle hospitals in crisis: UNC Rex has more patients than beds

COVID-19 hospitalizations have also increased for 11 straight days and, at 3,651 on Friday, are nearing the peak reached in January. Even short of that peak, the state hit highs on Thursday with 912 COVID-19 patients in intensive care and 574 on ventilators.

Only 13 percent of ICU beds and 20 percent of general hospital beds are available in North Carolina, according to DHHS statistics.

North Carolina topped 8,000 new infections both Thursday and Friday, marking the first time back-to-back days have been that high in more than seven months. The three other times the state has had more than 8,000 new cases reported on consecutive days were all in early January. The state has averaged more than 6,300 cases a day for the last week.

During the week ending last Saturday, unvaccinated people were 4.4 times more likely to become infected than vaccinated people, officials said. That was up slightly from the 3.5 times more likely for the week that ended Aug. 14.

The difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated teens was even greater during the most recent week, with unvaccinated people ages 12 to 17 being 6.3 times more likely to become infected, officials said.

Sixty percent of North Carolina adults and 57 percent of those ages 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, according to DHHS statistics. The number of shots given statewide has fallen in each of the past two weeks, from nearly 94,000 to about 76,500.

In each of the last three weeks, 18 percent of the new infections were in fully vaccinated people, officials said. But health experts have said that such "breakthrough cases" usually have milder symptoms.