Unvaccinated people are 16 times more likely to end up in intensive care units or die from Covid-19, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state has said in a report, with officials urging people to get inoculated as Australia begins to live with the coronavirus, Reuters reports.

The data from the NSW health department showed only 11 per cent of people out of 412 who died from the Delta outbreak over four months through early October were fully vaccinated. The average age of those deaths was 82.

"Young people with two doses of a vaccine experienced lower rates of infection and almost no serious disease, while those unvaccinated in this age group were at greater risk of developing Covid-19 and needing hospitalisation," NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said in a statement.

A nurse administers the AstraZeneca vaccine to a patient at a coronavirus vaccination clinic at the Bankstown Sports Club in Sydney, Australia, August 25. — Reuters
A nurse administers the AstraZeneca vaccine to a patient at a coronavirus vaccination clinic at the Bankstown Sports Club in Sydney, Australia, August 25. — Reuters

Opinion

Editorial

Budget presser
14 Jun, 2026

Budget presser

OFFICIAL post-budget media briefings in Pakistan are carefully choreographed affairs, full of reassuring phrases ...
Muharram precautions
14 Jun, 2026

Muharram precautions

WITH Muharram due to start next week, the authorities have already begun annual exercises to ensure that the ...
Blood bequests
14 Jun, 2026

Blood bequests

WORLD Blood Donor Day offers a moment of “gratitude, advocacy and renewed commitment” for thalassaemia patients...
Sustainable path?
Updated 13 Jun, 2026

Sustainable path?

The FY27 budget is the first clear signal that the government is ready to transition from stabilisation to growth.
Prioritising education
13 Jun, 2026

Prioritising education

THOUGH the improvement in the country’s literacy rate may be slight, as highlighted by the Economic Survey, it ...
Poverty’s rise
13 Jun, 2026

Poverty’s rise

AS attention turns to the government’s plans for the coming fiscal year, one set of figures deserves particular...